Samburu & Ele Watch Camp ?s: Aby , Jan Goss or others
 

Aby, somewhere you stated that you felt some camps were better situated than others in Samburu. Can you elaborate?

Jan, When you were at Elephant Watch Camp, did you feel there was enough just plain safari time in addition to seeing the elephants? Do you think a 4 night stay at Elephant Watch Camp would allow for a well rounded Samburu safari? Did you see any gerenuk?

Anything else you two or others would like to contribute would be great. Thank you.

Lynn-
Good question.
I'm anxious to hear the answers too as I'm trying to get my plans finalized.

Aby,
I know you're out there because you recently posted something about Tanzania tips.

Sorry, Lynn my dear
(i have 3 good excuses, one of them is that i was trying to understand <b> where is &quot;Elephant Watch&quot;? </b> then had to go out)

Intro I
I think sometimes we are being carried away by 'micro-analysis' of different factors, forgetting that
one other [random] factor - chance/luck is usually far more significant

Intro' II
Samburu (incl. Buffalo Springs) is a relatively small park. So anywhere you stay enables you to reach any part of the park you'd like

That said, we can talk about the &quot;micro&quot;:
Personally, i'd prefer to be near the bridge so you have quicker access to both parts of the park.
That means Samburu Game lodge and Serena.
Sopa lodge if i understand from a small map i've found is located on the ex-Buffalo Springs lodge. a long way from the bridge (e.g. if the radio reports action near Larsen'sit is a rather long drive)
Intrepids, at a rather western corner, has a specific road for in &amp; out which may take together ~1/2 hour. i've had the feeling it shortens the shorter (e.g. PM ) Game Drives which are normally 2.5-3 hours (e.g. 15:30/16:00-18:30PM).
Since those mean leopards have this habit of descending rhe tree when u r about to return to the lodge (or 5 minutes after your 400ASA is no longer effective), an extra 15-20 minutes drive.
Sopa, &amp; to a certain extent Larsen's will have less traffic around them.
When comparing Serena to Sam' Game Lodge - remember Serena is out of the Park, though still close, But has an opportunity of seeing more Samburu people around the lodge and on the road...
In another thread, someone said Larsen's is in the center of the Park.
This is true if u look at the map of Samburu, but if u consider the location of the bridge the &quot;center&quot; shifts...
Shaba is a &quot;Sister&quot;-Park a bit to the east. you canstill visit B.S. &amp; Samburu too... Generally less game but less tourists as well

<font color="gray"> Again' i must stress, this is &quot;fine-tuning&quot; ... </font>
Take a breakfast box, leave the lodge earlier &amp; you shall visit most corners

Lynn - i hope it helps
Aby

P.S.
<b> where is &quot;Elephant Watch&quot;? </b>
I really cannot understand a serious internet-site without a map !!
You need a scouting unit to get intelligence:
well, it is under Kigelia &amp; Acacia trees...
On the Uaso Nyiru River...
<i> It's elementary Dr. Watson ! </i> that means: out of the park !

Hi

Samburu &amp; Laikipia MAPS

Samburu/Buffalo Springs Lodges locations (without Sopa – maybe at the former B.S. Lodge site??) http://www.shoortravel.com/samburumap.html

&quot;Elepant Watch&quot; location
The Laikipia Plateau (LWF – Laikipia Wildlife Forum ltd.) map of camps: http://www.laikipia.org/map-of-laikipia.htm

aby

PS i'm collecting maps for a specific map thread - soon to come

We very much enjoyed staying at Larsen's in August. It took us only about 10 minutes to drive to the bridge and so I do not think being that much closer is any real advantage. In fact, we drove around just across the river from one of the lodges several times, so not very private. At Larsen's, never saw a vehicle across the river from the camp. Great place.

Kevin

ttt

Thanks for the responses!

well, KEVIN, on second thought, you are RIGHT
i'm dropping all accusations, and clearing the name of Larsen's.
(usually on game-drives along the river (meandering roads) ofthis part takes me eons... )

aby

i wanted to go back &amp; rewrite the protocol, but my lawyer said since it was a fine-tuning of 'micro' differences, i'm immune from malpractice suit

Elephant Watch is the westernmost camp on the Samburu side (toward West gate) but I don't think that Samburu is large enough that location is as much of an issue as it would be in some other parks. I visited the camp and asked them about their game drives. They said that they focus on both the general wildlife and elephant families and it's also dependent on clients' interests.

Sopa is also on the Samburu side and is north of Intrepids up a hill. We didn't visit that one but it's not on the river. They built a brand new lodge.

The ex-Buffalo Springs lodge as far as I know is still ex-Buffalo Springs but there's talk of re-opening it. Until it re-opens, Serena is still the only lodge on the BS side.

Patty
Thanx for the info on Sopa
but see this map
http://www.safari.go2africa.com/acco...ompage~samburu
according to it, the Sopa is at the ex-BS site... could it be that they first took over that one, than decided to build a new one ??

aby

What I heard was that negotiations by Sopa to take over the ex-BS lodge fell through and that's why they decided to build a new lodge on the Samburu side.

Patty, your extensive camp watching is <b>very</b> interesting.

Thanks to all the members of my investigation team for getting right on this urgent matter. Patty was even dispatched for a site visit!