Ruma National park Entrance fee : Ruma National park is located in Homabay County on the western part of Kenya and close to lake Victoria. Ruma National park is just 401 km west of Nairobi and 151 km from kisumu.
There is little information about the park but those who have visited it have testify that it one of the most rewarding National parks in Kenya. Ruma National park is known for its amazing wildlife viewing and unmatched bird watching.
Ruma National park is the only place in Kenya where you will be able to see the famous endangered Roan antelope and the Topi antelopes. The park has a season river which adds to the beautiful landscape of the Ruma National park, together with the Lambwe valley and the Kanyamwa Escarpment which is found on the southeast part of the park. It is here where you will realise that it is not only in Rift Valley where there is escarpment and apart from these escarpments there are also volcanic plugs of Ruri hill to the north making the park more beautiful and enjoyable. Ruma National park has plenty of birds which are heard singing early in the morning and evenings. Some of the birds common here at the park include the threatened blue swallow which is very scarce to be spotted anywhere else. This species of birds depend on the grasslands for both feeding and roosting. The Blue swallow migrate to Kenya from their breeding grounds in Southern Tanzania and they arrive around the month of April and depart again in September.
Ruma National park has plenty of wildlife such as Serval cats, impala, hyena, Rothschild Giraffes, vervet monkeys, roan antelope, original, bohor reedbuck , leopard, Buffalo, and some Jackson’s hartebeest. In recent times some Black Rhinoceros White Rhinoceros and Burchell’s Zebra are recently introduced. Ruma National park is the best place in Kenya where you can easily spot the endangered Roan antelope, Oribi and Jackson’s hartebeest.
Ruma National park is a protected area under the management of the Kenya wildlife service ( KWS). It has the size of 120 square kilometres and the park is found within an altitude of 1,200 to 1,600 meters above sea level. Ruma National park experiences a humid climatic conditions with its long rainy season being the period between the months of April all the way through to the month of June. The short rains are from the month of October, November and December with the parks driest months being January and February.
Why you should visit Ruma National park
The Roan Antelope
Ruma National park is one of the best places where you will be able to see one of Africa’s rarest antelopes the Roan Antelope, it is the third largest antelope in Kenya. It is known as “Korongo” in Swahili. This is a large grey to rufous Antelope with distinctive black and white face. They live in herds of up to 20 members with the bull leading the herd.
The Oribi Antelope
The Oribi antelope is also known as “Taya” in swahili is a gracefully and small antelope. The Antelopes is identified with its bare black glandular patch which is below the ears, it has a short black-tipped tail and black knee tufts. The Oribi Antelope is known to live in strongly bonded pairs or in small groups and they are mostly found in grasslands and dense small bushes.
Home to rare birds
Ruma National park has exceptional birdlife, it is the only region where the globally threatened blue swallow is regularly spotted. The blue swallow depend on the plenty grasslands in the park for feeding and roosting ,these birds migrate to Kenya from Southern Tanzania arriving around April and return to Tanzania in September.
Its wildlife
Ruma National park is home to awesome wildlife species which include hyena ,serval cats, impala, vervet monkeys, roan antelope, Oribi, bohor reedbuck, Buffalo, leopard Rothschild’s giraffes, White and Black rhinos Burchell’s Zebra among other animals.
Reptiles
Ruma National park has quite a large population of snakes. The reptiles easily found in the park include African spitting cobra, forest cobra, python, black-mouthed Mamba, puff adder and Eastern green mamba other reptiles include lizards, skink and gecko among others.
Ruma National park Entry Fees
There are two seasons in Ruma National park ,The High season and Low season.
High season is the period between July to February
| Citizen/ Resident | Charges |
| Adult | Ksh 300 |
| Child | Ksh 215 |
| Non-Resident | Charges |
| Adult | 25 USD |
| Child | 15 USD |
Low season
This is the period between March and June.
| Citizen/Resident | Charges |
| Adult | Ksh 250 |
| Child | Ksh 215 |
| Non-Resident | Charges |
| Adult | 20 USD |
| Child | 15 USD |
How to get there
Ruma National park is approximately 42 kilometres from Homa Bay ,through the C20 tarmac road towards Rongo and after about 10 km you branch off to the right at Rodi kopany and proceed 20 kilometres to Mirogi. It is at Mirogi where you will find a park sign ,follow the sign to the Ruma National park Kamato Main gate .It is a marram road with a distance of 12 kilometres
Ruma National park accommodation
In Ruma National park there are campsites such as Nyati and KWS Oribi guest houses. It is at these camps that the guest can the spend the night watching the stars in the clear night sky. Homa Bay county is known to have some of the best Hotels and lodges not only in Kenya but also some of the best in Africa. Lodges and Camps offer luxurious safari holidays and also has some of the best views, it offers some of the best world-class services. Their food are incredible which ensures comfort and meet the needs and expectations of their guests making them the ideal choices for a perfect luxury location.
The accommodation at Ruma National park offer diverse options which ranges from luxury accommodation mid range accommodation to Budget accommodations. Some of the midrange accommodation facilities include ;The Golden rays resort, Ruma River Lodge and others. Budget accommodations include; Oyugis hill breeze hotel, hotel hippo buck ,Ruma tourist lodge, Oribi guesthouse and hotel twin towers just to name a few. Luxury accommodations include Mfagano island camp, Rusinga Island lodge.
The park can be combined with other Kenya safari tours to Tsavo East National Park or the famous Maasai Mara National Reserve.
