Buffalo Springs National Reserve is 187 miles northeast of Nairobi and 109 miles northeast of Mount Kenya NP.
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| View of Mt. Kenya on the drive to Buffalo Springs. |
It is an area of 51 square miles at an altitude of 2,790 to 4,040 feet and is named after an oasis of clear water at the western end. It is on the southern side of the Ewaso Ngiro River and on the other side is Samburu National Reserve.
It was one of my favorite wildlife destinations in Africa. We had an afternoon and a morning game drive there and saw more distinct animals there (animals we've not seen anywhere else) than any other place we've been in Africa. Following are photos of some of the wildlife we saw:
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| A Verreaux's eagle owl has a genet in a tree. For quite a while a number of safari vehicles were watching the tree thinking that a leopard was in it (focused on the tail of the genet). Then they gradually realized it was an owl with a genet. |
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| The owl flew giving a better view of the genet. |
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| Our first elephant in Buffalo Springs. Buffalo Springs was great for elephants, our best experience with them of the whole trip. |
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| We got a graphic view of mating elephants and the chase that preceded it. |
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| Buffalo Springs was the only place we saw reticulated giraffes, perhaps the most beautiful of the giraffes. |
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| A reticulated giraffe among beisa oryx. |
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| A desert warthog, the only place we saw them. |
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| East African (black-backed) jackals. |
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| Grevy zebra, my favorite zebra. This is the only area we saw them. |
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| Grant's gazelle, I believe the only place we saw them. |
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| Kirk's dik dik |
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| Gerenuk - the only place we saw them. |
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| A Grant's gazelle with a gerenuk. |
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| Impala |
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| Beisa oryx - the only place we saw them. |
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| Common or Ellipsen waterbuck |
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| Yellow-necked spurfowl |
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| Bateleur, a type of eagle |
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| Eastern pale chanting goshawk |
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| Eastern yellow-billed hornbill |
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| Northern red-billed hornbill |
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| Verreaux's eagle owl |
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| Secretarybird |
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| Donaldson-Smith's sparrow-weaver |
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| Golden palm weaver |
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| White-browed sparrow weaver |
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| White-headed buffalo-weaver |
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| Nile crocodile |
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| Martial eagle |
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| Bateleur |
The amazing photos in this post bring back such good memories. Africa was a revelation. Isn't the variety incredible?
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