Samburu or Amboseli ..?
 

Fellow travellers,
doing Mara and Nakuru, what would be the best addition in an organized 7 day safari for a person eager to see
wildlife (especially large cats), not being crazy about Kili and wanting to have some privacy during his observation?
I have heard Amboseli can be quite touristy but has better gameviewing.Is it? It seems like both are equally time and money demanding.
Any opinions or experience welcome..thanks again..
all the best

Samburu. Much higher likelihood of seeing big cats, especially cheetahs and leopards. I have been there but not to Ambo. My readings of postings on this board have given me this impression. Anyone been to both and have an opinion? We really enjoyed Samburu.

Kevin

we were just at both parks and at Amboseli we saw 2 lions and some elephants. At Samburu we didn't see any cats at all, as a huge herd of elephants had just moved in. I guess sometimes it just timing. Some people i know were in samburu 2 days before us and they saw lion, cheetah and leopard.

are you flying or driving to the parks? i think that makes a difference as we did some of both and i'm really glad we flew to some as the driving can be rather long sometimes.

Depending on what month you are going, to increase the odds of cats, you could spend more time in the Mara. That would save the time/money of transportation.

Out of Samburu or Amboseli, based on your comments, I'd pick Samburu.

on my trip i saw lionesses and elephants and cheetah (with cubs) and more elephants and hippos and birds of prey and jackals and hyena and caracaol (spelling?) and rhinos and the usual zebras and probably giraffe (can;t recall) all in a 2 night trip to amboseli.

i didn't go to samburu, though.

kerikeri :)

Hi mkinafrica

I would personally choose Samburu !
{i have been to both parks many times}
maybe not for the reasons you specify...
<font color="gray">&quot;eager to see wildlife &quot;</font>
It is a very special park, fauna-wise.
Animals you won't see elsewhere on your safari (neither fron Tanzania to the Cape)
Fantastic birdlife. You shall enjoy it even if you have other pre-concepts...

<font color="gray">&quot;(especially large cats)&quot;</font>
about cats:
Samburu is a very good place to see Leopard, better chances than Mara.
Never seen a leopard in Amboseli...
You can see Lion Cheetah &amp; Leopard on one tour but u may also miss all.
Still you'll enjoy it

aby

Kerikeri - Caracal (Turkish &quot;black ears&quot;)

Well you do not have to spend so much money it depnds some agents can tailor make a safari depending on your budget
but time consuming it will be. Yes amboseli has better game viewing.

SAMBURU would be my first choice. We have been to both in Feb. 06. Saw no cats at Amboseli. It was very dry, driving across the lake bed with huge dust storms and very little wildlife. The eles have destroyed most of the vegetation and large parts of the park were quite bare. Samburu on the other hand was fascinating and quite different from the Serengeti. Animals like the orxy, grevys zebra, gerenuk, reticulate giraffe and many different birds you will not see at other places.
The cats we saw were several leopard, cheetah, many lions with cubs.

cj

With 7/days and driving only, you can visit Samburu, Nakuru and the Mara, but a good portion of your time will be on the road getting to/from/between the three.

You can drive from Nairobi to Samburu (5+ hrs), need min 2/days; drive to Nakuru (4/hrs. min) will be able to get in an afternoon game drive 1/nt; then drive to the Mara (6+ hrs) for the remaining time. You can then drive back to NBO or give yourself a present and fly.

As to how much privacy anywhere can depend on time when you are traveling and if with private guide, his being intuned to your wanting to be alone can arrange to do so as best as can be anywhere.

Do remember, regardless where you visit, there is no guarantee you will see all species on a single trip.

BTW
anybody noticed any change since the decision to make Amboseli N.P. a National Reserve ?
http://saveamboseli.net/

(&quot;a date for the court hearing has at last been set for 14th March 2007.&quot;}

thanks for the spelling, aby!

Been to both parks twice. If you have the time (and can visit only one), for many reasons, visit Samburu.

Once you go (to either) you'll want to return. Happy travels!