For many international visitors, the National Parks in Kenya they want to visit are restricted to the Maasai Mara and Amboseli. However venture less than six hours north of Nairobi and you’re likely to have some of the best wildlife experiences in the country.
The Ewaso Nyiro river flows through and forms the borders of a set of National Reserve triplets. Samburu, Shaba and Buffalo Springs.
The name Ewaso Nyiro comes from Samburu for “river of brown water,” (which is exactly what it looks like) and Samburu sits to the north, Buffalo Springs to the south with The river continuing to flow eastward, forming the northern boundary of Shaba.
They were originally one protected area, established in 1948 as the Samburu-Isiolo Game Reserve, and only carved into their present boundaries in 1985.
If you’re looking for unique wildlife species, incredible animal encounters in a beautiful and unusual landscape, then Buffalo Springs might just be the choice for you.
Getting there
Drive yourself
The classic approach is the long road north from Nairobi, climbing past the Aberdares, then Nanyuki, before crossing the equator and taking the obligitary photo at a roadside signpost
Total drive is around five to six hours depending on how much you stop. The benefits of driving yourself are being able to leave whenever you want, stop where you want and also it’s a cheaper option overall.
Unlike some of the other parks, you don’t have to have a 4×4 veichle but it is highly recommended and during wet weather the rangers may stop you entering without one.
Book a 4×4 hire car here.
Most people enter via Ngaremara Gate and the roads to the various camps are fairly well signposted, but try to save your destination in maps in advance before you lose signal.
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By Air
Alternatively, if your’e short on time but have a lot of money – fly: there are airstrips serving the reserves, and it turns a full travel day into under an hour. AirKenya flies from Nairobi to the Samburu-Buffalo airstrip. Safarilink flies from Nairobi to the nearby Samburu-Kalama airstrip.
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Use a tour operator
A number of operators offer 2 or 3 day trips to Buffalo Springs and Samburu. These are helpful for people without their own transport who prefer everything to be pre-arranged for ease.
This well reviewed tour takes in Mount Ololonkwe and Buffalo Springs
Click here to book
This tour visits both Samburu and Buffalo Springs on a 2 day trip with various pick up options.
Click here to book
What animals can you see in Buffalo Springs?
The Samburu Special Five
You’ve surely have heard of Africa’s ‘Big Five’, but the north has its own list, and it’s more unique! Across the three parks and with ease in Buffalo Springs National Reserve Kenya, you’ll be able to spot the Samburu Special Five, a group of rare, desert-adapted wildlife species.
Grevy’s zebra — bigger than the common zebra, with narrow pinstripe stripes and enormous (very cute) rounded ears. It’s endangered, and northern Kenya is essentially its last stronghold.
Reticulated giraffe — the one with the cleanly drawn white lines between liver-coloured panels, like a giraffe designed by an architect. Buffalo Springs holds good numbers.
Beisa oryx — grey-bodied, black-masked, carrying two long straight horns.
Gerenuk — known as the “giraffe gazelle,” because of its very long neck – the gerenuk stands upright on its hind legs to browse acacia at head height.
Somali ostrich — larger than the common ostrich, with blue-grey legs and neck. In breeding season the blue goes electric.
The Special Five are the reason to come north rather than south, and Buffalo Springs delivers them without the queue.
Birds in Buffalo Springs National Reserve Kenya
Somewhere between 350 and 390 species have been recorded across the Samburu–Buffalo Springs ecosystem, including a suite of northeast African dry-country specialists you won’t easily find elsewhere in Kenya.
I loved seeing the Vulturine guineafowl move in cobalt-blue gangs across the road as well as abyssinian Ground Hornbill – a large, ground-dwelling bird with bold black plumage and striking red facial skin.
I’m no bird expert but almost every tree we stopped at was host to colourful and beautiful birds – luckily our guide was on hand to keep us informed.
Expect – Black-faced Sandgrouse, White-bellied Bustard ,Black-capped Social Weaver, D’Arnaud’s Barbet, Red-billed Hornbill and Yellow-billed Hornbill, Superb Starling and Hadada Ibis.
What is the landscape like?
Buffalo Springs is built on old lava. The ground is olivine basalt, rolling out in gentle plains from around 850 metres up to about 1,230 metres. On a clear morning you can see Mount Kenya to the south, often with snow!
The rest is thorn scrub, acacia, and the thin green seam of riverine forest along the Ewaso Nyiro, with doum palms, huge specimens of Acacia elatior, and the Tana River poplar, a tree so restricted it only grows along a handful of Kenyan river systems.
I really enjoyed how different the landscape was to many of the other National Parks I visited in Kenya. Almost desert like, with sudden bursts of green oasis along the river, it’s really quite beautiful.
Entry fees & how to pay for Buffalo Springs National Reserve Kenya
Entry fees
In the chart below are the official Buffalo Springs National Reserve entry fees – according to the official website. However, we were charged $70 per person per day in August 2026, which obviously doesn’t correspond to the official rates. Equally I’ve seen online that people have been charged $90 per person per day recently too.
Do they accept card?
The short answer is no. Once again, on the official website for the Buffalo Springs National Reserve Kenya, it says that Mastercard or Visa is preferred over cash, yet when we arrived at the Ngaremara gate to the park they said they card is not accepted.
The options we were given were –
– Cash (although they debated the exchange rate for KSH)
– M Pesa (A Kenyan money transfer system)
We asked to do a bank transfer and they said that wasn’t possible either. In the end I had to send money to a Kenyan friend who then paid via M Pesa, which obviously wasn’t ideal. Add to this, that there was no wifi and virtually no signal, the whole situation took getting on an hour.
My recommendation would be to. bring either KSH or Dollars (and more than you’d expect to need).
| Visitor Category | Adult | Child (Under 18) |
|---|---|---|
| Non-Resident | $80 | $45 |
| Resident (Kenya, EAC) | Ksh 1,200 | Ksh 600 |
Where to stay in Buffalo Springs National Reserve Kenya
High end – Surana Buffalo Springs is an exceptional hotel overlooking the water. Rooms have private plunge pools and you’ll see elephants crossing right from your terrace.
Click here to book Surana Buffalo Springs.
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Mid Range – Ashnil Samburu is a smart lodge with a lovely pool and great food.
Click here to book Ashnil Samburu.
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Budget – For camping you can either stay at Buffalo Springs Ewaso Ng’iro Special Campsite or Samburu Public Campsite (which of course is not actually inside Buffalo Springs.)
At the Buffalo Springs campsite – there are generally no permanent facilities, so you need to bring your own water, food, cooking gear and camping equipment.
Campsite location here.
When to go to Buffalo Springs National Reserve
The dry seasons of roughly June to October and again December to March, concentrate wildlife on the river, which is exactly what you want.
Green season brings dramatic skies, better light, and thinner crowds, but the animals disperse and the roads can turn. If you’re photographing, go dry. Whenever you come, it’s going to be hot.
Why visit Buffalo Springs National Reserve, Kenya.
I didn’t know that much about the park before my visit, but it surprised me (in a good way) more than anywhere else I visited.
It might not have the huge numbers of animals like the Maasai Mara, but actually the wildlife encounters I had in Buffalo Springs were some of the best on my trip – and many of them were without other jeeps around.
It’s a beautiful park with a unusual landscape – you’ll be able to see all the big hitters like large numbers of big cats and huge herds of elephants with the added bonus of unique species you won’t be able to spot elsewhere.
