The Shaba Game Reserve is a rugged wilderness featuring bubbling hot springs, rolling savannah, miles of scrub & desert and the Ewaso Ngiro River which supports a diversity of wildlife. The subject of Joy Adamson’s final (unfinished) book, and indeed home to her monument, it’s easy to see how this rich and diverse landscape could be so inspiring.
Shaba is part of three small adjoining National Reserves that lie on either side of the Northern Ewaso Ngiro River (the other two being Samburu and Buffalo Springs), lying about 340 kilometres north/north east of Nairobi. These reserves were established in 1948 as the Samburu – Isiolo Game Reserve. Now they are managed by their respective county councils, Samburu and Isiolo.
The reserve consists of a low-lying, semi-arid plain on the southern bank of the Northern Ewaso Ngiro river. It lies 9 kilometres east of Buffalo Springs National Reserve, from which it is separated by the main road from Isiolo to Marsabit. Its Northern section includes a 34 kilometer stretch of the Ewaso Ngiro river; here and elsewhere in the reserve are numerous springs and swampy areas, although some have bitter tasting water. Still, Shaba’s various sources of water provide relief for many animals, including Grevy’s zebra, the reticulated giraffe and the Somalian ostrich. The scenic landscapes of permanent springs, green riverine forest set against thorny bush, and doum palms lining the river amidst the arid terrain are an attraction for safari-goers as well as the wildlife.
SHABA National Reserve took it’s name from the the massive cone of volcanic rock that dominates this region. The landscape is similar to nearby Samburu with riverine forests, acacia and doum palms. This area is famous for the association with Kenya’s most renowned conservationists, George and Joy Adamson.
In Shaba you will find the monument of the late Joy Adamson who died here in 1980. This reserve was the setting of the film “Sheena Queen of the jungle” and, more recently, “To walk with lions” depicting the life of George Adamson who did most of his conservation work on this reserve. The third series of “Survivor” is currently being filmed there – ending in late September.
Out of the north Kenyan tribes of Samburu, Rendille, Turkana and Borana, the Samburu dominate this area. To the uninformed eye they could be confused with the Maasai – for they are closely related and wear similar bright clothing and jewellery and have the same cultural beliefs. They continue their nomadic pastoralist lifestyle as they have done for hundreds of years.
The scrub desert, desiccated savannah and small hills of this region create overriding colours of muted greens, dusty creams, sand yellow, earthen ochre and every shade of brown. Perfect camouflage colours for the many animals that inhabit these parks.
The reserves are relatively small and animals are easy to find, with a number of weird and wonderful species endemic to this area. Notably the gerenuk – also known as the ‘giraffe necked antelope’ because of its ridiculously stretched neck adapted for browsing high into the bushes. Another local inhabitant is the Grevy’s zebra, which resembles an ass with wide stripes that don’t quite go all the way under the belly. Reticulated giraffes are different from their southern cousins in their perfectly arranged pattern. A very common dwarf antelope in these parts is the tiny dik dik, who is devoted to its mate for its entire lifetime.
Many other species exist in these reserves and large crocs and hippos inhabit the river. Leopard, lion, cheetah and hyena are found here and an unusual treat is that leopards are commonly seen in daylight. Birds are numerous and 365 species have been recorded in Buffalo Springs reserve.
