The Shompole Conservancy is a large privately operated conservation area in the south of the

Great Rift Valley, Kenya The Great Rift Valley is part of an intra-continental ridge system that runs through Kenya from north to south. It is part of the Gregory Rift, the eastern branch of the East African Rift, which starts in Tanzania to the south and continues nor ...

. It is located between

Lake Magadi Lake Magadi is the southernmost lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, lying in a catchment of faulted volcanic rocks, north of Tanzania's Lake Natron. During the dry season, it is 80% covered by soda and is well known for its wading birds, including f ...

to the north and

Lake Natron Lake Natron is a salt or alkaline lake located in north Ngorongoro District of Arusha Region in Tanzania. It is in the Gregory Rift, which is the eastern branch of the East African Rift. The lake is within the Lake Natron Basin, a Ramsar Site ...

to the south, two alkaline lakes. The conservancy is in the

Magadi Magadi is a Taluk headquarters located in Ramanagara district. The town is situated at a distance of 51 km from Bangalore. The founder of Bangalore, the great Kempegowda was a native of Kempapura, Magadi taluk. Magadi, having a rich cultur ...

division. The lodge is at the end of the Ngurumani escarpment, about from Lake Natron on the border between Kenya and Tanzania. The conservancy covers part of the Shompole group ranch, registered in 1979 and owned by the Loodokilani Maasai with over 2000 registered members. The lodge was closed in September 2011 while the owners discussed its future and that of the conservancy with the local

Maasai Maasai may refer to: * Maasai people *Maasai language * Maasai mythology * MAASAI (band) See also * Masai (disambiguation) * Massai Massai (also known as: Masai, Massey, Massi, Mah–sii, Massa, Wasse, Wassil or by the nickname "Big Foot" Mas ...

community. The conservancy has a dry climate, hottest in October and November and most likely to be wet in April and May. Flora are adapted to semi-arid conditions and include

umbrella thorn ''Vachellia tortilis'', widely known as ''Acacia tortilis'' but now attributed to the genus ''Vachellia'', is the umbrella thorn acacia, also known as ''umbrella thorn'' and Israeli babool, a medium to large canopied tree native to most of Afri ...

trees and the colorful

toothbrush tree ''Salvadora persica'' or the toothbrush tree is a small evergreen tree native to India, the Middle East and Africa. Its sticks are traditionally used as a natural toothbrush called ''miswak'' and are mentioned by the World Health Organization f ...

. The main source of water is the

Ewaso Ng'iro Ewaso Ng'iro, also called Ewaso Nyiro, is a river in Kenya which rises on the west side of Mount Kenya and flows north then east and finally south-east, passing through Somalia where it joins the Jubba River. The river's name is derived from t ...

(Brown River) which originates in the Mau forest to the north and flows into Lake Natron. There are riverine thickets along the banks of the river. Wildlife include giraffe, buffalo, elephants and desert antelope such as gerenuk and oryx.

References

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* * * {{Great Rift Valley, Kenya Tourist attractions in Kenya Parks in Kenya