At a glance
The Samburu National Reserve was one of the two areas in which conservationists George and Joy Adamson raised Elsa the Lioness, made famous in the best-selling book and award-winning movie Born Free. The Elephant Watch Camp, of which Saba Douglas-Hamilton is director, lies within the par and birds over 450 species recorded.

Detailed trip itinerary
Day 1: Samburu National Reserve, Ashnil Samburu (Fullboard)
Meet and greet at hotel reception or at the Jomo Kenya International Airport and be transferred to the Wilson Airport depending on your flight time of departure. We have daily departures from at 08:00 and others flights thereafter. Your departure time would be confirmed during your safari confirmation and depending on your arrival time. The flight from Nairobi City to Samburu National Reserve takes around 1 hour and flies between the lush highlands of southern Kenya and the arid north of the country where the triad of reserves lies. Samburu has dramatic scenery‚ rare wildlife and diverse birdlife.
On arrival in Samburu National Reserve you will be met and transferred using 4WD land cruiser to the camp for check in formalities then a short rest before lunch in the camp.
After relaxation in the camp and in the afternoon game drive from 15:30 to 18:30 and overnight at the camp.
- Swimming Pool
- Restaurant
- Business Lounge
- Bar Lounge
- Game Drives
- Sundowners
- Nature Walks
- Bush Breakfast
- Cultural Visits
Ashnil Samburu Camp is a luxury tented set in the spectacular backdrop drop of the Mighty Ol Olokwe mountain fronting Ewaso Nyiro River in Buffalo Springs Game Reserve. The 30 exclusive luxury Tents are spread out along the shady banks of the river under a thick stand of doum Palms.
It features an outdoor swimming pool surrounded by sun lounges, a garden and a Lounge bar offering views of the African savannah. Each tent features a decked Terrance with views of the Ewaso Nyiro River. The restaurant offers views of the river and serves a variety of menus comprising of Oriental, traditional and international cuisines. A range of activities are available on request and comprise of game drives, nature Walks and a cultural visit to the samburu village, bush meals like bush lunch/dinner and sundowners.
Samburu is the most popular reserve in northern Kenya. Wildlife viewing is good, and most big safari animals are easily spotted. The arid environment is home to a variety of north Kenya specials – both birds and mammals. A village visit to a nearby Samburu homestead is a worthwhile activity. Samburu offers great wildlife viewing and four of the Big Five are present. Rhinos are absent, but big herds of elephant cross the reserve. Of the big cats, leopards are very rewarding with some habituated individuals giving high-quality sightings. Most interesting are the northern Kenya specials including beisa oryx, lesser kudu, reticulated giraffe, Grevy's zebra and the odd-looking gerenuk.
Full List of Mammals found in Samburu National Reserve
- Aard-wolf
- African Buffalo
- African Civet
- African Dormouse
- African Elephant
- African Wild Cat
- Aftrican Hare
- Angola Free-tailed Bat
- Banana Bat or African
- Banded Mongoose
- Bat-eared Fox
- Beisa Oryx
- Black Rhinoceros
- Black-backed or Silver-backed jackal
- Black-faced Vervet Monkey
- Blue Duiker
- Blue or Sykes’ Monkey
- Burchell’s or Common Zebra
- Bush Baby
- Bush Duiker
- Bush or Large-spotted Genet
- Bush Squirrel
- Bushbuck
- Caracal
- Cheetah
- Clawless Otter
- Common and Defassa
- Common Waterbuck
- Dwarf Mongoose
- East African Red Squirrel
- Eland
- Epauletted Fruit Bat
- False Vampire Bat
- Gerenuk
- Golden Jackal
- Grant’s Gazelle
- Greater Galago
- Grevy’s Zebra
- Guenther’s Dik-dik
- Hippopotamus
- Hollow-faced Bat
- Hunting Dog
- Impala
- Intermediates between
- Kirk’s Dik-dik
- Klipspringer
- Lander’s Horseshoe Bat
- Large Grey Mongoose
- Leopard
- Lesser Kudu
- Lesser Leaf-nosed Bat
- Lion
- Marsh Mongoose
- Mongoose
- Naked Mole Rat
- Neumann’s or Small-spotted Genet
- Olive Baboon
- Pale-bellied Fruit Bat
- Pipistrelle
- Porcupine
- Ratel or Honey Badger
- Red Duiker
- Reticulated Giraffe
- Rock Hyrax
- Rousette Fruit Bat
- Serval
- Side-striped Jackal
- Slender or Black-tipped
- Spectacled Elephant Shrew
- Spotted Hyaena
- Spring Hare
- Steinbok
- Striped Ground Squirrel
- Striped Hyaena
- Tree Hyrax
- Unstriped Ground Squirrel
- Warthog
- Waterbucks
- Whie-bellied Tomb Bat
- White-bellied Free-tailed Bat
- White-tailed Mongoose
- Yellow-bellied Bat
- Yellow-winged Bat
- Zorilla
There have been more than 390 bird species recorded in Samburu and Buffalo Springs national reserves. The reserves protect a variety of habitats, home to different bird species including arid acacia savannah, scrub and gallery forest alongside the Uaso Nyiro River. The dry, open country offers very rewarding birding opportunities and boasts a number of northeast African dry-country species shared with Ethiopia and Somalia, such as vulturine guineafowl, Somali bee-eater and golden-breasted starling.
- Abdim’s Stork
- Abyssinian Scimitar-bill
- African Barn Owl Single record
- African Cuckoo
- African Darter
- African Fire Finch
- African Fish Eagle
- African Hawk Eagle Rare
- African Hoopoe
- African Marsh Owl
- African Pied Wagtail
- African Rock Martin
- African Sand Martin
- African Scops Owl
- Angola Swallow
- Arrow-marked Babbler
- Ashy Cisticola
- Ashy Flcatcher
- Banded Martin
- Banded Tit-warbler
- Bare-eyed Thrush
- Barred Warbler
- Bat Hawk
- Bateleur
- Bearded Woodpecker
- Black and White Cuckoo
- Black Cuckoo
- Black Cuckoo Shrike
- Black Rough-wing Swallow
- Black-backed Puff-back
- Black-breasted Apalis
- Black-breasted Glossy Starling
- Blackcap Warbler
- Black-capped Social Weaver
- Black-chested Harrier Eagle
- Black-faced Sandgrouse
- Blackhead Plover
- Black-headed Heron
- Black-headed Oriole
- Black-headed Tchagra
- Black-necked Weaver
- Black-throated Wattle-eye
- Blue-capped Cordon-bleu
- Blue-cheeked Bee-eater
- Blue-eared Starling
- Blue-faced Waxbill
- Blue-headed Wagtail and races
- Blue-naped Mousebird
- Booted Eagle Rare visitor
- Bristle Crowned Starling
- Broad-billed Roller
- Bronze Mannikin
- Bronze-winged Courser
- Brown Harrier Eagle
- Brown Parrot
- Brown-breasted Barbet
- Brown-hooded Kingfisher
- Brown-throated Barbet
- Buffalo Weaver
- Buff-backed Heron or Cattle Egret
- Buff-bellied Warbler
- Buff-crested Bustard
- Bunting
- Button Quail
- Capped Wheatear
- Cardinal Quelea
- Cardinal Woodpecker
- Carmine Be-eater
- Caspian Plover
- Chestnut Sparrow
- Chestnut Weaver
- Chestnut-backed Sparrow Lark
- Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse
- Chestnut-headed Sparrow Lark
- Chin-spot Flycatcher
- Cinnamon-breasted Rock
- Collared Sunbird
- Common Sandpiper
- Cream-coloured Courser
- Crested Francolin
- Crombec
- Crowned Crane
- Crowned Hornbill
- Crowned Plover
- Cut-throat
- D’Arnaud’s Barbet
- Didric Cuckoo
- Donaldson-Smith’s Nightjar
- Donaldson-Smith’s Sparrow
- Drongo
- Dusky Flycatcher
- Dusky Nightjar
- Dwarf or Lesser Brown-necked
- Egyptian Goose
- Egyptian Vulture
- Emerald Cuckoo
- Emerald-spotted Wood Dove
- Ethiopian Swallow
- European Bee-eater
- European Black Kite
- European Common Wheatear
- European Cuckoo
- European Golden Oriole
- European Hobby Spring
- European Hoopoe
- European Kestrel
- European Marsh Harrier
- European Nightingale
- European Nightjar
- European Rock Thrush
- European Roller
- European Sand Martin
- European Sedge Warbler
- European Spotted Flycatcher
- European Swallow
- European Whinchat
- European Willow Warbler
- Fan-tailed Raven
- Fawn-coloured Lark
- Fire-fronted Bishop
- Fischer’s Sparrow Lark
- Fischer’s Straw-tailed Whydah
- Flappet Lark
- Freckled Nightjar
- Gabar Goshawk
- Garden Warbler
- Giant Kingfisher
- Golden Pipit
- Golden Weaver
- Golden-breasted Starling
- Goliath Heron
- Grasshopper Buzzard
- Great White Egret
- Greater Honeyguide
- Greater or White-eyed Kestrel
- Great-spotted Cuckoo
- Green Pigeon
- Green Sandpiper
- Green Wood Hoopoe
- Green-backed Heron
- Greenshank
- Green-winged Pytilia
- Grey Flycatcher
- Grey Heron
- Grey Hornbill
- Grey Tit
- Grey Woodpecker
- Grey Wren Warbler
- Grey-backed Camaroptera
- Grey-headed Bush Shrike
- Grey-headed Kingfisher
- Grey-headed Silverbill
- Grey-headed Social Weaver
- Grey-headed Sparrow
- Grey-rumped Swallow
- Hadada Ibis
- Half-collared Kingfisher
- Hamerkop
- Harlequin Quail
- Harrier Hawk
- Helmeted Guinea-fowl
- Heuglin’s Bustard
- Heuglin’s Courser
- Hildebrandt’s Starling
- Honey Buzzard
- Hooded Vulture
- Hunter’s Sunbird
- Indigo-bird
- Issabeline Wheatear
- Jameson’s Fire Finch
- Kenya Violet-backed Sunbird
- Klaas’ Cuckoo
- Kori Bustard
- Lammergeyer
- Lanner
- Laughing Dove
- Layard’s Black-headed Weaver
- Leser Spotted Eagle Rare
- Lesser Grey Shrike
- Lesser Honeyguide
- Lesser Kestrel
- Levaillant’s Cuckoo
- Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse
- Lilac-breasted Roller
- Little Bee-eater
- Little Egret
- Little Grebe
- Little Ringed Plover
- Little Sparrow Hawk
- Little Swift
- Little Tawny Pipit
- Lizard Buzzard
- Long-billed Pipit
- Long-crested Hawk Eagle
- Long-tailed Cormorant
- Long-tailed Fiscal
- Long-tailed Nightjar
- Madagascar Bee-eater
- Magpie Starling
- Malachite Kingfisher
- Marabou Stork
- Mariqua Sunbird
- Martial Eagle
- Masked Weaver
- Montagu’s Harrier
- Mottled Swift
- Mourning Dove
- Mouse-coloured Penduline Tit
- Namaqua Dove
- Narina’s Trogon
- Night Heron
- Northern Brownbul
- Northern Brubru
- Northern White-tailed Lark
- Nubian Nightjar Uncommon
- Nubian or Lappet-faced
- Nubian Woodpecker
- Nyanza Swift
- Olive Thrush
- Olive-tree Warbler
- Open-bill Stork
- Orange-bellied Parrot
- Osprey
- Pale Chanting Goshawk
- Pale Flycatcher
- Pallid Harrier
- Palm Swift
- Paradise Flycatcher
- Paradise Whydah
- Pearl-spotted Owlet
- Pectoral-patch Cisticola
- Pennant-wing Nightjar
- Peregrine
- Pied Kingfisher
- Pied Wheatear
- Pink-breasted Lark
- Pin-tailed Whydah
- Plain Nightjar
- Pratincole
- Purple Grenadier
- Pygmy Falcon
- Pygmy Kingfisher
- Pygmy Puff-back Flycatcher
- Rattling Cisticola
- Raven
- Red and Yellow Barbet
- Red-backed Scrub Robin
- Red-backed Shrike
- Red-billed Fire Finch
- Red-billed Hornbill
- Red-billed Oxpecker
- Red-billed Quelea
- Red-capped Chat
- Red-capped Lark
- Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu
- Red-chested Cuckoo
- Red-eyed Dove
- Red-faced Apalis
- Red-fronted Barbet
- Red-fronted Tinkerbird
- Red-headed Weaver
- Red-necked Falcon
- Red-rumped Swallow
- Red-tailed Shrike
- Redwing Bush Lark
- Richard’s Pipit
- Ring-necked Dove
- Robin Chat
- Rosy-patched Shrike
- Rufous Chatterer
- Rufous Sparrow
- Rufous-crowned Roller
- Ruppell’s Long-tailed Starling
- Ruppell’s Vulture
- Sacred Ibis
- Saddle-bill Stork
- Scimitar-bill
- Secretary Bird
- Senegal Plover
- Shikra
- Shining Sunbird
- Silverbill
- Silverbird
- Singing Bush Lark
- Slate-coloured Boubou
- Smaller Black-bellied Sunbird
- Somali Bee-eater
- Somali Fiscal
- Somali Golden-breasted Bunting
- Somali Ostrich
- South African Black Flycatcher
- Speckled Mousebird
- Speckled Pigeon
- Speckle-fronted Weaver
- Spectacled Weaver
- Spotted Eagle Owl
- Spotted Morning Warbler
- Spotted Stone Curlew
- Spotted-flanked Barbet
- Steel-blue Whydah
- Steppe Buzzard
- Steppe Eagle
- Stone Partridge
- Striped Kingfisher
- Striped Swallow
- Sulphur-breasted Bush Shrike
- Superb Starling
- Swahili Sparrow
- Swallow-tailed Kite
- Taita Fiscal
- Tambourine Dove
- Tawny Eagle
- Tawny-flanked Prinia
- Temminck’s Courser
- Three-banded Plover
- Three-streaked Tchagra
- Thrush Nightingale or Sprosser
- Tiny Cisticola
- Tropical Boubou
- Two-banded Courser
- Variable Sunbird
- Verreaux’s Eagle Owl
- Verreaux’z Eagle
- Violet-backed Starling
- Vitelline Masked Weaver
- Von der Decken’s Hornbill
- Vulture
- Vulturine Guinea-fowl
- Wahlberg’s Eagle
- Water Dikkop
- Wattled Starling
- Waxbill
- Weaver
- White Stork
- White-backed Vulture
- White-bellied Go-away-bird
- White-breasted Tit
- White-browed Coucal
- White-browed Robin Chat
- White-browed Sparrow Weaver
- White-crowned Shrike
- White-faced Scops Owl
- White-headed Buffalo Weaver
- White-headed Mousebird
- White-headed Vulture
- White-naped Raven
- White-rumped Swift
- White-throated Bee-eater
- White-throated Robin
- White-winged Scrub Robin
- White-winged Widow-bird
- Wire-tailed Swallow
- Wood Ibis or Yellow-Billed Stork
- Wooly-necked Stork
- Yellow Bishop
- Yellow White-eye
- Yellow-bellied Eremomela
- Yellow-billed Hornbill
- Yellow-billed Oxpecker
- Yellow-fronted Canary
- Yellow-necked Spurfowl
- Yellow-rumped Seed-eater
- Yellow-spotted Petronia
- Yellow-throated Longclaw
- Yellow-vented Bulbul
- Yellow-vented Eremomela
Days 2: Samburu National Reserve, Ashnil Samburu (Fullboard)
Early in the Morning at 06:00 take tea or coffee and a snack then depart for morning game drive from 06:30 with packed full breakfast to be consumed at a designated place in the wilderness then carry on with game drive until time for lunch in the camp at 13:00 followed by relaxation in the camp thereafter.
Afternoon game drive from 15:30 until at 18:30 then dinner and overnight in the camp.
Day 3: Fly Nairobi
Early in the Morning at 06:00 take tea or coffee and a snack then depart for morning game drive from 06:30 up to 08:00 when you will come back to the camp for full breakfast. A rest at the lounge to wait for your morning flight back to and be transferred to Nairobi City CBD hotel.
Tour Inclusions
Return flight to Samburu National Reserve from Nairobi City Wilson Airport
Full board accommodation in Samburu Ashnil Camp
All reserve fees
3 game drives in a day in a 4WD land cruiser both side open
All transfers
All our transport has insurance
Tour Exclusions
Drinks
Tips for the service
Yellow fever vaccination
Visa
Things of personal use

Easter & Christmas Surcharges
A surcharge would be charged per person per night on Good Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Easter Monday and on 24th 25th, 26th, 31st December and 1st January. The Surcharge would be confirmed at the time of booking for clarity purposes.
For optimal enjoyment of your safari, we urge you to carry the following:
All weather firm shoe pair, short and dress to use during the day, trouser for use in the evenings with long sleeved shirt, sweater or jacket, hat, swimming costume, sunglass, camera, binocular, sun protection cream and insect repellent spray or cream.