Samburu Archive
Overland Samburu is OUTlawed
Posted by jimheck in "Modern" Africa, Safety, Samburu on September 7, 2011
Just as Russia’s leap into modernity created a powerful mafia, so it now appears that Kenya’s is doing the same. And for travelers this unfortunately means you can no longer travel overland north of Mt. Kenya. I’ve found myself becoming peculiarly cautious in my golden years, so I reflect when I was a twenty-something year [...]
Kenya’s Bridge to NoWhere NoHow
Posted by jimheck in Politics, Samburu, Wildlife Management on December 2, 2010
One little bridge has been repaired in Kenya’s cockamamie system of big game parks. Is this Kenya’s Bridge to Nowhere? To no fan fare whatever the bridge over the Ewaso Nyiro River was reopened on Saturday, theoretically reconnecting the two big game parks of Samburu and Buffalo Springs. The key word here is “theoretically.” This [...]
Samburu Struggles
Samburu was devastated by the flash flood of February. It can recover, but only if the authorities act quickly, now. We spent the entire morning of Day 4 on the Cronan family safari in Samburu. I’ve always loved the place, and this morning was no exception. We weren’t even out of the private Kalama Reserve [...]
Beautiful Saruni
Posted by jimheck in OnSafari, Planning Travel, Samburu on June 2, 2010
The new Chinese road has made travel from the Aberdare to Samburu easy, just like in the old days. More for less, again! On the third day of our Cronan safari we left The Ark after a wonderful night which included sightings of all the regulars (lots, and lots, and lots of elephant; buffalo, hyaena, [...]
When is the best time for Samburu?
Posted by jimheck in Advice, Planning Travel, Samburu on November 2, 2009
From angie@ Q. When is the best time to visit Samburu and the northern frontier areas, like Laikipia? A. These beautiful areas just west and further north of Mt. Kenya include two actually different ecological zones, and so the answer is just a bit different depending upon which zone you have in mind. The southern [...]
Dry Samburu
The weather in the Northern Frontier continues to tease us in a mean way, and I fear that a real drought has taken hold. It use to be that droughts came about every ten years, were horrible for about two years, then quickly faded into memory. The last 4-5 years in East Africa has not [...]
Fantastic Samburu
Dry Samburu gives us great game viewing! It’s a real fallacy that the dry season is better for game viewing than the wet season. I think this myth was propagated by safari companies who didn’t have the right equipment capable of driving over slippery roads or getting out of mud. Wet areas draw the animals, [...]