Samburu National Reserve is located north of Nairobi, and was established in the 1970's. Samburu National Reserve is also adjacent to the well known Buffalo Springs National Reserve. Samburu Reserve is 40 square miles in size; and temperature during the day is refreshingly hot, especially if you had a rough winter in your home country, but tends to cool during the night. This region to this date is referred to as the Northern Frontier District because of the war in the 1960's and early 70's with the Somali people. Culturally, Northern Kenya has always had a strong influence of Somali, Galla and Borana communities/tribes, who have been nomads for many centuries. The Samburu National Reserve can be entered via the Ngare Mare and Buffalo Springs gates. Once inside the reserve, there are two mountains visible; Koitogor and Ololokwe. The reserve is very peaceful, and attracts animals because of River Uaaso Nyiro which means "brown water" that runs through it and the mixture of acacia, riverine forest, thorn trees and grass vegetation. The Uaaso Nyiro flows from the Kenyan highlands, and completes down stream at the famous Lorian Swamp. The natural serenity that is evident here is because of its distance from development, industries and inaccessibility of the reserve for many years. There is a wide variety of animals and bird life that can be seen at Samburu National Reserve. Animals commonly seen are elephants, lions, cheetahs, grevy's zebras, giraffes, gerenuks, buffalos, Oryx, grants gazelles, dikdiks and waterbucks. Unfortunately, all the rhino population was eliminated here because of heavy poaching. There are over 350 varieties of birds including the famous Somali Ostriches that can be distinguished by their unique purple/blue legs during mating season, kingfishers, humming birds, eagles, guinea fowls and vultures. Samburu National Reserve is not very well-known, but definitely worth a visit. It is perfectly situated on the banks of the Ewaso Nyiro River in Kenya. This means plenty of water, trees and shade to attract wildlife like elephant, lion, giraffe and zebra from the surrounding savannah plains. Leopards are also regularly spotted. The reserve is not particularly well-known and is therefore not too crowded; this is a huge plus in Kenya where so many reserves are often overflowing with tourists. The Samburu Reserve also offers unique vistas of rounded, rugged hills and undulating plains