Kenya Snake Safaris.
ENHANCING THE SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE.
MANAGED BY; BIO-KEN (AFRICA) LTD

Tsavo East/Galana River 2 Night Snake Safari Itinerary

Day 1     After an early breakfast you will be collected (6.30am) from your hotel (Malindi & Watamu only) by Royjan and the team, heading straight to Kulalu Camp on the outskirts of Tsavo East National Park on the banks of the Galana River. Approximately a 2 hour drive from Malindi, Kulalu is a small private camp on the riverbank. The surrounding bush is a hive of reptile, insect, bird and mammal activity. After refreshments at the camp you will head out on foot immediately in search of a possible sleeping Puff Adder Bitis arietans or arboreal Boomslang Dispholidus typus as well as Sand snakes Psammophis Sp, Beaked snakes Rhamphiophis Sp, and other species common in this area. Return to camp for lunch and siesta, discussion or reading time. After tea head out on foot for an afternoon river walk and sundowner. Return to camp for hot showers and dinner by the camp fire. After dinner drive out of camp for a night game drive in search of that quick Red Spitting Cobra Naja pallida and other nocturnal species. Return for overnight at Kulalu.
	Day 2    Six o’clock wake up with tea and toast before early morning trip across the river to the damns. This is where we are likely to find the Large Brown Spitting Cobra Naja ashei, Kenya’s most talked about snake ever! This was part of the press release on the new discovery… In December 2007 the world learned about a remarkable new species from East Africa. It was an entirely new species of snake from the lowland areas of East Africa. This was not just any snake it turned out to be the largest spitting cobra in the world. It all started in 2004 when Royjan Taylor of Bio-Ken Snake Farm, a reptile centre in Watamu, Kenya, contacted Dr. Wolfgang Wuster, a lecturer at the University of Bangor in Wales, about a big Cobra that they had suspected to be very different. Dr. Wuster had just concluded a paper on a new species from Sudan the Nubian Spitting Cobra Naja nubia They managed to prove the difference by sending blood and tissue samples to Dr. Wolfgang Wuster. He was so excited at what he found from what Bio-Ken sent him that he came out and spent some time at Bio-Ken taking more samples for DNA analysis as well as taking reference photos and descriptive notes.

During the work done at Bio-Ken with Dr.Wolfgang Wuster in 2004 for this snake, Royjan milked a specimen which gave a wopping 6.2ml of liquid venom, weighing 7.1g. possibly one of the largest venom yields milked from any one snake at any one milking anywhere in the world. Some of the larger specimens at Bio-Ken are nearly eight feet long. This is massive and so people are advised to be most careful if one is seen in the wild. Do not approach it unless you really have the experience to do so. In December 2007, Bio-Ken felt it was finally time to tell the world about what they had found. How? was the big question! Finally it was agreed at Bio-Ken to go with Wildlife Direct. With the help of a press release that went out on Friday 7th November 2007, in the afternoon through Wildlife Direct, the whole world was told about the new Largest Spitting Cobra in the World. At the end of November 2007 if you typed Naja ashei in a google search engine you would have got 1-10 of 16 sites covering the species, by the same Friday night when the press release went out it was 1-10 of 183 by the following evening it was a whopping 1-10 of 6,490. By the end of December 2007 it was an amazing 1-10 of 17,500. These were not hits on a site but actual sites carrying the Naja ashei story.

In summary, The Large Brown Spitting Cobra Naja ashei is reasonably common in the Kenya lowlands but the area around Galana and South of Tsavo East is where they are most abundant and that makes this area a particular hot spot in Kenya and in our opinion the best and most exciting place to find, photograph and study this new giant cobra species. Cobras aside, who knows, you may catch a Sand Boa Eryx colubrinus under the shade of a large tree or a big African Rock Python Python sabae sunbathing by one of the damns we’ll be exploring, or possibly even the elusive and equally awesome Black Mamba Dendroaspis polylepis. Find a nice shady spot for a picnic lunch. The reptile fauna here is extremely rich including large monitor lizards, agama lizards and of course many different species of snakes. Continue looking for snakes on foot around the conservation area. Return to camp late afternoon and either freshen up before dinner or collapse into a camp chair by the river and enjoy a cold one! The camp itself is a wonderful vantage point for watching game. Elephant often come through and hippos are usually wallowing about in the shallows. Crocodiles sun themselves lazily on sand banks in front of the camp and troops of monkeys noisily fool around in the trees on the opposite shore. Kulalu Camp is a naturalists paradise and you will enjoy the peace, the attentive staff and the delicious healthy rustic food they serve. Dinner and overnight at the camp. 

Day 3     Early tea/coffee before river walk, this time searching the other side of the camp. This really is the best time of day as many snakes are out warming themselves before they have to hide from the hot Tsavo sun. Return for brunch and packing up before heading back to Watamu where you will be dropped at your hotel. 

Remember you don’t have to be a snake nut to enjoy this trip. If you are interested in something completely different from the regular mini-bus safari and you have a taste for the spirit of adventure then this is the trip for you. So far, 80% of our clients knew almost nothing about snakes before doing this safari. This is what one of our recent clients had to say about it… 

…Also, I want to thank you again for the best safari experience I have ever had. Nothing could top the three days spent snake hunting with you and your staff. The river camp was absolutely gorgeous and the food and accommodation were five star. I had actually thought we were going to camp, you know, with tents on the ground and pit toilets. Boy, was I wrong. However, the accommodation was the least part of the trip for me.  What made this the best experience ever was the combination of the tremendous enthusiasm, knowledge, and professionalism of you and your team, and the huge adrenaline rush I got when you located and handled these fabulous creatures. I recall watching you administer first aid to an injury on the nose of a large brown spitting cobra, and how moved I was by your tenderness and concern for the snake. I also appreciate the fact that our safety was of your utmost concern, the vehicle was supplied with a radio and fully stocked first aid-kit (including anti-venom) and we were always kept under the extremely watchful eyes of you and your crew. In the end, not only did I learn a tremendous amount about snakes and the myths and mis-information associated with them, but I learned to view them from a different perspective. You and your team taught me that they are a precious and necessary part of our eco-system, and that they are not evil and sinister, but possess grace and beauty and must be protected at all cost. And speaking of cost, now that I have seen what is involved in a safari of this type, I realize that you probably are lucky if you break even in the end. It is not a simple undertaking and you did not miss a thing in providing for our safety and comfort. 

Anyway, thank you once again for the experience of a lifetime.  I can't wait to come back and do it again. 

Please feel free to pass my email address on to anyone who would like to ask me about my experience with you. It would be a pleasure to let them know how well you took care of every detail of our trip, and then some. 

Bonnie Sare
Lincoln, California
bonimae@jps.net  

Price, for the trip, per person (min 2 people)    US$ 1,990

Includes-       2 nights full board at Kulalu Camp including transport (collection and drop off from any hotel/house in Watamu or Malindi) in a custom built 4x4 safari vehicle, conservancy fees, & guide fees.

Excludes-      Alcoholic drinks, tips and gratuities, phonecalls, laundry and other purchases/services of a personal nature.

Safari photos on this page courtesy of Alex Maluta and Bonnie Sare.