Samburu National Park

Welcome to Samburu National Park

Samburu National Park is located in the Northern part of Mount Kenya and features among Kenya’s most stunning and rewarding protected areas that are worth including in your bucket list. This protected area features most of the palm groves and thick forests which provide true African wilderness and breathtaking views of the surrounding areas making it one of the very few most excellent travel destinations in magical Kenya.

Compared to the national parks in Kenya, Samburu National Park is one of the least explored tourist sites thus maintaining its tranquil atmosphere and wilderness experiences for travelers on safari in Kenya. Samburu National Park is not only very famous for its unique wildlife species and wilderness experiences but it gained fame due to George and Joy Adamson’s orphaned lion re-introduction where the popular “Born Free” film which is said to have its roots in this protected area.

This park is generally hot and arid comprising of the rolling plains along the Great Rift Valley with thorny bush and rocky outcrops. Its most spectacular floral and faunal species is something worth not missing explore while you are on a self-drive safari in East Africa.

Tourist attractions in Samburu National Park

River Ewaso Ng’iro flows North of Samburu national park and it is a renowned home to most of the Nile crocodiles and other wildlife species including more than 380 bird species especially the unique Donaldson’s smith nightjar, golden breasted starling, rosy patched bush shrike, black-capped social weaver, white-headed mousebird, D’Arnaud’s barbet, Somali ostrich, grey-headed kingfisher, sunbirds, Somali bee-eater, vulturine guinea fowl, tawny eagle, Verreaux’s eagle, bateleur, yellow-necked spurfowl, lilac-breasted roller, secretary bird, yellow-billed hornbill, palm nut vulture, northern red-billed hornbill, superb starling, marabou stork, golden pipit, Donaldson’s smith sparrow weaver and many more.

You may also have the opportunity to spot out most of the elephants, hippos, buffaloes, long-necked gerenuk, gravy’s zebras, giraffes, Beisa Oryx, and leopards that are spotted around the Shaba hills, east of the Samburu National Park and not to leave out African wild dogs, waterbucks, cheetah, impalas, olive baboons, and many others.

Besides, the Samburu natives where this protected area derived its name are equally a few most remarkable and warm welcoming people that are worth interacting with while you are on cultural safari in Kenya.

The Samburu people speak Maa language but most of the vocabulary is shared with the Maasai. In Kenya, it is the Maasai, Turkana, and the Samburu feature among the few tribes in Africa that have stood culturally authentic to a traditional and special way of doing things.

They dress the same way as the Maasai and for visitors who are not very keen enough, may even fail to differentiate two. Several safari lodges around this area carry out community programs together with the Samburu and it offers an amazing opportunity for visitors to have an authentic African experience and also widen their knowledge of the local faunal and floral species. The prominent tourist activities to do in Samburu National Park include game viewing, birding, and Samburu cultural experiences.

Best time to visit Samburu National Park

Samburu features both a national park and the reserve and it lies within the arid and semi-arid landscapes and offers visitors with true wilderness experiences all year round. The temperature ranges of 29 degrees Celsius during daytime to 16 degrees Celsius at night however, this keeps changing from one month to another.

The dry season is the best for visitors who intend to visit the park for wildlife safaris and other tourist attractions exploration. Its dry season starts from July to October while short rains begin from late October to December. The short dry season begins between January and February and the long dry season begins from March to May.

Visitors should however expect it to rain at any time of the day especially from April to June and most importantly, you will need to have a rain jacket, waterproof walking shoes and for wildlife, experiences ensure that your dress code matches that of the environment.

Getting to Samburu National Park

Samburu National Park stretches for about 165 square kilometers, approximately 350 kilometers away from Nairobi capital city, Samburu County and visitors spend about 5 hours while driving and by road, it can be accessed via Isiolo and Archer’s post. By air, you can take a flight from Nanyuki or Nairobi airport to Samburu approximately 45 minutes.

Accommodation in the Samburu National Park

For visitor stay at Samburu National Park, the prominent accommodation facilities include Larsen’s Camp, (market tented camp), Samburu Game Lodge, Saruni Samburu Lodge, (luxury), Samburu Serena Lodge, Joy’s camp, Samburu intrepid tented camp and many more.

In conclusion, Samburu National Park and reserve is spectacularly one of Kenya’s most unique protected areas that reward visitors with true wilderness experiences especially with its remarkable tourist attractions and activities like cultural and wildlife safaris, walking tours with a camel.