3-Day Fly-In Samburu Safari – Track Kenya’s Rare Special Five

Your fly-in Samburu safari begins with a morning transfer from your Nairobi hotel to Wilson Airport for the scenic flight north. The 90-minute journey offers breathtaking aerial views as you cross the central highlands and the flanks of Mount Kenya, with its glacial peaks glistening above the cloud line. As you descend toward Samburu, the green highlands transform into rust-red semi-arid plains dotted with acacia and doum palms. Upon landing at the Samburu airstrip, your guide welcomes you and drives you to your riverside safari camp, set along the banks of the Ewaso Nyiro River where elephants and crocodiles frequent the water’s edge. After a refreshing lunch overlooking the river, you head out for an afternoon game drive focused on locating the famous Samburu Special Five. Your guide navigates the acacia woodland where gerenuk stand on hind legs to browse high branches, reticulated giraffe move gracefully across the plains, and Grevy’s zebra gather in small herds near the riverine forest.

A full day in Samburu National Reserve awaits with morning and afternoon game drives designed to cover the reserve’s diverse habitats. The early morning drive follows the Ewaso Nyiro River where large elephant families come to drink and bathe in the dawn light, while crocodiles bask on sandy banks and kingfishers dart between overhanging branches. Your guide tracks lion prides that have adapted to Samburu’s arid conditions and seeks out leopards resting in the dense riverine forest. The landscape of volcanic rock formations, red laterite soil, and scattered doum palms creates a striking and photogenic wilderness. Return to camp for a leisurely lunch by the river and an opportunity to relax before the afternoon game drive. The second drive ventures into different sectors of the reserve, targeting the Beisa oryx on the open plains, Somali ostrich with their distinctive blue legs, and the smaller predators like striped hyena and bat-eared fox that emerge as the afternoon heat softens.

Rise early for a final morning game drive through Samburu as the reserve awakens in the golden first light. This is prime time for spotting predators returning from their nocturnal hunts and for capturing stunning photographs of the Special Five against the warm-toned landscape. Your guide takes you to favorite watering points where animals gather before the heat of the day, offering last chances for exceptional wildlife sightings. After the drive, return to camp for a hearty breakfast by the river. You then check out and transfer to the airstrip for your return flight to Nairobi’s Wilson Airport, arriving by early afternoon with a collection of extraordinary memories and photographs from Kenya’s magnificent northern frontier.