Samburu, Shaba and Buffalo Springs
The Samburu National Reserve is located on the banks of the Ewaso Ng?iro river, opposite Buffalo Springs National Reserve in the northern part of Kenya. It is 165 square km in size and 350 kilometers from Nairobi. Geographically, it is located in the arid Samburu District of the Rift Valley Province.
In the middle of the reserve, the Ewaso Ng?iro flows through doum palm groves and thick riverine forests that provide the water without which the game in the reserve could not survive.
Samburu 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?.
Samburu Reserve is also the home of Kamunyak, a lioness famous for ?adopting? Oryx (or Gemsbok) calves. The Samburu tribe, like their cousins the Maasai, is renowned for being ruthless and fearless and is one of the few authentic, un-westernized cultures left in East Africa today.
Laikipia and Lewa
Towering mountains, hidden valleys and the sweeping plains of the Lewa conservancy make this area, which lies adjacent to the Samburu reserve in the shadow of Mount Kenya, one of the most breathtakingly scenic views while on vacation in Kenya.
From Lewa the topography sweeps north to the edge of the Great Rift Valley and the magnificent, oddly shaped peak of Ol Lentille, with plateau after plateau filled with game. Here the Maasai and Samburu people have their community ranches and award-winning lodges such as The Sanctuary at Ol Lentille and Ol Malo nestle cheek by jowel with traditional manyattas in ground-breaking community-based responsible tourism ventures.
Tsavo
Tsavo National Park was established on 1st April, 1948 with an area of 21,812 square km. It is the largest park in Kenya. In May 1948 Tsavo National Park was divided into two sections ? Tsavo East and Tsavo West ? for administrative purposes. The two are divided by Nairobi-Mombasa railway/highway.
Tsavo West
Tsavo West National Park covers 7065 sq km, which equates to approximately 30% of all of Kenya?s areas under protection! It contains a diversity of habitats, wildlife and a mountainous, scenic landscape.
The park is a vast expanse of land stretching from Mtito Andei, along the Mombasa-Nairobi road, south to the Tanzanian border. The North Eastern boundary along the highway adjoins Tsavo East National Park, but Tsavo West has a more varied topography and a more diverse array of habitats than its neighbour.
The park?s habitats include open plains alternating with savannah bush and semi desert scrub, acacia woodlands; rocky ridges and outcrops and more extensive ranges and isolated hills; belts of riverine vegetation; palm thickets and, on the Chyulu hills, mountain forest.
Tsavo East
The Waliangulu and Kamba tribes used this park as a hunting ground prior to it being gazetted as a national park.
It?s become very popular with tourists, due in large part to its large herds of elephants and other wildlife. Areas of interest are the Yatta plateau, at 290km long one of the worlds longest lava flows, and
Aruba Dam, built in 1952 across the Voi river. The dam attracts many animals and water birds.
The park is also the home of the famed ?four eyed antelope? ? the hirola, or Hunters hartebeest.
Both Tsavos are easily accessible by road, air (light aircraft) and railway. Incidentally, it was the building of the railway through Tsavo which gave rise to the legendary ?Man-eaters of Tsavo? ? two huge, black-maned lions who preyed on railway workers, immortalised in film with the Hollywood blockbuster ?The Ghost and The Darkness?
Lake Nakuru
Nakuru means ?Dust or Dusty Place? in Maa, the Maasai language. Lake Nakuru National Park was established in 1961 and is right next to Lake Nakuru town, which, at only 160km from Nairobi makes it an ideal day trip from the capital.
Lake Nakuru was used to protect rhinos from poachers during the 60?s and 70?s and if you want to see rhino then Nakuru is the place to go.
The shallow, alkaline lake, located on the outskirts of town, is world famous as the location of thegreatest bird spectacle on earth as flocks of lesser and greater flamingo gather here to breed.
The flamingoes feed on the abundant algae, which thrives in the warm waters. Scientists reckon that the flamingo population at Nakuru consumes about 250,000 kilos of algae per hectare of surface area per year.
The algae is created from the flamingo?s droppings mixing with the warm alkaline waters, and plankton. But flamingo are not the only avian attractions ? there are also pelicans and cormorants who feed on a diminutive fish, Tilapia grahami, which has flourished after being introduced in the early 1960?s.
The lake is rich in other birdlife. There are over 400 resident species on the lake and in the surrounding park. Thousands of both little grebes and white winged black terns are frequently seen as are stilts, avocets, ducks, and in the European winter the migrant waders.
Meru National Park
Meru National Park is wild and beautiful. Straddling the equator and bisected by 13 rivers and numerous mountain-fed streams, it is an especially scenic area of Kenya. It has diverse scenery from woodlands on the slopes of the Nyambeni Mountain Range, north-east of Mount Kenya, to wide open plains with wandering riverbanks dotted with doum palms.
Game here includes lion, elephant, cheetah, leopard and some of the rarer antelopes including the lesser kudu, duiker and Kirk?s dik dik, one of Africa?s smallest antelopes.
Large prides of lion can be seen and some of Kenya?s largest herds of buffalo too. The rivers abound with hippo and crocodile, and fishing for catfish is permitted at camp sites and along the Tana River.
In the mid 1980?s, the Park suffered from poaching, however Kenya Wildlife Service armed wildlife security patrols have driven out the poachers and the elephant population has stabilized with breeding herds settling down.
Over 300 species of birds have been recorded including: Peter?s finfoot, which inhabits the Murera and Ura Rivers, Pel?s fishing owl, kingfishers, rollers, bee-eaters, starlings and numerous weavers.
The park is most famous for being the setting for Joy Adamson?s book ?Born Free? ? the story of the Adamson?s life and research amongst lion and cheetah. ?Elsa? the lioness was the most well-known, and her grave is marked here.
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By Marcus Brain
Samburu, Shaba and Buffalo Springs
The Samburu National Reserve is located on the banks of the Ewaso Ng?iro river, opposite Buffalo Springs National Reserve in the northern part of Kenya. It is 165 square km in size and 350 kilometers from Nairobi. Geographically, it is located in the arid Samburu District of the Rift Valley Province.
In the middle of the reserve, the Ewaso Ng?iro flows through doum palm groves and thick riverine forests that provide the water without which the game in the reserve could not survive.
Samburu 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?.
Samburu Reserve is also the home of Kamunyak, a lioness famous for ?adopting? Oryx (or Gemsbok) calves. The Samburu tribe, like their cousins the Maasai, is renowned for being ruthless and fearless and is one of the few authentic, un-westernized cultures left in East Africa today.
Laikipia and Lewa
Towering mountains, hidden valleys and the sweeping plains of the Lewa conservancy make this area, which lies adjacent to the Samburu reserve in the shadow of Mount Kenya, one of the most breathtakingly scenic views while on vacation in Kenya.
From Lewa the topography sweeps north to the edge of the Great Rift Valley and the magnificent, oddly shaped peak of Ol Lentille, with plateau after plateau filled with game. Here the Maasai and Samburu people have their community ranches and award-winning lodges such as The Sanctuary at Ol Lentille and Ol Malo nestle cheek by jowel with traditional manyattas in ground-breaking community-based responsible tourism ventures.
Tsavo
Tsavo National Park was established on 1st April, 1948 with an area of 21,812 square km. It is the largest park in Kenya. In May 1948 Tsavo National Park was divided into two sections ? Tsavo East and Tsavo West ? for administrative purposes. The two are divided by Nairobi-Mombasa railway/highway.
Tsavo West
Tsavo West National Park covers 7065 sq km, which equates to approximately 30% of all of Kenya?s areas under protection! It contains a diversity of habitats, wildlife and a mountainous, scenic landscape.
The park is a vast expanse of land stretching from Mtito Andei, along the Mombasa-Nairobi road, south to the Tanzanian border. The North Eastern boundary along the highway adjoins Tsavo East National Park, but Tsavo West has a more varied topography and a more diverse array of habitats than its neighbour.
The park?s habitats include open plains alternating with savannah bush and semi desert scrub, acacia woodlands; rocky ridges and outcrops and more extensive ranges and isolated hills; belts of riverine vegetation; palm thickets and, on the Chyulu hills, mountain forest.
Tsavo East
The Waliangulu and Kamba tribes used this park as a hunting ground prior to it being gazetted as a national park.
It?s become very popular with tourists, due in large part to its large herds of elephants and other wildlife. Areas of interest are the Yatta plateau, at 290km long one of the worlds longest lava flows, and
Aruba Dam, built in 1952 across the Voi river. The dam attracts many animals and water birds.
The park is also the home of the famed ?four eyed antelope? ? the hirola, or Hunters hartebeest.
Both Tsavos are easily accessible by road, air (light aircraft) and railway. Incidentally, it was the building of the railway through Tsavo which gave rise to the legendary ?Man-eaters of Tsavo? ? two huge, black-maned lions who preyed on railway workers, immortalised in film with the Hollywood blockbuster ?The Ghost and The Darkness?
Lake Nakuru
Nakuru means ?Dust or Dusty Place? in Maa, the Maasai language. Lake Nakuru National Park was established in 1961 and is right next to Lake Nakuru town, which, at only 160km from Nairobi makes it an ideal day trip from the capital.
Lake Nakuru was used to protect rhinos from poachers during the 60?s and 70?s and if you want to see rhino then Nakuru is the place to go.
The shallow, alkaline lake, located on the outskirts of town, is world famous as the location of thegreatest bird spectacle on earth as flocks of lesser and greater flamingo gather here to breed.
The flamingoes feed on the abundant algae, which thrives in the warm waters. Scientists reckon that the flamingo population at Nakuru consumes about 250,000 kilos of algae per hectare of surface area per year.
The algae is created from the flamingo?s droppings mixing with the warm alkaline waters, and plankton. But flamingo are not the only avian attractions ? there are also pelicans and cormorants who feed on a diminutive fish, Tilapia grahami, which has flourished after being introduced in the early 1960?s.
The lake is rich in other birdlife. There are over 400 resident species on the lake and in the surrounding park. Thousands of both little grebes and white winged black terns are frequently seen as are stilts, avocets, ducks, and in the European winter the migrant waders.
Meru National Park
Meru National Park is wild and beautiful. Straddling the equator and bisected by 13 rivers and numerous mountain-fed streams, it is an especially scenic area of Kenya. It has diverse scenery from woodlands on the slopes of the Nyambeni Mountain Range, north-east of Mount Kenya, to wide open plains with wandering riverbanks dotted with doum palms.
Game here includes lion, elephant, cheetah, leopard and some of the rarer antelopes including the lesser kudu, duiker and Kirk?s dik dik, one of Africa?s smallest antelopes.
Large prides of lion can be seen and some of Kenya?s largest herds of buffalo too. The rivers abound with hippo and crocodile, and fishing for catfish is permitted at camp sites and along the Tana River.
In the mid 1980?s, the Park suffered from poaching, however Kenya Wildlife Service armed wildlife security patrols have driven out the poachers and the elephant population has stabilized with breeding herds settling down.
Over 300 species of birds have been recorded including: Peter?s finfoot, which inhabits the Murera and Ura Rivers, Pel?s fishing owl, kingfishers, rollers, bee-eaters, starlings and numerous weavers.
The park is most famous for being the setting for Joy Adamson?s book ?Born Free? ? the story of the Adamson?s life and research amongst lion and cheetah. ?Elsa? the lioness was the most well-known, and her grave is marked here.
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Vacations in Kenya at Some of The Lesser Known But Equally as Impressive Locations
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