Samburu NP from Buffalo Springs
October 2006: Mt Kenya and Samburu
Samburu NP from Buffalo Springs
In October, the girls had a couple of days off school and so we decided to head up North. We drove up to the town of Naro Moru, which is at the base of Mt. Kenya. The next day, we drove up into Mt. Kenya NP and went for a short morning hike along the Naro Moru trail. It was nice to be able to stretch our legs. Most of our Safaris are spent in the car watching animals so it was nice to be out of it for a change.
In the afternoon, we drove up to Samburu NP where we camped along the banks of the river. Samburu is very scenic and we saw some new game there including Oryx, Gerenuk, and a number of birds. We had a great game drive the next morning, but during our late breakfast at camp, we had a run-in with some baboons. A baboon ran into our camp, grabbed a box of cereal, and then ran off. More were coming, so we decided it was time to break camp and depart. They continued to harass us while we were cleaning up camp. Ruma grabbed the shovel and threatened them with it and that kept them away, but you had to keep your eye on them. At the very end, we had the car all packed, and Ruma was standing at the door. A baboon came up and grabbed a bag of candy right next to Ruma. Ruma grabbed the other end of the bag and then without thinking, instinctively grabbed the baboon by the scruff of the neck! The bag ripped and the candy spilled, ending the situation, but we were happy to be back in the car in one piece. I think we will now limit our camping to places where we know we can hire guards, such as in the Mara.
We had another good game drive in the early afternoon. On our way out, the rain started to fall, turning the dirt road into mud. With 4WD we got out OK, but between the baboons and the mud, we were glad not to be spending another night camping. We spent the night back at the lodge in Naro Moru, with hot showers and hot food.
On Sunday, we went up the road to another lodge which rents horses and went for a ride. Unfortunately, during our ride, the rain returned and so we cut our ride short. We changed into dry gear and then headed back home.