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 no ...
.
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 known for its wading birds, including f ...
to the north and
Lake Natron
Lake Natron is a salt lake, salt or soda lake, alkaline lake located in north Ngorongoro District of Arusha Region in Tanzania with its far northern end crossing into Kenya. It is in the Gregory Rift, which is the eastern branch of the East A ...
to the south, two alkaline lakes.
The conservancy is in the
Magadi
Magadi is a town and taluk located in Bengaluru South District , Karnataka, India.
History
As per a legend, Magadi was founded in 1139 by a Chola king, who, in the course of an expedition, heard that in early times it had been the residence ...
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)
Masai may refer to:
*Masai, Johor, a town in Malaysia
* Masai Plateau, a plateau in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India
*Maasai peopl ...
community.
The conservancy has a dry climate, hottest in October and November and most likely to be wet in April and May.
Flora is adapted to semi-arid conditions and include
umbrella thorn trees and the colorful
toothbrush tree.
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 ...
(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 includes giraffes, buffalos, elephants, and desert antelopes such as gerenuks and oryx.
References
Sources
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{{Great Rift Valley, Kenya
Tourist attractions in Kenya
Parks in Kenya