Samburu more pics

Never enough hyraxes, one of our favorite animals!  These were bush hyraxes that hung out on the rock wall at our hotel stop in Isiolo.  Great fun to sit on the porch and watch them.

Entering Samburu National Reserve.  The park has an odd notoriety for a lioness many years ago that insisted on adopting baby oryxes (normally lion prey!).  The entrance sign seems to honor this strange occurrence.

Gerenuks, they were fun to watch since they had such oddly non-antelope behavior standing on their back legs.

Grevy's Zebras and oryx taking shelter under a tree in the midday sun.

Reticulated giraffe, a particular type of giraffe found in Samburu.

Bulbuls, common Kenyan birds

Superb Starlings, these beautiful birds have revised our opinions of starlings.

Impala visiting the river at our campsite.

Dik-diks, tiny antelope, were very common in the park.

Gerenuk

Desert warthog, another new species for us.

Unique desert doum palms found in the wetter areas of the parks.

Lilac-breasted Rollers are always stunning in their colors.

Biesa Oryx were a favorite with their dramatic patterns.

Yellow-necked Spurfowl

We came across two jackals fighting over the remains of a dik-dik

Several tawny eagles wait near the jackals for a chance at the dik-dik carcass

Somali ostrich, another desert species that was a new one for us.  They have bluish legs and neck compared to the "normal" ostrich.

2-for-1 frosties at the store meant a special treat for camping breakfast

Lesser Kudu, again a new mammal sighting for us, at Shaba National Reserve near Samburu.  

Oryx at Shaba.  We only had a few hours to explore a bit of Shaba, which would be fun to explore more.  Samburu isn't crowded with people, but we had Shaba virtually to ourselves as it gets few visitors.  

Leopard outside the truck.  On the way back to the campsite, the leopard passed right in front of us then wandered in the bushes in view for a few minutes.  We've been waiting for a good leopard sighting, and felt very lucky to see one so close!

Hornbills were common, and always fun to watch.  This one is a Von der Decken Hornbill

The second lucky sighting of the trip, on the way out of the park, four cheetahs eating a gerenuk.