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African safari
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On the
Kenya safari itineraries, this
park is the famous as the home of the Mangabey and the Tana River
Red Colobus monkey. Tana River
National Primate Reserve was gazetted in 1976 to protect the Lower Tana riverine forests
and the above two endangered primate species. The reserve
consists mainly of patches of
riperian forests extending for
16 km along the meandering course of the lower tana river,
350 km east of Nairobi and 240km north of Mombasa. At the
time of establishment, the
reserve occupied approximately
171 Km of forest, dry woodland and savanna habitat on the
East and West of the Lower Tana River. 16 patches of forests
ranging from 10 to 625 ha. in
size fall within the reserve.
It is usually hot with temperatures ranging from 20-40
degrees
Centigrade and is accessible through Malindi/Garissa
road or through an airstrip on the
south of the Livestock
Holding Ground.
There are a lot of other tracks that link to
the
settlements.
Though the main attractions here are the endemic Red colobus
and mangabey, there are other attractions e.g., Nile
crocodile, Python, Monitor Lizard, butterflies, baboons,
cheetah and lots of antelope species. More than 300 species
of trees have been recorded in this reserve, a complex mix
of pan-African rain forest species, East Coast forest
species plus 10 rare woody plants of which 5 are endemic. A
walk in the neighborhoods of the forest can be arranged
which can be a lot of fun.
Arawale
National Reserve
Arawale national
reserve is located in the North-Eastern Province, in Garissa district, 5 km from
the left bank of the Tana river. The Reserve is located 250 km north of Mombasa
and 130 km north of Malindi. Arawale was
gazetted in 1973 covering an extension of 533 Sq.kms and with the
primary
purpose of protecting a rare antelope species, which is found
only in this region, the Hirola or Hunter's hartebeest. The landscape in
this area is mostly a dry thorn-bush savannah.
Hunter's hartebeest or Hirola (Damaliscus Hunter) is a slender antelope with lyre-shaped
horns
which is the main asset ot the reserve. It is a rare and shy antelope
which is seriously
endangered. Its territory extends to the Somali
border, but the population is very scarce and
sightings are infrequent.
The reserve also hosts some elephants, giraffe, Grevy's zebras,
lesser
kudus, buffalos, hippos and crocodiles.
There is no accommodation available at
the reserve and the nearest hotels are in Garissa, northward, and Garsen,
southward, but both towns are quite far away from Arawale, so camping is the recommended option
if one desires to include it in the
Kenya safaris packages.
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