Ashnil Samburu Camp, Kenya (Luxury Tent & Wildlife Experience)

Ashnil Samburu Camp is a spectacular luxury tented camp located in northern Kenya along the banks of the Ewaso Nyiro River. It lies within Buffalo Springs National Reserve and is adjacent to the world-famous Samburu National Reserve, offering some of the top safaris in all of East Africa.

Ashnil Samburu Camp is where our family stayed during our time in Northern Kenya and it completely exceeded our expectations.

The accommodations were incredible, the staff was extremely friendly, the food was fantastic, the wild animal views from the property were outstanding and the animal encounters right by our “tents” were absolute highlights for our family!

In this post, I’ll show you around this fantastic “camp,” let you in on some of our surprising encounters during our stay and show you why we think this would be an incredible place to stay when visiting the Samburu area of northern Kenya.

(Please know that all of the opinions here are our own and we did not receive any compensation for this post. As always we pay for our vacations and accommodations ourselves. We sincerely hope that this post can provide you with the information you are looking for so that you can travel easier and travel better with your traveling feet.)

ASHNIL SAMBURU CAMP

Our family arrived at Ashnil Samburu Camp after driving for most of the day from Nairobi. (It’s about 200 miles or 320 Km north.) And being located within Buffalo Springs National Reserve, we also drove through part of this reserve to reach our destination.

As we drove through Buffalo Springs, we immediately noticed how extremely dry the landscape surrounding us was. We knew, prior to coming, that this area was experiencing a severe drought, but we did not realize how incredibly dry it would actually be. (We visited in July of 2022 and at this time it hadn’t rained in over 2 years! We really hope they receive rain soon!)

But even with this incredibly dry setting we saw several animals (including an Oryx, a Somalian Ostrich, several species on antelopes, and some giraffes) on just our quick drive to the camp through the reserve. And we weren’t even on an official safari drive!

When we arrived at the camp, we were immediately welcomed and greeted with some refreshing drinks. Then we were given a moment to relax in their beautiful open air reception area and they told us some important information and tips regarding their property.

Here, within Ashnil Samburu Camp, we quickly noticed that it was much greener than the surrounding Buffalo Springs. This is due to the camp’s location on the riverbanks of the Ewaso Niyro River. This waterfront location also meant that we would hopefully see animals as they came to drink at the river right next to the camp.

But our hopes to see wild African animals was realized before we even finished our welcome drinks! Here, while sitting in the reception area, we noticed the bushes moving not far from us and out scurried several Vervet Monkeys running across the property! I was ecstatic!

Little did we know, that this was only the beginning of our incredible animal sightings while staying at Ashnil Samburu Camp.

Ashnil Samburu Camp Accommodations

The “tents” at Ashnil Samburu Camp are simply fantastic!

Ashnil Samburu Camp has 30 luxury tents nicely spread out under the shady branches of the many doum palms. These “tents” have modern bathrooms within, a sturdy structure and wonderful screened views that can easily be opened or closed as needed. These “tents” are an amazing way to experience Africa and Ashnil Samburu Camp is one of our top favorite places to stay in all of Kenya!

Room Layouts

There are several different layout options at Ashnil Samburu Camp. Our three children had a tent with three single beds in it and Chris and I had a tent with a King, shown below. (I forgot to take a picture right when we walked in and so any messiness shown is our fault, not theirs.)

Behind the bed area is where you’ll find a large shower (with hot water!), a restroom, sink and plenty of space to set your luggage.

I always find it amazing how places, out in the middle of nowhere get modern conveniences like hot water. But when we looked outside our “tent” we saw this “hot water heater” with a fire going strong, heating our water for us!

Then, while getting settled in our rooms, we met a wonderful surprise.

Vervet Monkeys

We peaked out onto our porch and saw half a dozen Vervet Monkeys playing! They were so close, literally right on the other side of our screen! I was blown away!

Quietly, I sat down in our room, next to the screen, and just watched these wild monkeys play. To me, this was a dream come true.

Sitting here watching these adorable Vervet Monkeys play, I was also reminded of the warning we heard from the staff when we first arrived.

Make sure to keep your tent zipped up and secured at all times, because the Vervet Monkeys can be quite mischevious.

Yet, my parents, who were traveling with us, must have forgotten this warning. And before we knew it, we looked over and saw five Vervet Monkeys (and one adorable baby) scurry out from inside their room!

No harm was done, and now it’s a funny story to look back on, but definitely listen to this warning about keeping your tent closed up and secure because these monkeys are everywhere!

Baboons

Other fun animal sightings we had during our stay (and another reason to keep your tent zipped up and secured) was watching baboons getting fruit from the property’s palm trees.

This baboon above is one that ran right past me as I was sitting on our porch one afternoon. He is holding a piece of fruit that grows in the palms here and I couldn’t believe how close he was! (This picture is cropped and I was still a safe distance away.)

On the flipside, the staff here does an amazing job making sure that the baboons (or any other animals) don’t cause any problems. Several staff members are constantly walking the property, monitoring it.

In fact one time, as I was heading down to dinner, I saw some baboons near the path and I simply called over to my children, who were coming out of their tent, to be aware of the baboon’s presence. And all of the sudden, out of the blue a staff member appeared and began shooing the baboons away, making sure we all felt safe.

As a side note, there is also a fence around the entire property, so there is no need to worry about other animals or any predators roaming around.

We loved how Ashnil Samburu Camp let us safely immerse ourselves into the world of Africa’s wildlife. And to me, this made an incredible and memorable experience!

The Onsite Restaurant

Aside from enjoying the wonderful accommodations and wildlife life on the property, another place we found ourselves spending time at is their onsite restaurant that has beautiful African landscape river views.

Set Menu

The onsite restaurant has a set menu (that differs each day) and during our stay there was always 3 courses with several selections to choose from. Just choose items from each course to create your ideal meal. Every meal here, we thought was extremely delicious.

With lunch and dinner there was usually a choice between some type of meat, a vegetarian option or pasta as the main course. A soup or salad was offered as the first course and a choice between a desert or fruit plate for the end of the meal.

Breakfast

During our stay for breakfast, the choices included an omelet made to order, bacon, sausage, small pancake, baked beans, potatoes, fruit plate, various cereals and/or various breads and muffins. All which were wonderful.

Lunch

For lunch, their were several items to choose from and a menu was brought to us each day. One day I had a hamburger (which was huge!) and fries. Another day I chose Snapper, celery soup and a fruit plate. My adventurous husband even tried a meal (that he had no clue of what it was) of Aloo Bindi Masala (Potatoes and okra), Split Dal Malai with rice and chapati bread. And he said it was excellent!

Dinner

For dinner, there were also several delicious choices each night. One night I chose mushroom soup, lamb and a trio dessert. Another night I chose a fish entre, ginger squash soup and a desert with little cakes. And another night I had a sweet potato soup, steak and a tropical fruit plate for desert. Everything I had during our stay here was incredibly delicious.

Below I added a couple of pictures of our yummy meals.

The Pool

Another highlight, that lies next to the restaurant is the pool. Now the pool itself is nice and picturesque, but honestly nothing overly special. (But then again we are from Florida and we have our own pool at our house so we may not be the best judge.) What is really fun though, is that while you are swimming, there may be monkeys running past or playing in the trees near you while you swim!

This is an experience I know we won’t soon forget!

And what literally blew me away as well, is that while I was watching my children swim, with the monkeys playing in the trees, I looked over towards the river and I saw this fantastic African view!

The View from Ashnil Samburu Camp

It was simply unreal watching my children swim while also watching giraffes and warthogs drinking in this picturesque African setting.

(Remember that severe drought I mentioned earlier. This is what the Ewaso Nyiro River looked like in July of 2022. This drought is pretty bad right now and they desperately need rain.)

I sat admiring this spectacular African view from the comfort of our Camp for a really long time. Just watching the wild animals come, take a drink and then move on. It was so peaceful and so natural and I almost couldn’t believe that it was real! This setting was an absolute dream come true for me. Just seeing these wild African animals in their natural habitat while I walked around our Camp was unbelievable. And we weren’t even on a safari drive!

10 Traveling Feet Tip: Africa is one destination where having a good camera with a nice zoom is absolutely worth every penny. Because having that nicer camera and zoom will allow you to get a picture of the African animals like the picture above, and zoom in to capture a picture like this below…

To us, having the better camera was worth every penny!

Photography Tip: We only carry a 200 zoom lens of high quality, and then when we get home we crop the picture to get an even greater zoom effect. For us, this has worked better (and is cheaper) than trying to carry an extra 400 zoom lens to try and get those amazing close up shots.

And then came the biggest highlight of them all!

Right before dinner one night, just before heading to the restaurant, my son looked out towards the river by our room. And there standing right on the other side of the fence looking at us, was a beautiful African elephant!

Seeing a wild elephant, standing right in front of us was a moment that simply took my breath away. And as we gazed upon each other, I felt a beautiful connection between us. It was a peaceful moment and a moment where I felt like we understood each other.

This was another spectacular moment that I know we will never forget!

And that is why here, I wanted to write this post, thanking the entire staff at Ashnil Samburu Camp for helping make my African dream vacation come true and for giving us so many incredible memories that to me, are simply priceless.

I also hope that this post will let more people know about this incredible establishment of Ashnil Samburu Camp, and that it can also help others create their own perfect dream trip to Africa.

For More Information & Available Dates at Ashnil Samburu Camp, See the Link Below

FUN “ROAD TRIP STOPS” BETWEEN NAIROBI AND SAMBURU

Our family drove from Nairobi to Ashnil Samburu Camp to begin our time in Northern Kenya. This is about a 200 mile journey and it took most of the day. Along the way we stopped for lunch at a wonderful restaurant called The Trout Tree Restaurant and we highly recommend it. The Trout Tree Restaurant has fantastic food and is set in a fun “treehouse” like environment. We even saw some Colobus Monkeys in the parking lot here and a Tree Hyrax!

Ol Pejeta Conservancy – This is the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa and home of the last 2 remaining northern white rhinos. You can also take a quick safari and see numerous other animals here. Our family really enjoyed visiting this site.

The Equator – This is a fantastic Bucket List stop. We stopped at the equator while visiting Ol Pajeta and thought that this site was set up really nice. There is a picturesque sign that’s perfect for a family shot and another sign with a bunch of equator fun facts.

Family Tip:

If you are traveling to the Samburu area with your family, we highly recommend reading Facing the Lion: Growing Up Maasai on the African Savannah, by Joseph Lekuton.

Before visiting Africa, our whole family read this book and we absolutely loved it!

This book is easy enough for an 8 year old to read, and yet I myself learned a ton about northern Kenya and about what it is like to grow up in a nomadic tribe. (The author’s tribe is a mixture of Samburu and Rendille and grew up near here.)

We think that this is a fantastic book to read before traveling to this area.

POPULAR TOURS TO SAMBURU

If you are looking to create your own customized tour – check out Journeys International. This is who we used and they were amazing!

Have a Great Trip to Ashnil Samburu Camp with Your Traveling Feet!

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