Samburu-Laikipia Region, Kenya - This East African nation is known for its teeming wildlife and inviting savannah landscapes, vast regions of sun-soaked earth and grass with mountains lounging on the horizon. The Samburu people, traditionally nomadic pastoralists, have coexisted with a diversity of wildlife for hundreds of years, but growing human populations and settlement patterns put both people and wildlife at risk. At the Samburu Field Center, you will experience a side of Kenya most tourists miss. You will get to know the local people who are happy to share their culture, and make a real difference in the lives of this community. In addition to your daily encounters with African wildlife, you will go on wildlife drives to see still more in nearby reserves.

Find out more about each expedition in our Samburu Regional Initiative:

Carnivores in Conflict

Grevy’s Zebras on Community Lands 

Medicinal Plants

Carnivores in Conflict - Working with Dr. William Ogara and Dr. Samuel Andanje, you will help track and monitor all six of Kenya’s large predators: wild dogs, lions, cheetahs, striped and spotted hyenas, and leopards. You will also visit villages to investigate kill sites, carnivore presence, and conflicts with livestock and local residents.

Saving Grevy’s Zebras - Kenya's Samburu region provides one of the species' last strongholds for extremely endangered Grevy's zebras. From 4x4 vehicles, you will count and photograph Grevy's zebras to monitor their population. Dr. Paul Muoria and Dr. Nick Oguge are gathering this information to help reduce competition with humans and protect the remaining 2000 Grevy’s zebras.

Medicinal Plants - The Samburu people have long used plants for many purposes, including medicines. Far from modern medical facilities, maintaining traditional knowledge is crucial. You can help Drs. Callistus Ogol, Paul Okemo, and Isaiah Ndiege identify plants, document their uses, and investigate whether some may purify drinking water, a huge need in this arid land.

The Samburu Field Center is located within the Samburu-Laikipia ecosystem, which extends from the Samburu District in northern Kenya to the Laikipia District, just to its south. The landscape contains one of the highest concentrations of unique threatened savannah species in Kenya. There are semi-arid savannah mosaics of grasslands and scrublands, forests, the Ewaso Nyiro river watershed that drains from Mt. Kenya and many elephant migration corridors.

The Wamba area is in the Samburu District of Kenya. Wamba is communally owned and the nomadic Samburu pastoralists, their livestock and wild animals live in close proximity. The area is rich in wildlife and includes Grevy’s zebras, elephants, various antelopes, gerenuks, cheetahs, lions, leopards, hyenas, the endangered wild dogs, birds and an array of invertebrates. There are no fences to keep wildlife within certain areas, and human-wildlife conflict over critical resources (water, food, etc.) contributes to a greater dispersal of wildlife. However, there are also several conservation areas in the vicinity, including Buffalo Springs, Samburu and Shaba wildlife reserves. Namunyak Wildlife Conservation Trust land can be accessed from Wamba town, where volunteers will be based. The town of Wamba is one of the larger population centers in Samburu and has been the base for Earthwatch operations since 2003. Wamba is a rural town with almost no tourism, although many tourists visit the nearby reserves. The people in and around Wamba live the traditional lifestyle of the Samburu people. While in Wamba, volunteers will have the opportunity to get to know some of the community members who are crucial partners in Earthwatch’s efforts in this area. Volunteers will also learn more about the local Samburu culture. The Samburu people share a language and many cultural practices with the Maasai. They have a nomadic lifestyle and are believed to have emigrated from Sudan (which borders Kenya to the north) in the beginning of the 15th century.

Teleconference Q&A