Safari to the Mathew’s Range

naturally scarce populations of desert wildlife

Set 280 km northeast of Nairobi, the Mathews Range is a wonderful remote safari area, made up of enormous community conservancies.

The area is centred on a ribbon of granite mountains whose 2500 metre peaks dominate the surrounding plains.

The higher altitudes benefit from a considerably milder climate than the surrounding savanna, producing dense montane forests, which act as a critical oasis for wildlife during the Jun-Nov dry season, especially elephants, which migrate annually up and down the slopes.

The area is comprised of tribal conservancies in which the local Samburu people are stakeholders and benefit directly from the protection of wildlife. Spending time with the lovely locals is one of the great highlights of a visit.

The mountains and surrounding plains are contained within the Namunyak Conservancy. The wildlife in this semi-desert is naturally sparse, but does notably include elephants, reticulated giraffes and imperial zebras.

The stand-out accommodation option in this area is the very characterful and high quality Sarara Camp.

Vehicle safari tends to be relatively low on the agenda here compared with most safari areas, with walking safari and mountain hiking being the primary activities for most visitors. Cultural interaction is also very strong, notably with visits to the famous Singing Wells.

Very excitingly it is also possible to undertake some epic flying safaris north to the remote deserts and distant Lake Turkana, areas which are otherwise off limits for reasons of security.

Further to the east lies the enormous Sera Conservancy, home to an extremely important rhino conservation project. In this area the wonderfully simple Saruni Rhino is the best camp from which to explore the area and especially to track rhinos on foot.

The excellent Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, which cares for rescued baby elephants, is another highlight of the area and can be visited from both of the above properties.

The unavoidably high prices, the outdoorsy nature of the activities and the naturally low wildlife populations mean that this area tends to appeal most to experienced safari travellers in search of new and exciting areas to explore.

The Mathews Range is a remote safari area which offers a very wide range of activities, but where wildlife viewing is inherently less productive than more popular areas like the Maasai Mara. As a result, this area tends to appeal most to more experienced safari travellers, for whom the quality of sightings is more important than the quantity.

The usual stay duration is 4-7 nights.

Seasonality

The best time to visit the Mathews Range is generally considered to be the Jun-Feb dry season, but seasonality is low here and there are very good reasons to visit during other months. In fact during Jan-Mar the Mathews Range often enjoys the best conditions of any safari area in Kenya.

Getting there

The Mathews Range is usually accessed by light aircraft from Nairobi and distant safari locations like Maasai Mara and Amboseli.

The area is often combined in trips with other parts of this region such as Lewa and Samburu, with which it can be connected by road.

tends to appeal most to experienced safari travellers