Ruma National Park
Expert Reviews (3)
Kenya Parks
Philip is an acclaimed travel writer and author of many guidebooks, including the Bradt guides to Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa.
1 person found this review helpful.
An Off-Beat Gem
Ruma National Park is probably the least-visited safari destination in Kenya. Partly this is because of its remote location in the Lambwe Valley, which lies close to the small port town of Homa Bay on Lake Victoria, far from any established tourist attraction. Partly it is because two of the Big Five (elephant and lion) are absent altogether, while a third (leopard) is highly unlikely to be seen by casual visitors. Taken on its own terms, however, this small but scenic national park offers surprisingly good wildlife viewing. Visiting in 2024, we saw good numbers of white rhino, buffalo, Rothschild’s giraffe, zebra, warthog, baboon, impala, Jackson’s hartebeest, defassa waterbuck and oribi, and we also snatched a brief look at one of the park’s shy black rhinos. Ruma is probably best known as the last Kenyan refuge for the roan antelope, which has not fared well here, despite the high level of protection it is accorded. In 2019, the authorities decided to relocate the last park’s last 16 roan antelope, together with two individuals from Tanzania, to a small (6.5km2) fenced sanctuary next to Nyatoto Gate. It is permitted to drive around the sanctuary and look for the antelope, but sightings are far from guaranteed (though we did see three individuals at quite a distance). The park has a memorable setting of lush savannah ringed by tall hills, and you’ll almost certainly have it to yourself.
Ariadne is a renowned African wildlife photographer whose work is featured in many well-known guidebooks and magazines.
An Off-the-Beaten-Track Delight
Kenya is often described as ‘touristy’. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, there are a handful of iconic reserves that tend to be way too crowded for my taste, but most of the country hardly sees any tourism at all.
On a recent trip we spent about 10 days following the road less travelled in western Kenya. Highlights included Kakamega Forest, Mount Elgon, Saiwa Swamp and Ruma National Park.
There aren’t many places in East Africa I hadn’t been to before, but Ruma was still on my to-do list. I love the experience of demystifying a place when visiting for the first time. My kind of travel! Being seriously off the beaten track, my expectations of seeing a lot of wildlife were low. I was pleasantly surprised.
Ruma is the main stronghold of the endangered Rothschild’s giraffe. As can be expected, we saw lots of them. What I didn’t expect is that white rhinos are even more abundant. Scanning the grassy plains surrounded by several impressive mountain ranges, they seemed to be all over the place, many with calves in tow. Other wildlife easily seen includes zebra, defassa waterbuck and oribi.
Also worth a mention is that Ruma protects a small group of roan antelopes in a sanctuary (the only population in the country). We drove through the large fenced-off area in search of them and nearly gave up but then we spotted one in the distance on a mountain slope. So although these rare antelopes are kept in an enclosure, sightings are not guaranteed.