April 2, 2013.

We get up early and leave around 06.15. There is nobody else in the park.  Jackson wants to check if the leopards we saw last night are still around. We are very lucky and find them on a fallen tree close to the place we left them yesterday evening.

There is a dik dik family in the area. 

Samburu, Kenya

For over an hour we have the chance to follow the leopards with no other people around.

samburu, Kenya

Samburu, Kenya

The mother is teaching her hunting skills to her cub.  

Samburu, Kenya

Samburu, Kenya

The cub is not very successful and the dik dik's disappear. 

Samburu, Kenya

At around 7.30 some other cars arrive and the leopards do not like the additional attention and they disappear further into the bushes. We were lucky as we had the best time with them. It pays off to get up early and with Jackson we definitely have the best guide. 

We spot a family of elephants. The elephants in Samburu are red because of the colour of the mud.

Samburu, Kenya

Around 9.00 we return to the Samburu game lodge for breakfast and a relaxing morning. The children enjoy the pool and I watch the vervet monkeys. 

After lunch we plan on visiting some of the tribal villages. The idea is to visit the Turkana and the Borana as well as the Samburu tribes. It is very hot, approximately 35°C and my youngest daughter suffers from the heat so we end up visiting only the Samburu tribe. After giving her some water she feels better but we fear that she may be getting ill.

Samburu, Kenya

Samburu, Kenya

As we are close to the neighboring Buffalo Springs entrance we enter the reserve here. Buffalo Springs is the other side of the river. 

As Samburu is above the equator, there are species that are not found in the reserves further south. In Buffalo Springs we see our first reticulated giraffe. 

As the bridge over the river has been destroyed by the rains and we have to drive back to Samburu over the main road we cannot stay too long in Buffalo Springs as we are not allowed to drive in the park after 06.30 pm .
 

It has been another fantastic day in Kenya.