Samburu Game Reserve Hotels

SOPA Lodge Samburu: Friendliest Lodge

Very nice rooms with an outside sitting area..Very nice staff. I would stay there again

Samburu Serena Safari Lodge: Super Safari Lodge

Samburu Lodge: Disaster Hotel

This accommodation is "Not fit for purpose". It is being extensively
renovated and all the public rooms incl reception, dining room/bar area,
etc. are in open-sided plastic tents with plastic sheeted floors (except
for the bare floored bar). Rain leaked in and the floors were awash
with mud which the staff were unable to keep clear. There are trenches
throughout the area, which have to be crossed by 3 four-inch wide planks.
This would close the site in Britain for Health and Safety reasons

All except above

Samburu Lodge: One of the BEST places to stay in Samburu!

The hotels unique guest rooms are spread up and down the river in various sizes of cottages and bandas, with a mixture of decor styles. All rooms have ensuite bathrooms, and some have verandas overlooking the river.

The food was wonderful. We had a bull elephant right outside our door when we came back from dinner one night. Baboons woke us up in the morning, right outside our door.
We could sit and have a glass of wine, with crocs inches away...I loved it. What an EXPERIENCE!!!

Beautifully situated on the banks of the Uaso Nyiro River in the arid heart of Samburu National Reserve, Kenya, Samburu Lodge looks out over riverbanks where herds of elephant, buffalo and zebra come daily to drink. Samburu Lodge is set in a rugged landscape with a stunning backdrop of jagged mountains and its own indigenous wildlife unique to the region. It is the place of the semi-nomadic Samburu people and a place of open plains and vast horizons of the African desert.

• Opinion of Price: N/A
• Related to: National/State Park
• Written October 19, 2005

Yes...I fed the monkeys!

4 more images

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Larsen's Tented Camp: Luxury in Samburu

Located on the banks of the Uwaso Nyiro River, Samburu is a small reserve with nonetheless an abundance of wildlife.

Larsen's offers 17 luxurious tents that are larger than most hotel rooms I've stayed in; all are mounted on wooden platforms and have ensuite bathrooms.

Meals are served in a tented dining room, though dinner may also be prepared over an open-air barbecue. There's also a nice bar -- in a tent, of course.

Around a campfire our first night at Larsen's, a group of young women were having a singfest. One of them asked me to choose a song. As a joke I suggested "We Are Marching to Pretoria." To my horror -- and the obvious displeasure of a couple of locals -- the women launched into a spirited version of that Boer/Apartheid song. Proving once again, Don't ask for something you don't really want....

Safaris are offered at daybreak and again at dusk.

• Opinion of Price: about average
• Related to: Seniors, Safari, Family Travel
• Written March 20, 2005

Room in a Tent

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Camp at the riverside

We camped two times at the northbank of the Ewaso Nyiro River.

The first night we stayed at the campsite near Archers Post not far from the entrance of the reserve, so we could enter early in the morning for a first game-drive. The Samburu people of the compound nearby guarded the camp.

The second night we stayed at the campsite near Samburu Lodge within the Reserve. Here were a lot of monkeys stealing our bread and also many elephants around. So we hired a guard (500 shilling) to look after our tents and food.

The Samburu lodge itself was very expensive ($ 200 a room). We had a (six course) dinner there for $25. After dinner a guard equipped with gun and flashlamp brought us back to the campsite along the narrow bushpaths.

The campsites are very beautifully located with the wildlife all around. The facilities are very basic. There is a water tap. The toilets are just a hole in the ground.

• Opinion of Price: least expensive
• Related to: National/State Park, Road Trip, Camping
• Written October 16, 2004

early morning view from our tent

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Butterfly Camp Site: Butterfly Camp Site

This public camp site is next to the Ewaso Ngiro river, but don't worry about the crocs. They are fed every evening at 7 pm at the Samburu Lodge next to the campsite.

You do have to pay attention to the vervet monkeys, they steal your food.

Also clean your ground before you'll put your tent up (do it 3 times). I missed an acacia-thorn and it went trought the tent and trough my mattress, it was a thorn of 15 cm and my mattress couldn't be fixed anymore (I slept a month on a flat mattress...)

There are no showers and the 'toilets' are disgusting. Do go to the Samburu Lodge with a ranger before you go to sleep and take advantage of their excellent facilities.

It was the worst camp site I ever stayed, but you're in the middle of the game reserve, so be prepared to hear something snuffling around your tent in the middle of the night...
What an experience!

• Opinion of Price: least expensive
• Related to: National/State Park, Camping, Budget Travel
• Written September 18, 2004

Vervet monkey - Samburu GR - Kenya

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Campsite in the Samburu Park: Campsite in the Samburu Park

Camping in the middle of the Samburu Park, no fences between the animals and your tent,. You can enjoy the wildlife sitting at your campfire, and you hear the elephants walking in the bushes about twenty meters away.