Breakfast has been good. There is always enough food for 8 but we are only 5 persons so very filling.
We seem to have eager sparrows wanting to share our breakfast. As the windows are open just by the buffet table, they get in and try their luck.
We were given a room just for ourselves whilst everyone else was in tables outside or at the bar. Both for dinner yesterday and breakfast today. It feels like we were segregated but given the best part of the place. We would have welcome to mix with the locals. Maybe they think we wouldn't like.
Samburu is actually a combination of 3 parks: Buffalo Springs National Reserve, Shaba National Reserve and Samburu National Reserve.
We enter the reserve via the Buffalo Springs gate, a very zebra look-a-like gate.
Buffalo Springs is so named because there is a spring at the park. Felix says that the springs were used as a swimming pool by the locals. The water looks crystal clear and very appealing.
The game drive is different from the Masai Mara. The land is dry and flat, but surrounded by beautiful hills, vegetation is sparse and animals are much more spread so more difficult to see. The land is a mix of soil and sand, the predominant rock is now sandstone instead of granite.
In Masai Mara you have safari traffic jams. At one point, as we were seeing the leopard sleep on the tree, there here 15 safari vans surrounding it.
Here, at Samburu, you pass by a van here or there and the maximum we have seen were 4 vans at a location. Samburu is more remote and less popular.
Today the game drive was split: morning and late afternoon. There was a 4h during the hottest time of the day, in which we had lunch and a nap.
Many of the animals we saw in previous parks also live in Samburu: ostrich, impala, tawny eagle, elephants.
The news ones we've seen today are listed below.
EASTERN PALE CHANTING GOSHAWK
Latin: Melierax poliopterus
Swahili: kipanga-mkuu domonjano
GREVY'S ZEBRA
Latin: Equus grevyi
Swahili: punda milia somali
Bigger than the common zebra, with a longer nose and larger ears. It's strips are thinner and do not reach the belly. Felix says it looks more like a horse.
GREATER KUDU
Latin: Tragelaphus strepsiceros
Swahili: tandala mkubwa
Very difficult to see and very shy. Felix says we were very lucky! It's horns are used for communication and music by the local Samburu. Only males have horns, in the picture is a female.
GERENUK
Latin: Litocranius walleri
Swahili: swala twiga or njonga
Also known as the giraffe gazelle.
COMMON WATERBUCK
Latin: Kobus ellipsiprymnus
Swahili: kuru ndogo
KIRK'S DIK-DIK
Latin: Madoqua kirkii
Swahili: digidigi or suguya
They look like rabbits with long legs and shorter ears. Petite and cute!
VULTURINE GUINEAFOWL
Latin: Acrylium vulturinum
Swahili: kicheloko or koiolo-tumbusi
RETICULATED GIRAFFE
Latin: Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata
Swahili: twiga
It differs from the other giraffes by having a dark, chestnut-coloured square patches, outlined with fine white lines.
PIED KINGFISHER
Latin: Ceryle rudis
Swahili: kichi
BROWN SNAKE EAGLE
Latin: Circaetus cinereus
Swahili: tai kijivu
Felix wasn't completely sure which one this eagle was but it looks like this one in my book.
BEISA ORYX
Latin: Oryx beisa callotis
Swahili: choroa
BUFF-CRESTED BUSTARD
Latin: Lophotis gindiana
Swahili: tandawala kishungichekundu
RED-BILLED HORNBILL
Latin: Tockus erythrorhynchus
Swahili: hondohondo domojekundu
SILVER-BACKED (BLACK-BACKED) JACKAL
Latin: Canis mesomelas
Swahili: bweha nyekundu
YELLOW-NECKED SPURFOWL (FRANCOLIN)
Latin: Francolinus leucoscepus
Swahili: kwali shingo-njano
GRANT'S GAZELLE
Latin: Nanger granti
Swahili: swala granti
RED-BILLED OXPECKER
Latin: Buphagus erythrorhynchus
Swahili: shashi domojekundu
Crossing the Ewaso Ngiro river.
All vans are fitted with a radio. The radio is a mean of communication between guides. When one guide spots an animal which is usually difficult to find, they communicate on the radio its location and soon the vans nearby are in the area.
Felix also regularly stops the van to speak to other guides. Although they speak in Swahili, sometimes you can tell he knows the person better and they spend time chatting but other times you can see he's collecting information (what have you seen? where?). It's a good system and denotes cooperation instead of competition.
It was in the late afternoon drive that we managed to see the cats active. In the space of 30min and a radius of 1 mile, we saw a leopard, 5 lions / lionesses and a cheetah. This was at 6pm, close to sunset.
Felix had already told us we needed to leave the park by 6.30pm and then we saw the lions and then the cheetah. It delayed us. He put the foot on the pedal to get to the gate! It was past 6.30pm when we left the park. Apparently, it's park rules that anyone not staying inside the park needs to leave by 6.30pm and anyone staying in the park needs to enter by the same time. This is because after sunset the rangers can't recognise you and will assume that anyone still in and travelling around is a poacher. It could get us in trouble!
On the way back to the accommodation and close to Archers Post we are stopped by the police. We have passed many police check-points along the roads during the day but were only asked to stop once. The police officer didn't look friendly, spoke briefly with Felix, walked around the van checking us out from the outside and let us go.
However, this time was different. There was plenty of conversation with Felix and a couple of phone calls. We were eventually let go. According to Felix, the policeman was doing a thorough job. He called the accommodation to make sure Felix wasn't taking us far in the dark, that indeed we were going to our accommodation a few meters ahead.
It seems that it is dangerous for tourists to be driven after dark. One shouldn't be travelling out of town as the likelihood of having an encounter with unfriendly people is high.
The heat was getting to me. I wasn't dehydrated but had a proper headache and felt exhausted. I decided to miss dinner. According to my companions, I did not miss anything exciting.
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