Wild things in Kenya

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  Guides and staff at Saruni Samburu, Kenya

  © April Hutchinson

The first time you experience the screeching of wheels as you touch down on a wilderness runway in Kenya is almost as thrilling as the first time you spot a lion skulking under a shady tree out on a plain.

These tiny aircraft shuttle safari-goers all over Kenya, between the vast national parks and conservancies, collecting you from Nairobi and heading to places so wild the safari might even come to your doorstep.

This was how it felt during a few days at Saruni Samburu (www.sarunisamburu.com), the only lodge in the vast Kalama Conservation Area. Just outside the Samburu National Reserve in northern Kenya, wildlife has roamed around the conservancy virtually unbothered for years. Plonking a luxury lodge there wasn’t going to make too much difference to their routes and rituals, especially since the low-impact resort has just four ‘rooms’, or houses.

Soon after arriving at the lodge, I was told a leopard had been seen in the area around the lodge as well as a troop of baboons – the outcome between these two adversaries is never going to be pretty, the leopard being a key predator to the baboons’ babies. Although there can sometimes be as many as 250 baboons in a troop, there’s most likely to be somewhere in the region of 40 or 50 travelling together - and that was how many it seemed were charging around my ‘house’ at dawn.

The Saruni Samburu lodge is built as much into the rocks as it can be, low-lying and cleverly camouflaged. The lodge consists of just two, one-bedroom houses and two, two-bedroom houses – each with private dining areas and outside viewing verandas. I was staying in one half of a two-bedroom house which was completely open on one side to make the most of the views of the valley – tough canvas ‘walls’ zip down at night for cover - and came with an outdoor shower set into the rocks. #

As I stepped out into that shower in the morning however, I noticed patches of blood on the rocks. This was likely to have been from a baboon injured during a troop scuffle or by the leopard - worse still, the result of the leopard taking a baby.

I reported my findings over breakfast and a ranger was dispatched to check out the area around the lodge (meanwhile, housekeeping was dispatched to clean the rocks). The ranger discovered leopard prints in the dust literally outside the lounge decking of the house.

Run by an Italian former journalist, Riccardo Orizio, Saruni Samburu is deeply invested in the local Samburu community including working with the Northern Rangeland Trust to improve conditions for the 2,000 people who own the Kalama Conservation Area - the lodge will eventually be owned by the community too, but operated by Saruni on a commercial basis. For now, Saruni Samburu is committed to employing most of its staff from the small local community, many who come to work in their brightly coloured tribal wear.

The lodge’s four rooms – all decorated in North African style - and large swimming pool overlook several waterholes where the famous Samburu elephant, leopard, reticulated giraffe, oryx and Grevy’s zebra gather to drink below you. But as well the baboons and animals you can see from the lodge, very private game drives take you off into the Samburu National Reserve, the Buffalo Springs National Reserve and the West Gate Conservancy.

There are even safaris led by an artist so you can learn to really capture the moment on canvas, making a  lasting souvenir of this incredible place.

Migrate to the Mara

Few things can beat an African safari for wow factor and after the few nights at Saruni Samburu, there was more to come after another little flight (and I mean little – just six seats including the pilot) to Richard’s Camp (www.richardscamp.com) in the Masai Mara.

Richard Roberts was raised in the Masai Mara from the age of 3, and his parents, Willy and Sue were instrumental in bringing together the Masai communities that form the wildlife conservation association that exists in this area today. His camp is small but charming and has a wealth of wildlife on the doorstep – just getting from the airport to the camp is a safari in itself as Richard explains the habits of the plain’s animals as you bump around past them in the Land Rover.

If ever there was an amazing time to be in the Mara, it’s now, the height of the wildebeest migration across the Serengeti and into Kenya. Literally millions of wildebeest make this journey in search of fertile plains and the rains further north. To see them galloping along the plains of the Mara is unforgettable: to see them from above on a flight-seeing tour in Richard’s tiny little plane is magical as you try to understand the magnitude of movement and of the trials the wildebeest must undergo.

They generally start to congregate to prepare to cross the Grumeti River between June and August and will start to arrive in the Masai Mara between August and September, those which survive staying until November. Their arrival makes a buffet for lions and other lean cats anxious to feed their young and their other peril is crossing crocodile infested water and surging currents. Seeing wildebeest carcasses whilst on safari on the plains sadly becomes a common sight.

Seen from the sky

But there are plenty of happier memories, like when Richard lands his plane on a hilltop to show us an old runway and place where he used to come as a kid to play on grassy slopes. These days, he has no time for that, with a little boy of his own with girlfriend Liz and running the camp, which he took over from his parents a few years ago.

His offers of a gin and tonic are always well-timed and he has wonderful guides and staff at the camp with bonds of mutual respect. The six tents are comfortable, with high beds, fresh lilies, soft lighting and spacious closet and bathroom areas – although, three-minute bucket showers are the way round here: the water is delivered hot in the morning and you have just three minutes’ worth of it to dive under for a quick wake-up wash.

But if you do ever feel the need for a longer cleanse and chill – there’s a bush bath, set romantically in the trees for you to gaze at the night sky amongst the calls of the wild as you think back over another amazing day in Kenya.

By April Hutchinson

Editor's note: We are aware of the great difficulties being experienced by many in Kenya who are suffering during the drought. Saruni Samburu tell us even they have not been spared in the north, but the good thing is that rains are expected to fall as from mid-September as forecast by the Meterological Department and it's hoped the condition will improve with time - they encourage us to continue promoting tourism, a valuable resource for millions of Kenyans.