brnscrap

Next month (September) we will be traveling to Kenya and are thinking about including Samburu with our Maasai Mara safari plans.

What are your thoughts about Samburu? Is it different from the Maasai Mara and other safari parks? Are there mosquitoes there now? Is it more dangerous being there or getting there compared with the southern parks? Thank you for any information.

kimburu

Type Samburu into the search and se what you get but I am pretty sure nobody has a bad word to say about the place

Nyamera

Hi Brnscrap,
Samburu is a beautiful park with most of the action concentrated to the Ewaso Ngiro River. It’s more arid than the Mara. Animals you wont see in the Mara but in Samburu are northern specialities like Grevy’s zebra, the reticulated giraffe, the Somali ostrich and arid specialities like gerenuk, oryx and kudu. Years ago it used to be considered dangerous, but now “things” that happen seem to happen in the Mara. I saw, and was bitten by, mosquitoes in June last year.
And I saw wild dogs in Samburu!

safaridude

In my opinion, Samburu is a great complement to Maasai Mara. You will see "northern species" that you will not see at the Mara. There are a few more mosquitos there than at the Mara, but if you wear long sleeves and use DEET, you will be perfectly safe. I think Samburu is 100% safe if you fly in (there has been minor incidents on roads in Kenya).

stakerk

Absolutely recommend. We were there earlier in the month. The game viewing was great. We stayed and Larsen's and were pampered. Very nice. Following is link to our photos:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...0&y=xznihu

Kevin from California

sandi

If traveling in Sept, it's still considered winter, so when cold during mossie biting time - dusk to dawn - if windy, mossies not likely to be a problem. Of course, around water all kinds of flying things can be an issue. So as long as you use repellent on exposed skin, wear long pants and sleeves during biting time, you should be fine.

Samburu isn't any more dangerous that someplace in your home town. And definitely you will find Samburu different than the Mara, and lots of elephants.

Where else are you stopping on your itinerary?

simbakubwa

Are you choosing Samburu instead of Amboseli? Perhaps you might find Amboseli a little "different" as it has Mt. Kilimanjaro and closer to Nairobi.

I'm not sure if most people prefer Amboseli or Samburu ???

brnscrap

It sounds like Samburu would definitely be a good addition to our trip. Our current thought is to go to Samburu by safari van instead of plane. How long is the drive from Nairobi to Samburu? We will have enough time for two nights there.

We are spending one night at the Ark, one night at Sarova Lion Hill Lodge at Lake Nakuru, and three nights in the Mara.
We are still working on lodging in the Mara ... any comments on reasonable lodging/tenting with better wildlife viewing would be appreciated.
Before arriving in Kenya, we will spend w nights in Dubai. And upon returning home we will stopover again. Emirates Air does not add costs for stopovers in Dubai so we thought it would be a good opportunity to visit.
Stakerk ... your pictures are beautiful. Thank you for sharing. Samburu looks very much as I pictured Kenya. Were you using a 100 or 200mm telephoto?

JanGoss

brnscrap:

By all means do Samburu. You will love it. However, I would definitely fly from Wilson Airport rather than driving. Flying will get you there in 45 minutes while driving will take 6 - 8 hours over terrible roads.

sandi

Flying would be nice, but from The Ark you can easily drive to Samburu. It's about 3-hours. Then on leaving Samburu, though a long drive, you can visit Lake Nakuru, before heading to the Mara. If you are leaving next month and don't have lodging in the Mara, you may just have to take what's available.