Samburu Game Reserve

Far removed from mainstream Kenyan safari, the three interconnected reserves of Samburu, Buffalo Springs and Shaba have a wild reputation.

The landscape here is harsh with endless sunburnt plains of acacia thornbush out of which rise the occasional fertile and densely forested mountain peaks, ranges, table lands and volcanic plugs.

The Samburu are a nomadic people who have lived within the Samburu Game Reserve for centuries. Make sure to visit Samburu villages if you come to the Reserve – unlike other parts of Kenya, the interaction is non-commercial and non-invasive.

For safaris in Samburu, elephants, in particular, are the main event. There are large herds who tend to migrate huge distances in search of water.

But there are also a few lion prides, leopards, lots of baboons, superb birding and some unusual desert adapted species such as gerenuk, the beautiful reticulated giraffe, the finely striped Grevy’s zebra and the blue-legged Somali ostrich.

Until they were poached out, Northern Kenya was home to huge numbers of black rhino but the good news is that today even those are back – but only in one highly protected location.