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User Reviews of Samburu National Reserve (81 Reviews)

Samburu Safaris Samburu National Reserve
Sort By: Date Most Helpful 21-30 of 62 Reviews

Average User Rating

4.7654 / 5 4.8 /5
4.7000 / 5 4.5375 / 5 4.5065 / 5 4.3860 / 5

Rating Breakdown

5 star 62 / 10 62
4 star 19 / 10 19
3 star 0 / 10 0
2 star 0 / 10 0
1 star 0 / 10 0
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Avatar icon Senthil Kenya flag KE       Visited: December 2015 Reviewed: Jan 3, 2016

Email Senthil

amazing

5 / 5 5 /5

About wildlife I saw all the animals. I saw leopard which I never seen other parks. Different weather than nairobi. Food is very good. Stayed at umoja camp nice one. Peter who organised the safari. Very nice person. Thanks for Peter he done everything arranged good at samburu.

Female avatar icon Debbie United States flag US       Visited: July 2014 Reviewed: Oct 15, 2015

Email Debbie  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

5 / 5 5 /5
5 / 5 5 / 5 4 / 5 5 / 5

Everything was great.

Male avatar icon M S Ranganathan India flag IN       Visited: September 2015 Reviewed: Oct 10, 2015

Email M S Ranganathan  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

5 / 5 5 /5
5 / 5 5 / 5 5 / 5 5 / 5

The one place to spot gravey's Zebra.

Male avatar icon Shamir Zavahir Sri Lanka flag LK       Visited: August 2015 Reviewed: Sep 1, 2015

Email Shamir Zavahir  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

Lion kingdom

5 / 5 5 /5
5 / 5 4 / 5 5 / 5 5 / 5

Samburu is one of those places which just surprise you right from the word go. Literally 2 minutes into driving into he park, we spotted two cheetahs lounging in the shade. The wildlife in this park is just fabulous - from the herds of elephants, the giraffes, zebra and the birdlife. However, the highlight was the lion sightings. Absolutely breathtaking!
Samburu also gives you stunning sunrises and sunsets. The photographs look like they were taken straight out of the 'Lion King'.
All in all, a park you cannot afford to miss if you're visiting kenya. It will certainly give you memories of a lifetime.

Male avatar icon denis Kenya flag KE       Visited: July 2015 Reviewed: Aug 19, 2015

Email denis  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

5 / 5 5 /5
5 / 5 5 / 5 5 / 5 3 / 5

great national park with abundant wildlife and beautiful sceneries

Female avatar icon Kristine United States flag US       Visited: July 2015 Reviewed: Aug 9, 2015

Email Kristine  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Visit Samburu to experience authentic East Africa.

5 / 5 5 /5
5 / 5 5 / 5 5 / 5 4 / 5

Exceptionally beautiful scenery, people, and wildlife encounters. We stayed at Samburu Lodge, staffed by friendly Kenyans and many local Samburu people. The rooms, lodge, and food were all outstanding without being pretentious. We felt like we were in a place that had not yet been discovered. We will definitely return. I would recommend staying for 3 nights, and consider flying in our out. The drive from Nairobi is a long one, but worth a one-way trip as you will see many interesting people and landscapes along the way. Next time we would probably fly directly to Masai Mara from the Samburu airstrip instead of driving.

Male avatar icon Extreme Travel Romania Romania flag RO       Visited: February 2015 Reviewed: Apr 18, 2015

Email Extreme Travel Romania  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

A true wildlife experience

5 / 5 5 /5
5 / 5 5 / 5 5 / 5 / 5

Cheetah, lions, elephants and a lot of antelopes in a beautiful scenery, plus the colorful Samburu tribes.
I recommend the overnight tented camps.

Male avatar icon Mark Hancock United Kingdom flag GB       Visited: July 2011 Reviewed: Aug 13, 2012

Email Mark Hancock  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Fanstastic experience which exceeded our expectations.

5 / 5 5 /5
4 / 5 5 / 5 5 / 5 5 / 5
My wife, 14 year old son and I stayed at Samburu Intrepids camp and were treated like royalty from the moment we arrived to the moment we boarded our safari plane to leave. I cannot think of anything we didn't like about the camp. We had a safari jeep and a guide, whose name was Jelly, all to ourselves. Jelly was excellent and went out of his way to find the animals for us. Before every game drive he would ask if there was any particular animal we wanted to see and he never failed to find the animals we mentioned. The scenery was beautiful with hills and escarpments and the wildlife was plentiful but we often felt like we were the only people on safari there. Usually only when there was a 'special' sighting would we see other safari vehicles and we sometimes had these special sightings all to ourselves. Like the time we watched 3 cheetahs from the same family behaving aggresively towards another lone cheetach, a video of which is on YouTube. I have rated every aspect of the
Read more safari as 5 stars apart from the wildlife which I gave 4 and that is only because we also went to the Masai Mara where the wildlife was even more plentiful.
Male avatar icon Le Caylar United Kingdom flag GB       Visited: December 2010 Reviewed: Apr 16, 2012

Varied, remote country from rugged hills via dusty slopes down to the river. Flora & fauna to match.

5 / 5 5 /5
5 / 5 4 / 5 4 / 5 3 / 5

Samburu has varied country from the rocky hills, through the dry and dusty slopes down to the Ewaso Ng'iro river. The fauna and flora were equally varied but there was evidence of stress from the changing climate. Samburu had suffered from drought and then, around the river, serious floods.
Our trip was just off-season so the park had few vehicles and the lodge had few guests. We saw big game (lion, cheetah, elephant etc) and numerous smaller animals. Although some trees had died, there were signs of recovery and those in flower were beautiful. The clear air meant it was easy to see birds.
The park is remote, from an outsider's point of view. We reached it by plane from Nairobi Wilson to Samburu airport and were picked up by a Samburu Lodge vehicle. So the first game drive was on the way to the Lodge! The guide was excellent. Later, we witnessed the aftermath of a kill, returning several times to see the animals and birds that turned up at different times.
The accommodation was excellent; food and service couldn't be faulted.

Male avatar icon michi_z Germany flag DE       Visited: November 2009 Reviewed: Apr 15, 2012

Email michi_z  |  35-50 years of age

Hidden Secret

5 / 5 5 /5
5 / 5 4 / 5 5 / 5 5 / 5
Samburu and ist sister Buffalo Springs are bit off the big tourist stream.
Maybe they a bit far in the north or the klimate is considered as too hot. I do not know.
There are a number of good reasons to stay there for some days just discovering and ejoying nature.
Both parks are divided by the Ewaso Ngiro river which is the only contant source of water in this dry area. Just spot a long the river a wait till the animals are coming for drink or bath. The elephants aren't shy and from a certain distance their interesting social behaviour can be observated. Further, the beauty retuculated giraffe, beisa oryx antelopes, the blue leged somali ostrich, the big grevy zebra and the gerenuk (long necke iraffe antelope) can be seen, but not to be found in the southern more popular parks. Samburu is a good place for spotting leopards (7 times in 4 days including a mother with a cub). Also Lions are in area. Further wildlife is al around just stop, be quiet, take time and
Read more enjoy.
Ony a few lodges and camps can be found in Samburu. It appears as a bit a remote place.
I am looking for wildlife and not so much interested in stars or whatever ratings of the lodges. There might be more exclusive and luxurious places.
The park is operated by the local Samburu community and was in 2009 in a good shape. Unlike other parks, no cattle was found grazing within the park. The staff was always friendly and helpful.