Samburu

Safari

A short safari focussing on the incredible wildlife of Samburu National Park in Kenya. Expect amazing close elephant encounters, big cats and the Samburu Big Five! Set in the magical Samburu National Park in an incredible camp with world class dining and service.

Samburu, unrushed

This Samburu photo safari is about slowing down and doing wildlife photography properly. Rather than rushing between parks, we stay in one exceptional area for the full seven days, giving you sixteen game drives and the time to really understand the landscape, the light, and the animals that live here. That time on the ground gives you the best chance of meaningful encounters — from Samburu’s elephants, often at wonderfully close quarters, to big cats such as leopard and cheetah, and rarities like the elusive aardwolf. Having 7 full days, that’s a total of 16 safaris, will really allow us to explore the best of this amazing place.

We stay in an outstanding lodge with world-class accommodation and cuisine, returning each day to comfort, great food, and time to unwind. The lodge is unfenced and really at one with nature, a chance to really relax (we are actually writing this from Samburu now and outside on our decking are a group of Vervet monkeys with their babies). It’s a real home from home. We support the Samburu community as well and a visit to the inspiring Retiti elephant orphanage is included too.

Andy and Jamie will be your guides throughout, leading from the front and sharing decades of combined experience and an intimate knowledge of Samburu that allows us to anticipate behaviour, work the light, and be in the right place when moments unfold naturally. Whether you come primarily to photograph or simply to experience wildlife at its best, this is a journey built around time, understanding, and one that leaves you with lasting memories of one of Kenya’s most special places.

Samburu National Park

Samburu is one of the best places in Kenya to see huge breeding herds of elephants; in the late mornings and afternoons they travel down from from the cooler hills to the main river to wash and feed on the vegetation rich riverbanks. Travelling in large groups of various ages they are a pleasure to spend time with and we will spend a lot of time with them! This is largely because, unlike other populations, they witness very little human elephant conflict, which means that they are peaceful and relaxed around vehicles. Sometimes they come so close you can hear them breathing next to you! Of course whilst the elephants are the main attraction of Samburu they are backed up by frequent leopard and cheetah sightings plus rarities like Aardwolf, African Wildcat, Grevy’s Zebra, Somali Ostrich, Reticulated Giraffe and incredible bird life. It’s an awesome park to photograph in as it’s so beautiful, for us it’s our home park and we know it so well which of course gives our trips the edge.

A special place for elephants

Everyone loves elephants but Samburu is a very special place for them as they are much more chilled than in other locations in Africa. This uniqueness allows us to get incredibly close up encounters with the breeding herds, and yes that means the youngsters. Elephant calves are complete clowns and so much fun to watch, there is not a single encounter with them where we don’t laugh out loud.

You can never have too many encounters with Samburu elephants and this unique ecosystem allows us to observe so many amazing facets of their lives. The central part of the ecosystem is the Ewaso river, in so many ways it’s the lifeblood of Samburu. Each breeding herd will come down to the river to drink and chill, for the youngsters it’s definitely a fun time.

We are very experienced at photographing the elephants of Samburu and all our safari clients get amazing pictures of them. We approach and photograph them with total respect and love, we are guests in their home.

Having 8 days at Samburu allows us to really get the best encounters possible, and create memories of the elephants that will last a life time.

Accommodation

We love staying at Soroi Larsens, it is very much our home camp in Kenya. We are welcomed as friends, and the standard of this traditional tented camp is absolutely exceptional. Each luxury tent has its own decking and river frontage, with hot showers and all the amenities you would expect (wifi in every room, charging sockets etc).

The food is world class with excellent vegetarian / vegan options and we have the chance to learn all about Samburu culture from our Samburu ambassador. Photographically it is ideally placed for our game driving and has a low level photographic hide by a waterhole which all our clients have exclusive access to (see below for details). There is a wonderful spa there so you can get a massage, a swimming pool and indoor and outdoor dining. River watching is always a fun pastime and sometimes you see elephants crossing right in front of the camp. It’s in a class of it’s own for African safaris and is such a magical place.

Staying here for this extended safari will be the ultimate in relaxation combined with great safari photography.

The Photographic Hide

The Soroi lodges at Samburu share an exclusive photographic low level hide around a waterhole. The hide has non-reflective glass but the windows can be opened with care, experience and supervision. Inside the hide are bunk beds, power outlets, a/c and with the lights at night providing good light for photography. The hide is accessed by a secure underground tunnel from Larsens Camp and clients are only permitted to use the hide with one of the photographic guides and may not exit without a guard. Common visitors to the hide include elephants, plains game and at night the striped hyena comes a few times per week. Like all hides there are peak times for activity, this hide is best in the dry season when the river is low (September-November) but wildlife can turn up at anytime. All our clients have exclusive access to the hide for the duration of our stay.

The Guide Team

Lots of people run safaris, what separates our expeditions is the experienced guide team that we have, plus the Travel Trust Association bonding that protects your holiday money from supplier failure. Your guides for this trip will be leading wildlife photographers Andy Rouse and Jamie Peters, who have visited the areas before and are experts at getting you in the right place at the right time.

Andy Rouse

Perhaps a little about Andy for those that have never worked with him before. Andy has won over 28 major international awards, been a pro for nearly 25 years and has led photographic expeditions all over the world. He prides himself in only offering the very best destinations, and has built a reputation as one of the best photographic safari guides in the world. Put simply, if you book a WildBunch safari, you can rest assured that you will be guided by one of the best in the business. Andy’s safari’s are always packed with fantastic opportunities, expert guidance and a drive to get the very best for his clients, as well as being a lot of fun - you are on holiday after all!

Andy shoots with the Sony A1 Mark II, but rest assured no matter what system you use, Andy will be able to help you get the most from your system and yourself.

Away from work he is a proud husband, Dad and West Ham fan!

Jamie Peters

Andy has known professional macro and wildlife photographer Jamie Peters for over 10 years. In his previous life Jamie was an Army Photographer for 11 years. During that time he went to many places photographing the army including Afghanistan, Kenya, Nepal, Ukraine and Sierra Leone. He was also an instructor at the Defence School of Photography, so Jamie has exactly what it takes to help you achieve the very best from your safari.

As well as an excellent teacher Jamie has won awards for his stills and videos including the prestigious and fiercely competitive Army Photographer of the Year. His real passion though is nature photography and he spends his spare time photographing tough species near his home. An expert at leading tours in Africa and India his experience not only covers fieldcraft but all genres of photography and videography.

Essential Information

This is going to be a brilliant trip, Samburu never fails to deliver and the standard of the camp is extraordinary, this is truly a luxury safari. The wildlife in Samburu is incredibly varied; whilst we cannot guarantee any particular species we can guarantee that you will see a huge number of animals and get some tremendous photographic opportunities.

So if you are interested in coming then click the button to email us.