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Soysambu Conservancy

Soysambu Conservancy

Although it covers some 49,000 acres, it is easy to miss it. There's barely a sign to it off the road, and almost everyone drives straight past. Yet, nestling between Lakes Nakuru and Elementaita lies the Soysambu Conservancy. There is so much plains game here that Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) are helping to build a fence alongside the main highway and they are also shipping hundreds of zebra out to restock Amboseli National Park as it recovers from a devastating drought.

There are no lions, cheetah, elephant or
rhino here, but leopards thrive.

Exceptional bird life
Stretching between two of the Rift Valleys great lakes, Soysambu has all the advantages that entails, plus the great bonus of peace and quiet. I spent 4 hours touring the conservancy, and saw precisely no other people. There are a couple of small lodges here, and a camp will open soon, but by comparison with Nakuru and parts of the Mara when it is busy, Soysambu is a wilderness.

But why is it so quiet? The simple answer is that there are no lions, elephants, cheetah or rhinos. If the so called big five is all you are after (More fool you), you will be disappointed. But if you have seen plenty of them in Nakuru or elsewhere, then take the time to visit Soysambu. Buffalo, giraffe, zebra and antelope abound. There are leopards and plenty of the smaller species that I love to see; genet cats, jackals, hyrax, Colobus monkeys, dik dik, Ground hornbills, bustards, crowned cranes and plenty more.

Soysambu birds
And the birdlife is fantastic. Around 400 species have been spotted and there is pretty much everything here that you might see in Nakuru or Elementaita; and the raptors are spectacular, and include records of 15 different species of eagle!

Soysambu has one of the few breeding sites of the Great white pelican anywhere in Africa.

The following are all reasonably common: Great White pelican (Soysambu is one of few nesting sites in Africa); Pink backed Pelican; Little egret; Lesser flamingo; Greater flamingo; African fish eagle; Black winged stilt; Little stint; Common sandpiper; Common green shank; Grey headed gull; Great Cormorant; Cattle egret; Grey heron; Hamerkop; Marabou stork; Yellow billed stork; African spoon bill; Glossy ibis; Little Grebe; Hadada ibis; Cape teal; Spur winged goose; Egyptian goose; Red billed teal; Pied Avocet; Blacksmith plover; Kittlitz plover; Spur winged plover; Three banded Plover; Crowned plover; Ringed plover; Ruff; Marsh sandpiper; Gull billed tern; Pied Kingfisher; White storks; Ground hornbill; Augur buzzards.

Extraordinary butterflies
I wasn't looking for them, I rarely take much notice of them, but they were impossible to ignore. Huge numbers and amazing variety, this has to be one of Kenya's richest butterfly hotspots.

The Grand Plan - Great Rift Valley National Park

It won't happen this year, or for 5 years, but the plan has been conceived and laid, though it is expected to take a long time to hatch. Take the fences down around Nakuru, and let the game spread across Soysambu, and eventually all the way to Naivasha, recreating what would once have been one of the richest wildlife landscapes in Africa. There is a long way to go before this becomes a reality, but it is a spectacular plan, and it will be a spectacular park.

Click here to go to the Soysambu Conservancy website

Like nearby Nakuru, Lake Elementaita can hold tens of thousands of flamingos.

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