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Cookswell Jikos
KE
Visited:
April 2016
Reviewed: May 4, 2016
Email Cookswell Jikos | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
On of the best National Reserves in Kenya!
One of the best places I have been in Kenya in 31 years of traveling around Kenya! The wildlife is prefuse and qutie friendly and accustomed to vehicles. The roads are fine as far as park roads go and the river is magnificent! We stayed at the nicest campsite under huge old acacia trees with a very helpful campsite attendant who much to our amazement was able to source cold beers and fresh bread and milk from out of thin air.
The drive to Samburu from Nairobi is an easy one, there is a very good cafe mid-way just before Nanyuki - One Stop Cafe opposite Barneys airfield. Camping and park fee's for what the experience is worth should be much higher as it is in almost all Kenyan parks.
If you want to see the South of the North of Kenya - Samburu is your park - if you dont like camping, Elephant Bedroom Camp is the best place to stay by a mile.
Mary Harvey
GB
Visited:
September 2023
Reviewed: Nov 13, 2023
Email Mary Harvey | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Really awesome with a great variety of scenery and associated wildlife.
Clive Cheeseman
GB
Visited:
September 2011
Reviewed: Apr 7, 2012
50-65 years of age
Enormous variety of animals in one relatively small park
When we arrived at the Samburu Game Lodge we were delighted with the well appointed accomodation under a canvas roof'. The lodges are located within a few yards of the river bank with a decking verandah to view the animals by the riverside. These include monkeys, baboons, black buck and a large family of elephants (on the other side!) not to mention several species of birds including kingfisher. Our lodge was about 100 yards from the main buildings, restaraunt etc., but after the evening meal we were always accompanied to our lodge by one of the security staff with torch, just in case a baboon might be roaming around. Security staff constantly patrolled the perimeter, which made us feel very safe
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The food was buffet style with a variety of cooked meals including good vegetarian choices and was of very good quality. All the staff were extremely friendly and helpful (as we found throughout our tour of Kenya).
When we were there most of the park was very dry and brown (unlike much of Kenya which was surprisingly verdant) but there was plenty of trees and bushes for animal cover. We were very excited at the start of the first ever game drive and were soon rewarded by the sight of several lionesses relaxing in the shade of an acacia tree. On this and subsequent drives we were regularly stopping to take photos of Zebra, Giraffe, Gazelles, various species of antelope, Elephant, Lions patrolling (super photo opportunity), birds (including bee-eater, eagles, goshawk, and various ground birds). It was wonderful to be so close to the animals, which for the most part ignored the presence of the vehicle (a six seat minibus). We saw more and more variety on each game drive and were lucky enough to spot a Leopard on the way back from our very last drive - Wow!
I recommend a long lens for your camera to get those close up and intimate shots and I found a camera bean bag for supporting the lens to be essential to avoid camera shake. All in all Samburu was a fantastic introduction to the Kenyan safari and I highly recommend a visit to this lovely place. We are looking forward to another safari trip in a few years time.
TheMrskoko
US
Visited:
August 2010
Reviewed: Aug 4, 2012
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beautiful Safari, Exotic Animals
We went to Africa for our honeymoon/first anniversary. Samburu was our first stop and it did not disappoint. We stayed at Saruni Samburu and it was amazing! Highly recommend it! Our suite overlooked a watering hole and the African plains. It was indoor/outdoor and huge with dining and living areas seperate from the bedroom and bath. The staff took amazing care of us while we were there.
The safari was great we saw leopard and her cub, lionesses hanging out in a tree, crocs, ellies and countless others. We rarely saw another car. It felt like we had the entire reserve to ourselves. Highly recommend Samburu National Reserve. It has five types of animals you will not see anywhere else.