Samburu-Isiolo National Reserve, Kenya

31 August 2007

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Miracles! The driver from Gametrackers who came to pick me up in the morning for our seven hour drive to Samburu-Isiolo National Reserve, found the hotel and we managed to leave on time. I discovered that I was to be the only guest for the 5-day safari, which I found appealing as it would allow me to conduct the game drives themselves. But it turned out be a bit of a mixed blessing as the driver and the cook spent nearly the whole time prattering away in Swahili and I was left to my own devices. Not a bad thing in itself, but given that there was no electricity (so no editing on the PC) and hardly another soul around, it was at times a bit much.

The drive itself was uneventful, though my backside was more than just a little sore by the time we arrived into the combined Samburu and Isiolo Game Reserves. Over the next 36 hours we puttered around happily in the reserve. Though the light was generally not that great (East Africa has had a great deal of unseasonal rain recently and this led to a great deal of cloud during the whole Kenya trip), I still managed to get some decent shots, and was especially happy to see three new species – Grevy’s Zebra, which is much larger than the standard Plains Zebra and is more akin to a Wild Ass than a Horse – Kirk’s Did-dik, which is a diminutive and very cute antelope – and the slightly bizarre Gerenuk, a dry-bush antelope which generally stands on its back legs when feeding from the trees.

As an aside, on our way up to Samburu we crossed the equator and stopped for lunch where I was treated to a demonstration of the Coriolis Effect, showing that 20m north of the equator the water goes down the drain in a counter-clock-wise direction, 20m south of the equator clockwise, and right at the equator (you guessed it) neither.

Here is what the guide book says about Samburu:

Samburu National park is part of a lava plain that includes a diverse landscape of thorn scrub, red dirt, dried river beds, broken volcanic rock, steep hills, and rocky outcrops. The region is home to the uncommon Grev’s zebra with huge furry ears, gerenuk antelope standing on hind legs to feed, Somali ostriches with distinct blue legs and the shy Oryx. Elephant and crocodile are guaranteed sightings, excellent bird watching with numerous varieties of weaverbirds and the martial eagle. Leopard sighting is also a special feature here. Great variety of strange sub-desert animal and plant life is what makes Samburu famous

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