Wildlife Safaris
Masai Mara Game Reserve
Covering an area of over 1,500 square km, the Masai Mara National Reserve is one of the most popular tourism destinations in Kenya. The reserve is located in the Great Rift Valley in primarily open grassland. Wildlife tends to be most concentrated on the reserve’s western escarpment...
The swampy land provides more access to water and less access to tourists. The eastern end is closest to Nairobi and hence easier to access by tourists. The Masai Mara is regarded as the jewel of Kenya’s wildlife viewing areas. The annual wildebeests migration alone involves over 1.5 million animals arriving in July and departing in November.
There have been some 95 species of mammals, amphibians and reptiles and over 400 birds species recorded on the reserve. Nowhere in Africa is wildlife more abundant, and it is for this reason a visitor hardly misses to see the big five (buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion, and rhino). Other game include hippopotami, cheetah, Grant’s gazelle, impala, topi, Coke’s hartebeest, giraffe, Roan antelope and the nocturnal bat-eared fox. However wildebeest are by far the dominant inhabitants of the Masai Mara.
Their numbers are estimated in the millions. The Great Migration starts in July each year when well over one million wildebeest along with large numbers of Thompson’s Gazelle, zebra and other herbivores migrate from the Serengeti plains in Tanzania to fresh pastures in the north and then back south again in October.
Samburu National Reserve
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 reserve lies within ecological zone V – which is classified as arid and semiarid 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 18º C and 30ºC, 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 Ewaso Nyiro River, 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 referred 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 thisunique protected area. Birdlife is abundant with over 450
species recorded. Birds of the arid northern bush country are augmented by a number of riverine forest species.
The Lesser Kestrel and the Taita Falcon are species of global conservation concern and they both utilise the reserve. Five species categorized as vulnerable have also been recorded in the reserve.
These are the African darter, great egret, white-headed vulture, martial eagle and the yellowbilled ox-pecker. The critically
endangered pancake tortoise (malacochersus tornieri) is also found in the reserve.
Nairobi National Park
Nairobi National Park is unique by being the only protected area in the world with a variety of animals and birds close to a capital city. The park is a principal attraction for visitors to Nairobi.
The park also serves many residents and citizens living in the city. It has a diversity of environments with characteristic fauna and flora. Open grass plains with scattered acacia bush are predominant. The western side has a highland dry forest and a permanent river with a riverine forest in the south.
In addition, there are stretches of broken bush country and deep, rocky valleys and gorges with scrub and long grass. Man-made dams also attract water dependent herbivores during the dry season. The park has a rich/diverse birdlife with 400 species recorded. However all species are not always present and some are seasonal. Northern migrants pass through the park primarily during late March through April.
Tsavo East National Park
Tsavo National Park is the largest park in Kenya and was established on 1st April, 1948. Tsavo National Park was split into East and West for administrative purposes. The two Parks are divided by Nairobi–Mombasa railway and road.
The park has an interesting and diverse history including: the Waliangulu and Kamba tribes used the park as a hunting ground prior to gazettement; the first European to see Mount Kenya, Rev. Dr. L. Krapf, journeyed on foot through this area in 1848; during the construction of the railway bridge over the Tsavo River in 1898, lions (the famed maneaters of Tsavo) terrorised the workers, killing over 130 people before being killed by Col. J.H.Patterson.
During World War I, British forces built fortresses along Tsavo river to counter threats from invading German soldiers from Tanganyika (now Tanzania); the European explorer Captain Lugards a European explorer passed through the area on his way to Uganda. Tsavo East is an easily accessible and very popular Park as is indicated by the high number of tourists.
Some of the attractive scenic features include large herds of elephant and other wildlife and striking natural landscapes and structures.
Lake Nakuru National Park
Lake Nakuru is a shallow strongly alkaline lake set in a picturesque landscape of surrounding woodland and grassland. The landscape includes areas of marsh and grasslands alternating with rocky cliffs and outcrops, stretches of acacia woodland and rocky hillsides covered with a Euphorbia forest.
The lake’s catchment is bounded by Menengai crater to the north, the Bahati hills to the north east, the lion hill ranges to the east, eburu crater to the south and the mau escarpment to the west. Three rivers, the Njoro, Makalia and Enderit drain into the lake. Lake Nakuru was first gazetted as a bird sanctuary in 1960 and upgraded to National Park status in 1968.
A northern extension was added to the park in 1974 and the lake was designated as a Ramsar site in 1990. The foundation of the park’s food chains is the cyanophyte spirulina platensis which can support huge numbers of lesser flamingo. During peak season over one million flamingos congregate on the lake plus half a million pelicans.
The Park also contains Kenya’s largest population of rhinos.The surface of the lake occupies about a third of the park. The lake supports a dense bloom of the blue-green Cyanophyte Spirulina platensis from which it derives its colour. It is a food source for flamingos. The lake is fringed by alkaline swamps with areas of sedge, cyprus laevigatus and typha marsh along the river inflows and springs. The surrounding areas support a dry transitional savanna with lake margin grasslands.
Amboseli National Park
Amboseli lies immediately north-west of Mount Kilimanjaro, on the border with Tanzania. The Park covers 392 square km, and forms part of the much larger 3,000 square km Amboseli ecosystem. Large concentrations of wildlife occur here in the dry season, making Amboseli a popular tourist destination. It is surrounded by six communally owned group ranches.
The National Park embodies five main wildlife habitats (open plains, acacia woodland, rocky thorn bush country, swamps and marshland) and covers part of a Pleistocene lake basin, now dry. Within this basin is a temporary lake, Lake Amboseli, that floods during years of heavy rainfall. Amboseli is famous for its big game and its great scenic beauty – and the landscape is dominated by the towering Mount Kilimanjaro.
Major Attractions: Mount Kilimanjaro; Observation Hill which allows an overall view of the whole park especially the swamps and elephants; Swamp below observation hill hosts many elephants, buffaloes, hippos and a variety of water fowl like pelican; Egyptian goose; contemporary Maasai culture and indigenous lifestyle; herds of elephants.
Wildlife: Amboseli has over 80 different mammals to be found ranging from the tiny (and rarely seen) spectacled elephant shrew to the huge bulk of the African elephant. Few visitors will go home without superb elephant pictures with Kilimanjaro as a backdrop. There are over 400 bird species.
Getting there - By Road: The main road into the park is from Nairobi via Namanga (240 km) on the Nairobi-Arusha Road, via Meshanani Gate. The road is tarmaced up to Namanga but is murram from Namanga to Meshanani Gate (75km).
The other road is via Emali (228 km) on the Nairobi- Mombasa Road. The road is tarmaced up to Emali and murram from Emali to Remito Gate (64 km) Access from Mombasa is mainly through Tsavo West via Kimana (Olkelunyiet) Gate.
