We travelled to Samburu in June 2023 and what a trip it was... We were with Andy and Suzie -  a group of friends enjoying the wildlife and beauty of Kenya.

As with every trip away, I always keep a diary. I began with such good intentions but as the days passed, my handwriting deteriorated, time available to write lessened and my diary became a list of memorable bullet points.

It all began at 5.30am with Brian taking us to Heathrow. Despite a two hour delay we were off to Nairobi. Customs were painfully slow and after 4 hours "sleep" at the Nairobi hotel, we caught our one hour Safari flight to Samburu. This flight was shrouded in thick cloud which once cleared, exposed a beautiful red sandstone landscape, river beds, hills, rocks and bush. The giraffe had to be cleared from the landing strip by the guys on a clapped out motorbike before we could land!

Our lodge was in the final stages of completion and was absolutely beautiful, located beside the river. The lodge exuded the most wonderful atmosphere and sense of well being.

The tents were large and spacious, very comfortable and set amid the sounds of woodpeckers, weaver birds, monkeys, insects and more. The outside bed faced the river and was a favourite place to relax after the dust of a day out on safari. The communal areas comprised an outdoor restaurant below the trees where mischievous monkeys were deterred by a catapult. There was a lovely area around a fire pit - a gorgeous place to sit and talk in the darkness before eating dinner inside. The outdoor swimming pool was next door to the massage suite, both looking towards the distant hills.

The factor which captivated us the most about the lodge was most definitely the team looking after us - they became good friends, they taught us Swahili, they laughed with us, danced with us and even made a video with us to send to a dear friend in America for his birthday. They taught us so much about their culture, their traditions, their beliefs and astrology. Even now, we are in contact with Simon and Peter and have fond memories of everyone else.

Mornings began at 5am with tea and biscuits delivered through a hatch in the tent at 5.30am. We would then be collected by a Samburu warrior and walked to the land cruiser where Newton would be waiting for us in the darkness. He was brilliant.      

We would be off into the Reserve at 6am. Breakfast was either under a tree or beside the river bank. After a morning of searching and watching and photographing, we would return to the lodge for lunch, a kip, and a chance to clean the cameras before heading off out again at about 4pm. This second safari of the day would end about 7pm in time for a quick shower, a sundowner around the fire pit, dinner then zzzzzz to the sounds of baboons, and lions. Sounds relaxing? Oh no, very full on...

Samburu was very different compared to the Masai Mara. The landscape comprised dense, impenetrable bush, river banks, wooded glades, grassy, open plains, rocky mountainsides, marshland, hills and cliffs. At times my imagination would see shapes in the rocks and clouds - pigs, a row of elephants, tortoises and more. As for the amazing wildlife - we were left feeling very humble and privileged to be able to enter their domain...

We spent a lot of time watching the cheetah mother caring for her three month old cubs, scanning the terrain, hunting, sleeping and playing like children in a playground. She was a very competent mother and all four cubs have continued to thrive. We understand they are becoming very competent hunters, taught well by their mother.

We saw elephant every day - either walking down from the mountains to the river, or crossing the river in line, sheltering and protecting their young, playing with twigs and each other or feeding in the glades and passing right next door to us. They would pause a metre away at times and stare into our souls, decide if we were trustworthy and if so they would pass by beside the land cruiser. We could hear them breathing they were so close. We remained motionless and calm - it was very emotional at times.

The leopards were somewhat elusive on this trip but we saw a male dragging a kill into the bush. The next day, the female was feeding from it high up in a tree. She was one very happy leopard.

The pride of lions spent a lot of time sleeping but we managed to catch them on the move a couple of times. A dog from the village had somehow found its' way into the reserve and was lucky to survive after being spotted by two lionesses who gave chase. It scurried underneath the land cruiser momentarily before facing up to the two surprised lionesses. We also watched them on the rocks in the sunshine, resting after too much food!

In addition to these sightings, we were very lucky to watch the very rare aardwolf, bat eared foxes, reticulated giraffe, ostrich, gerenuk, Grevy's zebra, baboons, antelope, gazelle, impala, eland, dik dik and more. The birds were colourful and at times very comical.

I cannot remember how many photos and videos we have from this wonderful trip but our memories go deeper. Oh how we love Africa...

As a footnote - here are some of the Swahili words and phrases we tried to use daily :-

A Sante (Thank you), Karibu (Welcome), Jambo (Hi), Sara (Ok), Twende (Let's go), Ku ja (Come), Kimbia (Run), Pole Pole (Slowly), Haraka (Quick), Mzuri (Good), Napenda Hapa (I like it here),  Wanyama (Wild animals), Hakuna Matata (No worries), Samba (Lion), Chui (Leopard), Tembo (Elephant), Fish (Hyena), Bwana (Mr/Sir), Simba Marara (Cheetah), Mzuri Kucheka (Good to laugh), Kushoto (Left), Julia (Right), Mbele (Straight on ), Kuja Rafiki (Come my friend),Twende Rafiki (Let's go my friend), Tuliona Wanyama (We have seen animals), Lala Salaam (Sleep well).