To Samburu

We left Nanyuki aound 9.00 on Wednesday to reach ‘Archers Post’ where we were due to rendezvous with the people from the Samburu Intrepids Tented Camp where we were due to spend three nights. Based on our previous experience we planned some concentrated sight seeing at this stage of the trip and the camp at Intrepids was very reasonable so we booked it all in advance not really knowing what to expect. So this was to be the ‘poor man’s safari’ option. We expected to get a comfortable bed, some hot water and decent food and included in the price was two game drives each day. Before we left Nanyuki we got the obligatory photo of us and bikes at the equator which was just half a mile from the guest house we were in.

We arrived at Archers post after a fantastic ride on tarmac and very little on the road. We came across Samburu people who are dressed very like Masai including one stop in the road for an elderly Samburu lady taking her camels over the road in front of us. I (Martin) thought I got the whole thing on my helmet cam but it had slipped down on the way and the footage revealed quite a few minutes of the top of my helmet and the dashboard of a Yamaha 660 XT and NOT a Samburu nomad! 

 

 En route to Samburu

There is this real desire to try to capture the essence of every experience and every new landscape we enter. The scenery on this leg of the journey has become more and more gigantic and our plan to get into the rift valley has really been so rewarding. The plains of Kenya and the mountains around Samburu are utterly breathtaking.

We arrived at Archers Post, which is very remote, right on time. This does feel like a long way from anywhere. We quickly found the dirt road to the gate of the Samburu reserve. The road was sand and rocks so we did the 3km in first gear standing up most of the way. We stopped to let goats cross our path and to speak to Samburu in their bright Masai-like colours who were standing on one leg under acacia trees along the way. All this is true except the thing about one leg!

At the gate we were welcomed by good security guys, the Intrepids vehicle was arriving just as we were. 4,000 miles from home don’t you just love it when a plan comes together! The bikes were parked up behind the guard house at the gate and we piled into the vehicle with all our kit, panniers and very sweaty feet. Our driver Dominic told us we would take an hour and a half to reach Intrepids and do view some game along the way. Sounds good we thought. By the time we reached intrepids we had seen elephant, giraffe, lion, dick-dick, kudu, water buck and a rare grevy zebra. We had neither of us been to anything like this before and we were completely bowled over by the absolute purity and beauty of the animals in the wild. All you veteran safasri-goers will laugh but for us this was an absolute revelation. We only booked this thing for a few creature comforts and the hope of seeing the odd impala!

It turned out later that we both had been thinking the same thing as we traveled to the Camp… “I am SO bringing my family to this place!’. We have been planning this ever since we arrived.

The lodge is vast and airy, we were like a couple of school boys with huge grins on our dust-stained faces as we arrived and were welcomed by the fantastic Intrepids staff.  The Camp is right by the Wasunyuro river and the activities of Samburu herders is a constant feature to observe. Out tent is ridiculous. 

 

 Ridiculous tent

Way more luxurious than we imagined (especially for the price we had paid in USD before we left.)  After some lunch we joined the 4.00pm drive to see more of this exquisite place and learn more about the unique landscape that is Samburu. This is where the ‘Secret Life Of Elephants’ documentary was filmed and there are many species here unique to this area. I (Martin) will admit to being close to tears so many times in the past 48 hours as I have ridden the bike through some of the most dramatic landscape imaginable and seen the handiwork of God so close and totally unspoilt. I have run out of superlatives this past few days. Pheneomenal slips out pretty regularly!

  

 

The Odd Couple on Safari

Samburu Tracker-drivers

 The Samburu is so quiet you can hear their ears moves when they flap. Quite magnificent.

 

Dick-dick

We had a great simple supper and tried to use the wi-fi which is, as usual, very hit and miss. Mind you…we are in the middle of the African plains! Thursday morning we were up at 6.00 for the dawn drive. We were treated to a herd of elephants close enough to touch, an extended sighting of a leopard (pronounced ‘lio-paad’ by the driver Dom who loves his cats). We also saw a huge herd of elephant drinking in the river. Samburu is SO quiet that you can hear the leathery ears of an elephant move from 6 feet away as they flap to cool them down. Seriously.Phenomenal! There are also over 300 species of bird around us.

A 'lio-paad'

We are here for one more day then head off towards Beringo on Saturday which is a long 5-6 hour journey to a place called Roberts Camp where we have stayed before.

We are trying to get as many photos as we can and capture the memories and experiences we are having along the way. We will hire the village hall when we get back and share our pictures over a warm glass of Liebfraumilch and some twiglets just like they used to in the old days! ”This is Paul with the leopard….this is Paul with the leopard again…anther one but from another angle…this is the leopard with Paul…another glass of liebfraumilch anyone?”

P.S There is an ongoing facial hair competition under way here is a taster...