Thankfully, the road to Samburu was fairly smooth. There were quite a few speed bumps and animal crossings along most of the highways and minor roads we drove in Kenya. Lots of nomadic tribespeople move their cattle to new grazing areas and have to cross the roads. We went past a lot of goat/sheep/cow herds on our travels.

It took about four hours to get to Samburu. We entered the national reserve and then had about a 20 minute drive to our camp, Elephant Bedroom. The camp itself is inside the reserve right on the Ewaso Ngiro River.

We were shown to our tents for the next two nights. I was impressed with how nice the furnishings and bathroom looked. Bottled water was provided and restocked throughout our stay. We were advised not to drink tap water or use it for teeth brushing.

We were warned to use the provided flashlights after dark and to always signal an escort to get to and from our rooms in the dark as elephants (and other animals) sometimes came into the camp.

We had lunch at the open air restaurant and rested for a couple of hours.

Then we went on our first official game drive of the trip. We were all still fairly tired as we had not adjusted too well to the time change yet.

After the game drive, we stopped for sundowners with the rest of the camp’s guests. It was a beautiful sunset.

My wife and oldest were too tired to go to dinner and just wanted to sleep so I went with my youngest.

This is a sample of the menu we would get at all the meals at all of the camps where we stayed. Basically, there was an appetizer or soup or salad, four entrée choices – meat, fish/chicken, vegetarian (usually pasta) and Indian vegetarian. Dessert was usually a choice betwen tropical fruit or a slice of cake or pie.

We finally all got a decent night’s sleep and were ready for our early game drive the next morning. The camp brought coffee and biscuits to our room around 6am and we left just after sunrise to spot some animals. This time we saw a cheetah among other animals.

We came back to the camp for breakfast around 9am.

At 10am, we left for a Samburu village. We got a tour of the village, a demonstration of some songs and dances (including the kids participating in the dances), saw the inside of a hut and a fire-making demonstration. We then met the kids (and Kehara had made sure we bought some candy on the way to Samburu) and handed out candy to them which we really enjoyed (and they did too).

We returned to the camp for lunch and while the others rested, I enjoyed a large Tusker while sitting on the deck overlooking the river.

Around 4pm, we took another game drive and it was very hot so there wasn’t much to see. Finally, as we headed back to camp, we came upon a family of lions who were feasting on a baboon. The lioness who had killed the unfortunate monkey had some sort of injury.

We later found out she had her jaw broken by a zebra kick a few weeks earlier. The local vet tried to find her and treat her but couldn’t. She slinked away from the rest of the group when it became apparent they would not share the meat with her. Unfortunately, if she did not get treatment within a few days after our visit, it’s likely that she did not make it.

On our return to camp, we enjoyed our last dinner at Elephant Bedroom. Throughout our stay there, elephants did in fact walk through the camp from time to time. We were always kept at a safe distance by the staff.

The next morning, we had an early departure so the staff prepared an early breakfast for us. Each morning at Elephant Bedroom there were eggs made to order, bacon (beef), sausage, mushrooms, beans, pastries and toast. Coffee was French press at all the camps.

Of the three camps we stayed in (all owned by the same company), Elephant Bedroom was my favorite. The staff just seemed to go the extra mile and the manager was always present, making sure all the guests were well taken care of. Our server even brought food to our tent one night when my wife didn’t make it to dinner.

Up Next: Lake Nakuru and Mbweha Camp

If you enjoyed this post (or have questions), let me know in the comments or send me an email at emptynestermiles@gmail.com. If you are thinking about opening a new credit card, please use one of my links.