National Parks Africa » Shaba National Reserve

Shaba National Reserve lies in the northern district to the south of the Uaso Nyiro River, covering 240 square kilometres (96 square miles). It takes its name from Mount Shaba, a copper coloured sandstone hill which lies partially in the reserve which is famous for its lava flows that oozed down from the Nyambeni Hills only 5,000 years ago.

The western side of the reserve is bushed grassland savannah, dotted with thorn bushes, gradually becoming acacia woodland nearer Mount Shaba. Beyond the mountain the vegetation becomes grassland plains. A series of springs bubble up in the river in the north-eastern side of the reserve. One spring, Penny’s Drop, was named after Joy Adamson’s leopard Penny, which she released back to the wild in Shaba Reserve. It was in her Shaba camp that Joy Adamson died in 1980.

Although heavy poaching in Shaba has made animals very shy, you might be lucky enough to see elephant, lion, cheetah, leopard, waterbuck, as well as all the animals specially adapted to the dry region: beisa oryx, gerenuk, Grevy’s zebra, reticulated giraffe and Somali ostrich.

The reserve is about 300 kilometres (186 miles) from Nairobi. Access is by a turn-off two kilometres (just under one mile) short of Archer’s Post through the Natorbe Gate, seven kilometres (4.3 miles) from the main road.