Today is devoted to birding in Kenya’s hot and arid Samburu National Reserve, with early morning and late afternoon birding drives.
Your game drives will be in either the Samburu, Buffalo Springs or Shaba National Reserves, depending on the location of your lodge. Wildlife roams freely between these three vast protected areas situated within tribal lands controlled by the colourful and semi-nomadic Samburu people, who are close relatives of the Maasai, and the Borana tribe.
Birding is excellent with over 350 different species. Special birds to look out for include the Somali bee-eater, African pygmy falcon, Taita fiscal, Black-bellied sunbird, Golden-breasted starling, Orange-bellied parrot, Pink-breasted lark, Fawn-coloured lark, Vulturine guineafowl, Von der Decken’s hornbill, Eastern yellow-billed hornbill, Northern red-billed hornbill, near endemic Donaldson-Smith’s sparrow weaver, Black-capped social weaver, Chestnut weaver and Chestnut sparrow. Also look out for the Verreaux’s eagle-owl, Pearl-spotted owlet, Lichtenstein’s sandgrouse, Black-faced sandgrouse, Helmeted guineafowl, Somali fiscal, Pringle’s puffback, Dodson’s bulbul and Fischer’s starling. Raptors you hope to see include the Tawny eagle, Martial eagle, the rare Verreaux’s eagle, Lanner falcon, Lesser kestrel, Common kestrel, Eastern chanting goshawk, Palm-nut vulture, Lappet-faced vulture and Hooded vulture.
Samburu is also home to a variety of wildlife, some mostly found only north of the equator - including the strange gerenuk, which stands upright on its spindly hind legs to browse from trees, the large Grevy's zebra, the reticulated giraffe, beisa oryx and Somali ostrich. Crocodiles can be found in the broad Ewaso Ngiro River, as well as large herds of elephants that wander along its banks. You can also hope to see lion, cheetah, leopard, Grant’s gazelle, the small dik dik and waterbuck, amongst others.