Samburu, Buffalo Springs & Shaba National Reserves

Area-(Samburu): 104 square kilometres

Area-(Buffalo Springs): 131 square kilometres

Area-(Shaba): 145 square kilometers

By Road : 5 hours from Nairobi

By Air: Daily Nairobi/Samburu/Nairobi

All three Reserves offer unique vistas of rounded and rugged hills and undulating plains. The mix of wood and grassland with riverine forest and swamp is home to a wide variety of animal and birdlife. Game viewing and visibility is excellent. Game includes the following animals unique to this area - Reticulated giraffe, Grevy's zebra, Somali ostrich, gerenuk. Other animals include elephant, oryx, hippo, crocodile, buffalo, lion, leopard, cheetah and hyena. Recently (January 2002), in a radical departure from its instincts, a lioness protected a baby oryx, which it would ordinarily have killed for a meal, escorting it around the Samburu wildlife reserve. Unfortunately the oryx fell prey to another lion and was killed. The same lion adopted another baby oryx a few days later, however the Kenya Wildlife Society had to intervene as the oryx was too weak to survive and they separated the couple?. is this the end or will the tale continue? Shaba National Reserve, known as the "Born Free" country is a semi desert reserve, located some 100 kms north of the equator, was made famous by Joy Adamson and her lioness Elsa. The park is also notable for its hotsprings.