Arawale National Reserve - off the Beaten path

Arawale National Reserve was gazetted in the year 1973 and covers an area of 533 kilometers squared or 206 square miles and is situated on the northern shore of the Tana River, 40 kilometers /25 miles upstream from Tana River Primate National Reserve in Eastern Kenya.

It lies in Garrissa District of the North Eastern Province of Kenya close to the Somalia border.  It is important as one of only two remaining world locations – both in Kenya – where Hunter's hartebeest are found, the world's most endangered antelope.The other is in the Tsavo East National Park into which some have been translocated.

                           

It was established to protect the rare Hunter’s hartebeest (an antelope that is, despite its name, closer related to Topi than to hartebeest), also known as Hirola. The Hunter’s hartebeest (Damaliscus hunteri) is the world's most endangered antelope.

The Hirola is distinguished from other hartebeest by its elegantly-shaped horns and the white chevron between its eyes. It is also smaller.

On a flat plain of thorny bushland, 8 km (5 miles) north of the Tana River and dissected by sandy-bedded rivers, Arawale is also home to many other wildlife species including topi, buffalo, zebra, lesser kudu, giraffe, diverse bird life and endemic plant species -- in all, an area regarded as important for biodiversity conservation. There are hippos and crocodiles in the Tana.

Reached from Nairobi best via Thika and Garissa, or from Mombasa via Malindi and Garsen, Arawale is a reserve without fencing or gates and is part of Kenya's Arawale-Boni-Dodori Reserve which lies either side of the river before it reaches the Indian Ocean between Malindi and Lamu. The last bridge across the Tana is at Garissa, so to reach Arawale from its southern side, the crossing is by ferry 87 km (55 miles) from Garsen at Hola, where there is an Administrative centre, post office, police station and petrol station.

Spared disturbances, and refugees overflowing the border from Somalia, Arawale is a satisfactory 'get away from it all' destination, offering its precious Hirola and other wildlife species as an inducement to visit, but has no in-reserve visitor accommodation.