Mount Kenya National Park

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Mt. Kenya is an imposing extinct volcano dominating the landscape of the Kenyan Highlands, East of the Rift. Mt. Kenya lies about 140 km North, North-East of Nairobi with its Northern flanks across the Equator. The mountain has two main peaks - Batian (5200m) and Nelion (5188m). The mountains slopes are cloaked in forest, bamboo, scrub and moorland giving way on the high central peaks to rock, ice and snow. Mt. Kenya is an important water catchment area, supplying the Tana and Northern Ewaso Ngiro systems.

The park includes a variety of habitats ranging from higher forest, bamboo, alpine moorlands, glaciers, tarns and glacial morains.

The park, which was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1997 ans is also a Biosphere Reserve, covers 715 km2, and includes the Peaks consisting of all the ground above 3200m with two small salients extending lower down to 2450m along the Sirimon and Naro Moru tracks. Surrounding the park is Mount Kenya National Reserve with an area of approximately 2095 km2.

Climate:
Climate, flora and fauna on Mt. Kenya varies with altitude.

Samburu National Reserve

This is a malarial area
The reserve covers an area of (1,510 km²)
There is no night driving and vehicles must be back at the lodge by 6pm.
Several lodges are located outside the park's boundaries, but as there are few fences you may not be aware of this.
This is a Reserve rather than a National Park and it belongs to the Masai people

Samburu National Reserve. When you see a camel train walking single file along a dry riverbed, you realise you are in a pretty parched area. The three National Reserves of Samburu, Buffalo Springs and Shaba are at the beginning of the dry north where camels become commonplace.

However, it is not a completely parched area as it is watered by the Uaso Nyiro River or 'River of Brown Water' in Samburu. This is an essential and sometimes erratic water source for all the inhabitants, including a considerable amount of wildlife in the reserves and Samburu cattle and goats. Out of the north Kenyan tribes of Samburu, Rendille, Turkana and Borana, the Samburu dominate this area. To the uninformed eye they could be confused with the Maasai - for they are closely related and wear similar bright clothing and jewellery and have the same cultural beliefs. They continue their nomadic pastoralist lifestyle as they have done for hundreds of years.

The scrub desert, desiccated savannah and small hills of this region create overriding colours of muted greens, dusty creams, sand yellow, earthen ochre and every shade of brown. Perfect camouflage colours for the many animals that inhabit these parks.

ANIMALS & BIRDS

The reserves are relatively small and animals are easy to find, with a number of weird and wonderful species endemic to this area. Notably the gerenuk - also known as the 'giraffe necked antelope' because of its ridiculously stretched neck adapted for browsing high into the bushes. Another local inhabitant is the Grevy's zebra, which resembles an ass with wide stripes that don't quite go all the way under the belly. Reticulated giraffes are different from their southern cousins in their perfectly arranged pattern. A very common dwarf antelope in these parts is the tiny dik dik, who is devoted to its mate for its entire lifetime.

Many other species exist in these reserves and large crocs and hippos inhabit the river. Leopard, lion, cheetah and hyena are found here and an unusual treat is that leopards are commonly seen in daylight.

Birds are numerous and 365 species have been recorded in Buffalo Springs reserve. SEASONS