This is a continuation from Safari to Kenya – Nairobi to Amboseli that ended with us boarding a flight at the Amboseli air strip for Nairobi’s Wilson Airport on the morning of Sunday, March 6.  This part picks up as we leave Amboseli for Nairobi and then on to Samburu National Reserve, north of the Equator.

Samburu National Reserve (Sun, March 6 to early Tue, March 8)

To recap, we took off from Amboseli air strip a little after 0815 for the 45-minute hop back to Nairobi.  This flight was only about half full – the Cessna 208B can carry 12 passengers in addition to the captain and the first officer.  We passed over the swampland around Amboseli, then the arid area of the Rift Valley and after some rural farmland began our descent into Nairobi just before 0900.

Once we landed, we taxied to the Safari Link departures area and deplaned.  But then a funny thing happened – a Safari Link employee escorted all passengers from our flight to the Arrivals area of the airport, even though the Departures area where we needed to be for our flight to Samburu was right there.  Sigh!  At any rate, we followed her, exited the arrivals area, walked along the road to the Departures area and reentered that building for our next flight.  Our bags followed us in a handcart wheeled by another Safari Link employee.  Luckily for me, there was a bank machine just before reentering the Departures area, so I was able to withdraw more Kenyan Shillings, having used most of it up at Amboseli in tipping the staff at the camp, the guides and buying Maasai trinkets!

By now, it was about 0915 and we had a good 75 minutes wait time before our flight to Samburu-Kalama air strip.  So, I settled down to another cup of coffee at that wonderful café and did some plane-watching.  Soon, it was time to board, and we went through the departure doors to our plane.  After the quick brief, we took off at 1038 and headed north.

As we flew north, the pilot turned around and yelled out, “We will fly between Aberdare on the left and Mt. Kenya on the right; I’ll let you know when we get there”.  In about 20 minutes he yelled out – Aberdare; and a minute later, Mt. Kenya appeared on the right in the distance.

Another half-hour passed and the character of the terrain changed to arid desert – clearly it hadn’t rained for quite a while.  Shortly thereafter, we started descending.  I could see the airstrip – all dirt this time – from behind the First Officer’s shoulder.  The captain touched down in a flawless landing and we turned around three-quarters of the way down the strip to head to a small building with a few vehicles parked outside.

As we deplaned, we saw many 4x4s, but two had Elephant Bedroom Camp written on their sides (that’s where we were booked for this leg of our Safari).  Not knowing which one was intended for us, we started walking towards them and stopped by the first one.  There, a man, probably in his late twenties or early thirties, dressed much like the Maasai gave us a cheerful “Hello!”.  We introduced ourselves to James, our guide for the next 2 days and then we were off on another bumpy ride away from the airstrip. As James drove, we asked him to tell us about himself.  He started with, “my name is James Bond”!  Iris and I burst out in laughter!  He had quite an exaggerated accent which he probably thought was American.  Funny guy! He did tell us that he was from a different tribe – the Samburu, cousins of the Maasai – and that he grew up just outside the Reserve.  We then asked him how long it would take to get to the Camp, and he indicated that it would be about 45 minutes to an hour.  About 10 minutes away from the airstrip, we happened upon a major and modern paved highway and soon we were making excellent time.  After another 10 minutes or so, James turned off to the right of the highway and took us back on dirt tracks.  Then, right in front of us was a structure with a large gate where we stopped – this was the entrance to the Reserve that housed a contingent of the armed Rangers who patrol the Reserve for many reasons, not the least of which is to thwart poachers (a much smaller problem these days as I understood, due to huge penalties and long prison times).  As it turned out, our paperwork/entrance fees to the Reserve had not been received though I was sure that we had paid for and booked it, so I tried calling up Gamewatchers in Nairobi to work out next steps.  Unfortunately, the call didn’t go through.  James, in typical Kenyan fashion, said “Hakuna Matata! Let me talk to them and ask them to let you through for now.  We can work this out later!”.  He was as good as his word, and we set off again after 15 minutes of this minor stress.

As we drove through the Reserve, we saw numerous Dust Devils – it was extremely dry and dusty.  Yet, the landscape was strangely beautiful – the entire Reserve, James explained to us was bordered by hills, faintly blue and contrasting with the brown-red coloration of the (iron-rich) sand, dotted with the occasional dry bush.  Right next to the Reserve was Buffalo Springs National Reserve.  We had seen videos on YouTube for Elephant Bedroom Camp before the Safari and knew it was situated on the bank of a river, the Ewasa Nyiro.  We asked James about the river; he said, “it is mostly dry”.  Soon we started seeing a line of some strange trees that looked like Palms in the distance.  James said they were “Doum Palm Trees”.  As we got closer to the trees, we could see tents and other signs of human inhabitation.  So it was that we arrived at Elephant Bedroom Camp!

We walked in through a gate and then up a wooden ramp.  Suddenly, we were up on a broad wooden deck set about 10 feet above terra firma, part of it covered with tent canvas, a bar at the back, comfortable couches, a tree growing through the middle of the deck (!) and tables below the deck area on the bank of the broad river – mostly dry as James had mentioned earlier.  The deck led to an observation platform with more couches and tables set up for dining and under the shade of said tree. The tree and the tented area provided plenty of cover from the equatorial sun, and that’s where we met Gabriel, a tall and soft-spoken Samburu gentlemen who walked over to welcome us to Camp.  He then bade us to sit down on a couch, brought over glasses of refreshingly, cold juice – I think both Iris and I ended up with Mango – and gave us a quick brief on Camp procedure. James interjected that he’d meet us there at 4:00pm for our Evening Game Drive and headed off.  Gabriel then explained that Camp procedure included making sure to check with guards before heading towards our tent, or to this lounge-dining area every time, even during the day.  Puzzled, we asked “Why?  What is the danger?”.  Gabriel told us that they had three resident elephants who had made the camp “home”.  In addition, wild elephants frequently crossed the river from the adjoining Buffalo Springs National Reserve in search of forage on the Samburu side of the river.  Hence the precautions.  By now it was almost 1:30pm, and Gabriel had us pick our lunch choices from a chalk board conveniently placed at the entrance to the lounge area.  We did so, promised to check out our living accommodations and be back in 15 minutes for lunch, after freshening up.

We then headed off with escorts carrying our bags to Tent #8 (ours for the next 2 nights) via a sandy path with trees shading parts of it.  Passing by 4 tents we turned right and there, right next to the riverbank was our tent, raised up on stilts, with wooden stairs leading up to a deck and to the entrance.  The tents were separated by at least 100 feet, so there was plenty of privacy.  On the deck was a small plunge pool covered with canvas (apparently, the elephants had discovered they could just stick their trunks into the pool for a drink!).  All-in-all, a wonderful place to stay!

After freshening up, we waved out to a guard on the path, and he said that we were ok to walk back to the lounge tent.  We got there and were seated on the deck overlooking the river.  A pleasant Camp employee, Jennifer, came over and soon we found ourselves munching away on salad and bread while waiting for our main courses to arrive.  It was a good lunch!

Post lunch, around 3:30pm we walked back to our tent to unpack and get ready for our game drive.  I headed back quickly while Iris took a little longer.  Back on the lounge deck, I spotted one of the resident elephants.  He walked right by the deck pecked at some shrubs and then moved on.  Later, I found that he was named Obama since he was born right around Obama’s inauguration back in 2009!

I was able to use the time to connect with Gamewatchers, and clear up the confusion over the missing permit to enter the reserve.  The permit had been purchased and that fact communicated to the rangers, but the physical permit was still in Nairobi and would be sent over with the guide and vehicle who were to transport us to the Lake Elmenteita area. That guide would arrive at Samburu on the following day, March 7 and we were scheduled to leave the morning of March 8.  I found the manager to make him aware and he passed on the information to the Ranger station at the entrance to the Reserve.  Problem solved!

With that, it was time to leave; Iris had come over from our tent and I spotted James at a corner table drinking a cup of tea; he finished up and we walked over to his 4×4 ready to go and eager to see what we would discover that afternoon.

As we set out, the track first led away from the river and then James took a sharp turn down another dirt road toward the river.  Soon we were amongst green trees and bushes that probably existed due to the ground water to be found closer to the river.  We first spotted a couple of Pumbas (Warthogs) followed immediately by a small herd of elephants.  But here was a big difference from Amboseli.  James pulled up within 20 feet of the elephants (including a baby), and then stopped the vehicle.  The elephants, munching on the grass and the leaves from trees came towards us and passed within touching distance of us!  It was an amazingly close encounter – I was busy taking pictures while James and Iris took videos on their phones.  I have never been this close to an elephant in the wild and it was an amazing experience.

We reluctantly took leave of our gentle pachyderms to explore further.  Soon we ran into a small group of Gerenuk picking on leaves from a tree.

About 10 minutes later, we saw our first Reticulated Giraffe.  These look quite different from the Masai Giraffe we had seen at Amboseli – the pattern on their skin is far more clearly defined than with Masai Giraffe.

We watched them get their afternoon snack for a few minutes before moving on.  A few minutes later we heard some chittering in a tree and stopped and got a really good photo of a pair of monkeys.  Right after that, we got a spectacular view of the regal, Martial Eagle perched on a branch of a tree, surveying the landscape.

Just about then, James got a call on his phone.  After a minute, he hung up, turned to us and said, “let’s go see if we can find this leopard that another group had seen!”.  With that, he put the 4×4 into gear and we set off at speed across the reserve towards the hills in the distance.  After about 15 minutes we pulled up short of a hill that was probably a few hundred feet high and started scanning the slopes for the leopard.  I spotted some strange looking antelope I had not seen before on a rock and asked about them – James looked at them with his binoculars and said they were Klipspringer.  I got a not-so-good photo of these.

We looked for that elusive leopard for another 10 minutes, and I finally got a glimpse of it moving between two bushes high up on the hill.  Unfortunately, it was too quick for me to take a photo.  Nonetheless, it was time to move on and we headed back towards the river, a good decision as it turned out. 

Just 5 minutes later, we ran into a pair of Cheetahs on a kill!  We pulled up about 20 feet away and watched as the Cheetahs chowed down on what we first thought was a gazelle, but later turned out to be a Gerenuk.  There were no vultures, jackals or any other carrion eaters.  The Cheetahs had the kill to themselves and had probably hunted down that Gerenuk within the last 30 minutes.  As they gulped down their meal, one of them clearly had its fill and settled down, while the other continued to eat.  Apparently, cheetahs are fast eaters because scavengers are very quick to track down kills.  Soon, the second Cheetah was getting full, and they both took a short break.

We stayed for about 25 minutes until the sky began to darken. With the Cheetahs behind us, we headed back to the riverbank.  I finally got a photo of the Grevys Zebra, a species found only north of the equator.  These zebras have a white underbelly unlike the plains zebra which has stripes all over.  In addition, their stripes are narrower, and they are taller than the plains zebra.

James took us right by the riverbank and stopped again.  He said, “look over there, to the right”.  We turned and saw a magnificent lioness perched atop the bank looking out over the riverbed.  Beside her were two cubs, probably no more than 4 months old, looking right at us.  As my eyes drifted down to the riverbed (dry in parts), I saw a grassy patch with three more cubs playing catch-my-tail on it!  Momma lion certainly knew we were watching, but she completely ignored us, sitting in regal splendor.  The cubs played for a while in the fading light, which unfortunately meant that my photos were sub-standard.  The family then got back together on the riverbed next to a pool of water.   James switched on his headlamps, which allowed me to finally capture a bit of the scene.

The last photo above was at 7:07pm.  By then it was too dark to see anything without light, and it was time to head back.  With that, James turned the 4×4 and we drove back to camp, a short 10-minute ride.  Back at the camp, we each got a shower and went for a late dinner at about 8:35pm.  Jennifer was there, waiting patiently and served us some hot soup (as good as anything in Kenya, or just about anywhere in the world), followed by Vegetarian cutlets with French fries and a Salad for me!  I don’t remember what was on the menu for dessert, but think I ended up getting fruit instead.

With that our day was just about done.  As we were escorted back to our tent, my mind went over the events of the day.  In the morning, at Amboseli, we had surprised a Cheetah before hopping on the flight to Nairobi.  At Samburu in the 3 hours between 4pm and 7pm we had come close enough to touch wild elephants, seen a pair of Cheetahs on a kill and seen part of a lion pride – momma and cubs enjoying the cool evening beside the river.  We had seen Giraffe, Zebra, Monkeys, numerous Birds and Klipspringer.  What a day – I still don’t quite have the right adjectives to describe it; it was magical!  After setting up everything to charge, we were off to bed – we were meeting James for our game drive the next morning at 0700.

We were up around 0600 – Gabriel had kindly arranged for coffee, tea and cookies to be delivered at our tent.  After freshening up and gulping down the coffee we headed off to the lounge area to find James.  He was in the parking area ready to go.  We left as planned just after 0700.  Almost immediately, we saw a hornbill, some pigeons and then a Kite and a Tawny Eagle perched on the same branch!  As we drove further, we saw another Tawny Eagle and I was able to snap one of my better photos.  It flew away and I took another photo, this one of the Eagle in flight, showing off its impressive wingspan!

As we drove away, James got a call from another guide, and we hurriedly headed to a lightly wooded area where we hoped to see lions.  Our first indication that we were close was the deep roar of a male lion from out in the distance.  Then, as we negotiated bushes and other 4x4s that had gathered at this spot, we caught sight of a young male halfway up a fallen tree.  (Fallen trees are very common in Elephant country.  The Elephants push them over to get at the leaves from their tops!)  The young lion and his younger sister soon moved to a more open area and relaxed for a bit while we watched them.  Perhaps 15 minutes later, the mature male roared again in the distance causing both the cubs to get up and walk right past our vehicle, maybe 5 feet away, in the direction of the roar.

As we drove back toward the riverbank once more, we spotted a Grey-headed Kingfisher followed by some African White-backed Vultures on a dead tree.  Right after that, we spotted another herd of elephant on the riverbed with a pair of babies.  Soon, they clambered up on the riverbank amongst the trees and started to munch on the grass and the leaves.

After driving around some more (James tried unsuccessfully to track the large male lion from its pug marks on the dirt tracks – it had been wandering around all night and the tracks were everywhere!), we decided to head back to camp.  On the way, we spotted some more Grevy’s Zebra.  James dropped us off – he was headed to the airstrip next to pick up a contingent of tourists, two of whom we would meet on the Evening Game Drive.  We agreed to meet at 4pm and saw him off.

Back at camp, we headed straight for breakfast.  Jennifer seated us on the riverbank area and we chatted a bit.  She told us that she was from the Meru area, about 50 miles away and had a young daughter.  She lived at the camp and spent weekends with her.  She also told us that the previous night, for the first time, a hippo had wandered into camp near the generator enclosure, possibly looking for grass to graze on overnight!  Apparently, the camp staff frequently saw wild elephants, but hippos were an anomaly.  Did you know that Hippos are one of the most dangerous animals in Africa, much more so than just about anything else except the Anopheles mosquito?!

Breakfast turned out to be a sumptuous buffet with one of the staff making omelets to order.  The ubiquitous baked beans and fruit were present as was 4 different kinds of juice.  We elected to sit at a table on the riverbank this time as opposed to up on the deck.  We spotted a Superb Starling and a Hornbill sitting on our table when we returned from the buffet with full plates!  After another satisfying breakfast, and a cup of coffee, we adjourned to the viewing platform to relax a bit.

After breakfast, we went back to our tent to get our laptops and avail of the Wi Fi service at the lounge area (Wi Fi was available only in the lounge area/deck, but mobile service was available everywhere in the camp, making it a lot easier to stay connected, unlike at Amboseli).

As we lounged, we saw a large herd of elephant on the opposite bank of the river, perhaps 25 or so heading south-east along the river.  Soon, they descended to a small water body in the riverbed, dusted themselves with sand and mud and then bathed in the water.  A Marabou Stork pecked at something on the riverbed; a Gazelle crossed over from the Buffalo Springs bank to the Samburu side; further out, a couple of Pumba sniffed for roots.  Meanwhile, I sat on the deck, periodically clicking away with my camera, sipping at a cool Fanta and taking in the peaceful scene!  Around 11:30am, one of our resident elephants walked by the deck, this time it was a larger one named Mang’ati (Enemy in Swahili).

Soon it was time to eat, again!  After a pleasant lunch, we relaxed some more in the lounge area – an exceedingly pleasant place to hang-out and do nothing.

It was nearing 4pm.  I went to the lounge deck and found David from Gamewatchers wolfing down a meal.  He had just got to Elephant Bedroom Camp after a nearly 8-hour drive from Nairobi and he would be driving us to Lake Elmenteita, guide us through Lake Nakuru and Naivasha and then drop us off in the Masai Mara area a few days hence.  He was also the person bringing that pesky permit to enter the Samburu Reserve!  I sat down with him, and we chatted a little.  He asked if we wanted him to take us out on the game drive that evening, but I declined in favor of making sure he got some rest after the long drive that he had just finished!  What a guy – he looked a little disappointed, but I really felt he should rest a bit.  I asked about arrangements for the evening for him; he indicated that he’d been at this camp plenty of times and they would find him a place to rest up, sleep, shower and ensure he was fed.  He confirmed that we were all set with that permit – he had dropped it off at the Ranger station at the entrance to the Reserve.  With that, we said our goodbyes and agreed to meet at 0730 the following morning for our long drive south.

We found James back at the parking area beside his 4×4 but getting there was interesting!  All three of the resident elephants had decided to take up station beside the path to the Camp entrance and were indulging in some munchies.  We detoured to a second, less-used entrance and made it out to the parking lot safely!  With James were our new arrivals, Joao and Licinia from Portugal.  We introduced ourselves and off we went.

This afternoon, James drove us towards the riverbank.  We saw a few monkeys, one a mother and baby, and then a herd of Giraffe.  Licinia and Joao had this suitcase(!) on the floor of the 4×4 and, from it, Joao extricated this enormous lens for Licinia who, as we learned, was a photography enthusiast.  That lens must have been a good 30 inches long when extended!  We took a few photos of the Giraffe and then navigated along the riverbank where I spotted a Bateleur Eagle grooming itself on the riverbed.

After a little discussion, James then took us straight for the hills at the edge of the reserve.  We were working on the theory that the hills would provide some welcome shade for cats – leopards, cheetahs and lions.  We drove along the edge of a hill and saw many pairs of Dik-Dik, some Gerenuk, and a few Zebras climbing up the hill, but nary a cat was to be seen.  After about an hour of this, we decided to head back to the riverbank to see if any cats were to be found.  Iris and I were curious about Joao and Licinia, so we asked how they met.  Joao said he worked for TAP Air Portugal and piloted A330s, while Licinia was a flight attendant in the very same aircraft!  They frequently made trips to Africa on Safari and lived a hundred kilometres away from Lisbon in Portugal with their teenage daughter.  Another interesting couple.

Just after 6pm, we arrived at the riverbank and hit pay-dirt 5 minutes later.  A pair of lions were surveying the riverbed from the bank, clearly looking for game!  You could tell that because they were not lackadaisical like lion are wont to be when just relaxing.  Instead, they were actively surveying the scene and alert, while a herd of impala on the riverbed foraged, completely oblivious to the attention.  James parked the 4×4 right between the two lions, the male to our left and the female to our right.  After a disdainful look, the male went back to his survey, while the female completely ignored us.  We sat and watched them for a few minutes.  Shortly thereafter, the male (with a collar) rose and walked away toward our camp along the riverbank, while the female continued to sit.  We waited a minute or two and decided to get going ourselves.

James then headed back toward camp but surprised us by driving right past it.  First, we saw more Giraffe and then a raised, open area with vehicles parked on one side, a campfire, a few large tables with drinks, about 20 chairs in a semi-circle around the fire and lots of people sipping away at cocktails!  This was unexpected – we hadn’t really thought that a sundowner was planned, but was a welcome surprise nonetheless!  So, we alighted placed a few hors d’ouevres on a plate, I selected a rum and fruit cocktail and headed for the handful of empty chairs near the fire.  I sat next to a 30 something gentleman with a Cockney accent from the UK (from outside London) who was visiting his Kenyan family.  They lived near Lake Nakuru (we were going there the following day).  We exchanged pleasant conversation as the sun set with a breathtaking, blaze of colors over the hills that border the reserve.

After the drink, everyone stood up and we headed back to our vehicle and the short drive back to camp.  We said goodbye to James as that was the last time we’d be meeting.  We then deposited our gear at the tent, had a quick shower, and headed back to the lounge/dining deck for dinner.  Jennifer served us again – another cup of some fabulous tasting soup followed by a main course that I don’t remember now and with fruit for dessert.  The chef came by to chat and we complimented him on the excellence of his creations!

We were the last to finish up our meal; we checked with Jennifer if she’d be around the next morning (we wanted to say our goodbyes), arranged with Gabriel for coffee and tea to be brought to our tent the next morning at 0600 and headed back for our night’s rest.

The next morning, we were ready early since we had packed the previous night.  We headed off for breakfast at 0630 and were greeted as usual by Jennifer.  After another sumptuous breakfast, we headed off to the manager’s station on the same lounge deck, settled-up our bill, said our goodbyes to Jennifer and Gabriel, and were set to go.  We found David waiting for us, looking well rested and left as planned at 0730.

As we departed, I tried to contrast our trip to Samburu with that to Amboseli.  The differences in terrain, the place we stayed, the animals were stark.  Amboseli was green while Samburu was brown.  Elephant Bedroom Camp was luxurious in comparison to Amboseli.  The animals were somewhat different – the Giraffe, the Zebra, the other Antelopes looked different, but the Cheetah and Lions were much the same, as were the Elephant.  They were completely different experiences, and I wouldn’t miss either of them for the world!  The people were friendly and unfailingly nice and helpful throughout our Safari.  Granted, we were tourists and Tourism is a service industry, but Kenyans have a very wholesome approach to life and people.

As we drove through Samburu Reserve toward the gate, we spotted a Leopard tortoise.  David stopped, and I took a picture with my phone.  It was a fitting way to end our short sojourn at this Reserve.

Shortly thereafter, we left the Reserve, completing the second leg of our Safari, and hit the main highway headed west and south.  We buckled up for our drive and watched the countryside as David drove, looking forward to our visit to the Lake Nakuru area.

Random Tidbits and Musings

• Samburu is populated with unique game – Somali Ostrich and Oryx, in addition to Reticulated Giraffe, Grevy’s Zebra and Gerenuk.  Unfortunately, I got a poor snap of an Oryx facing away from us, and none of the Ostrich.
• The Samburu and Masai tribes are closely related – similar in culture and practices.
• While there are 6 camps on the Reserve, only 3 were open when we visited.  The pandemic has resulted in the other 3 shutting down, at least for the present.  Interestingly, our camp was completely occupied – all 14 tents had guests.
• East Africa, and Kenya in particular, has a huge Indian population.  Everywhere we went, we could have asked for and been served Indian food!  We took a middle ground with that!
• Although I was given to understand that time passes differently in Kenya, i.e., people are not too concerned about being on time and such, so far our trip had run with military precision.  Game drives started on time as did flights, meals etc.  No complaints in that regard (actually, nothing whatsoever to complain about Kenya!).
• Quite a few Kenyans drove to Elephant Bedroom Camp from elsewhere in Kenya (Nairobi, Nakuru etc.) to spend a day or two at the Camp, sort of how we might visit Cape May mid-summer!  How lucky for them to be able to live there and have this kind of access!

(Photos can be found on this Google Photos Album while videos are at this YouTube Channel.)

To be continued…