Samburu National Reserve is one of the lesser-known national parks, but is nevertheless teeming with life. Situated alongside the Ewaso Nyiro River, there is plenty to attract wildlife from the surrounding savannah plains. The reserves within the ecological zone V – which is classified as arid and semi arid with a moisture index of 42 to 57, which indicates that evapo-transpiration is greater than available moisture.

The days are extremely hot while the nights are cool. The annual mean temperatures range between 18 degrees C and 30 degrees C, while the mean annual rainfall is 345 mm with peaks in November and April. The dry season starts in late May, and goes up to early October when a large concentration of wildlife is found in the reserve due to availability of lush vegetation along the main source of water to the reserve and the nearby communities.

The reserve is rich in wildlife with an abundance of rare northern specialist species such as the Grevy’s zebra, Somali ostrich, reticulated giraffe, gerenuk and the beisa oryx (also reffered to as Samburu special five). The reserve is also popular with a minimum of 900 elephants. Large predators such as the lion, leopard and cheetah are an important attraction (Kamunyak the miracle lioness that adopted the baby oryx is a resident in the reserve). Wild dog sightings are also a common attraction to this unique protected area. Birdlife is abundant with over 450 species recorded. Birds of the arid northern bush country of riverine forest species of global conservation concern and they both utilize the reserve. Five species categorized as vulnerable in the reserve. These are African darter, great egret, white-headed vulture martial eagle and the yellow billed ox-pecker. The critically endangered pancake tortoise (malacochersus tornieri) is also found in the reserve.

There are various activities that visitors can engage in while residing at the reserve. These activities include:

Game drives

Bird watching

Sundowners

Bush breakfast

Guided nature walks

River rafting

Cultural tours to local Samburu villages