4-day Kenya: Samburu Special

‘Jambo!’ As you walk out of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, your personal Africa Safari Trips guide greets you with a big smile on his face. ‘Karibu Kenya – welcome to Kenya!’

Our Africa Safari Trips guide takes you straight from the airport to your hotel, which gives you the first impressions of the vibrant city of Nairobi. You take in the skyscrapers, the traffic with the motortaxis and colourful matatu’s (local public transport), and the hussle and bussle of people living their every day life…

Ask your guide anything that comes to mind, because he knows all about Kenyan life and culture. But not only that; he also gladly tells you everything about the beautiful national parks you are about to visit. So ask whatever you want – he will do his utmost best to answer all your questions…!

With beautiful landscapes and hundreds of animals, Samburu National Reserve guarantees the sort of game viewing you otherwise would only experience watching National Geographic. At a seven hour drive from Nairobi, it has a semi-dry desert and savannah landscape which causes the wildlife to be easy to spot…!

This park is 165 square kilometers big and, with over nine hundred elephants roaming around in large families, this is a spectacular park to visit. Follow the banks of the Ewaso Nyiro River for the best game viewing. It is is the only source of water for many animals, especially during dry seasons. Four of the Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant and buffalo) roam around, as well as the Samburu Special Five: Grevy’s zebra, gerenuk, Beisa oryx, reticulated giraffe and the Somali ostrich.

In this full day in Samburu you get the chance to really search for the Big Five, and of course observe the elephants. During the day it can be hot, and game viewing is best done in the morning and afternoon. In between you can take a rest at your hotel, or visit the beautiful Samburu people.

This is a traditionally nomadic tribe related to the Masai. They live in secluded bomas: little villages with a circular wooden fence. Their huts have rounded roofs made out of cowdung, since they are pastoralists with mostly herds of cows, sheep or goats. Especially the Samburu women wear complicated and colourful necklaces and headwear, that they make themselves out of small beads.

As a break in between safaris, it’s possible to visit one of their bomas to get familiar with the traditional life of Samburu people. You will see their houses, learn about their way of life, how their necklaces are made and what the secret messages are inside.

Take the time for some last game drives in the Samburu National Reserve, as in the afternoon of day 4 you drive back to Nairobi. Here your personal guide drops you at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for your flight back home.

Feel like you want more? Instead of going home it is possible to add more national parks to this program, or to end your holiday on the beach!

Kenya has some amazing tropical beaches to help you unwind after your safari. We at Africa Safari Trips especially like the stunning stretches of beach in the south of Kenya, which are reachable by plane or train. There is the beautiful Diani Beach 20 kilometers south of Mombasa, and lively Bamburi Beach north of the city. Think crystal blue oceans, sandy white beaches, endless pools and colourful cocktails. As a plus, historical Mombasa is just around the corner…!