SAMBURU, BUFFALO SPRINGS & SHABA NATIONAL RESERVES

Samburu National Reserve is set up around the richest stretch of Ewaso Nyiro River in the hot and arid fringes of the vast Northern region of Kenya. It covers an area of 104 sq kms. Here, permanent water supply and forest shade ensure the existence of plentiful wildlife in the Reserve. The main attractions are the resident wildlife species like the Reticulated Giraffe, Grevy’s Zebra, Beisa Oryx and the blue-necked Somali Ostrich that are rare elsewhere in the country.

Buffalo Springs National Reserve is separated from the Samburu Reserve by the river. It covers an area of 194 sq kms. Here, bird life is strikingly numerous and colorful and it is normal to see well over a hundred species of birds in a single day. Riverine forest of acacia and doulm palm form part of the fauna of the region.

The Shaba National Reserve covers an area of 130 sq kms and is an extension of the above two reserves. Samburu National Reserve, Buffalo Springs National Reserve together with Shaba National Reserve forms a trio of unusual and attractive game sanctuaries very different from others in Kenya. Shaba has a particular place in the history of Kenya game conservation for it was in this reserve that the authoress, Joy Adamson, camped while working to return a young leopard to the wild. The essence of Shaba is that it is a place for the connoisseur, where the quality of the experience exceeds the quantity of the wildlife.