Kenya National Parks Part II

Other attractions are the hot springs and the swamp area Kesubo – a shallow swamp area with lots of waterfowl.

Samburu
The vast, flat landscape of the Samburu area – with its mosaic of thorn bushes, semi-desert, savannahs with broad-bodied baobab trees and dom palm trees and lazily flowing rivers – is a must-see feature of a major safari to Kenya! Over 300 square kilometers reserve that includes the areas of Samburu-Isiolo, Buffalo Springs and Shaba.

According to topb2bwebsites, Samburu is perhaps the best for elephants and lions north of Nairobi. The flock of Grants Gazelles and impalas can be studied on block teams. In Samburu, you also get acquainted with several animal species, which you otherwise have to go to hard-to-reach areas to the north to see. This applies to the beautiful, finely striped and large-eared Grevy’s Zebras and the “kitchen-checkered” Net giraffes. In these arid regions, access to water fluctuates: Several of the semi-desert’s animal species are adapted to cope with the wetness they get with food – like the beautiful, sand-colored Beisa Oryx – with the long, straight horns and the playful, long-necked Gerenuk standing on its hind legs nibbling shoots from the bushes. The ostriches here belong to a special species – the Somali ostrich, which has light blue legs. The bird life is, incidentally, unusually rich. Above the savannas, the black and white Golden Eagle orbits like a large leaf, several vulture and eagle species search the vast plains for food and the little Pygmy falcon is common. The huge Kori staircase is the largest of the area’s four staircase types, and is often confused by the first-time visitor with ostriches! Herds of black and cobalt-blue vultures disappear in races when danger approaches – it could be a desert lizard or a leopard.

Rift Valley
Rift Valley is the world’s largest burial mound. It stretches over 6,000 km. from Mozambique in the south to the Dead Sea in the north. The depression is very wide in some places, and at the bottom of the depression are several of Kenya’s best natural areas, such as the lakes Naivasha, Nakuru. Bogiria and Baringo. Entire Rift Valley systems act as a giant guideline for migratory birds between Asia and Africa, as evidenced by flocks of storks and an unusually dense population of birds of prey.

Lake Naivasha
This wonderful freshwater lake is located in the Rift Valley, with wide views of the rocky slopes of the Rift Valley .. Its surface is currently 170 km 2, but the water level is low and conditions change from year to year. This is evidenced by clusters of dead trees, and they provide a resting and breeding ground for many waterfowl of a myriad of species. White herons, and along the shallows, lake shores with water lilies and papyrus, are seen Jacanas, Kamblish hens, Sultans hens and waders – as well as Rørbukke and sometimes Hippos. “The voice of Africa” ​​- the river eagle’s scream – together with the Hadada ibissen’s mocking laughter form a unique soundscape! Many antelopes and Masai giraffes are found on the savannas around the lake. The uninhabited Crescent Island, easily reached by boat, abounds with birds and grasshoppers. The lush arable land around the lake testifies that the water is fresh – Kenya’s soda lakes are unsuitable as a source of irrigation.

Kenya Lake Naivasha

Close to Lake Naivasha is the Hell’s Gate gorge. Here the landscape is plain and it is easy to see Thompson’s Gazelles, Zebras, Impalas and Baboons. The steepest cliffs are home to a colony of Rüppell’s vultures, the reintroduced Lamb vulture (which bred here until around 1980) as well as sailors. Hell´s Gate is one of the very few national parks where you can walk without a guard.

Tsavo
Tsavo is with its 22,000 km 2 Kenya’s largest national park. Tsavo is divided into Tsavo East and Tsavo West. Most of the area consists of savannas, locally with fairly dense scrub. Due to the size of the area, you can be alone to a much greater extent than in the more centrally located national parks. The wildlife is rich – Tsavo is known for its very large herds of elephants (9,000 in total), which are often red here! The color is due to the fact that they are colored by Tsavo’s red, laterite-containing soils. The locally quite dense vegetation means that wildlife can be harder to find than in the more open parks.

Tsavo West (9,000 km 2)) is the more varied of the two parks. The landscape alternates between gently undulating red plains and savannas, rocky slopes, small streams of water and larger rivers. A good population of elephants as well as large flocks of wild game are found in the park, while you have to be luckier to see lions. In water holes like Mzima Springs, there are hippos and Nile crocodiles. These can be seen, among other things, through glass panes from a small observatory underwater, built by technicians from Walt Disney. Tsavo West previously had a good population of Rhinos. Poachers have unfortunately had cabbages made on most, but there are still 40-50 left, most in the Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary, a fenced “reserve in the reserve”, where the chance of seeing Rhinos is quite good. As a backdrop to the south, one sees Kilimanjaro from a different angle than as the symmetrical cone seen from Amboseli.

Tsavo East (11,747 km 2 ) is a larger but scenically less varied park than Tsavo West. Most of the park is fairly dry savannah, however, intersected by the Galana River, which attracts Waterbuck and Dik-dik antelopes. As the vegetation in Tsavo East is hardly as dense as in Tsavo West, the animals are easier to see.