AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK
The park belongs in the elite of Kenya’s national parks, and it’s easy to see why. Its signature attraction is the sight of hundreds of big- tusked elephants set against the backdrop of Africa’s best views of Mt Kilimanjaro. Africa’s highest peak broods over the southern boundary of the park, and while cloud cover can render the Mountain’s massive bulk invisible for much of the day, you will be rewarded with stunning vistas when the weather clears, usually at dawn and dusk. Apart from guaranteed elephant sightings, you will also see wildebeests and zebras, and you have a reasonable chance of spotting lions, cheetahs, and hyenas. The park is also an excellent array of lodges and an agreeably mild, dry climate. Amboseli National park is located in Loitoktok District, rift valley province of Kenya. The park is 39,206 hectares in size at the core of an 8,000 square kilometer ecosystem that spreads across Kenya- Tanzania border. The park is famous for being the best place in Africa to get close to the free-ranging elephants among other wildlife species. Other attraction of the park includes opportunities to meet the Maasai people and also offers spectacular views of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free-standing mountain in the world. In Amboseli’s case, its big skies and far horizons combined with swampy springs and dry and dusty earth trampled by hundreds of animals. Amboseli has an endless underground water supply filtered through thousands of feet of volcanic rock from Kilimanjaro’s ice cap, which funnels into two clear water springs in the heart of the park. The climatic pendulum can swing from drought to flood, and in the early 1990s ceaseless spots of rain changed Amboseli into a swamp. A few years later the rains failed and the grass-covered plains turned to dust. The park was home to Echo, perhaps the most researched elephant in the world, and the subject for almost many books and documentaries followed for almost four decades by American conservationist Dr. Cynthia Moss. Echo died in 2009 when she was about 60 years old. Amboseli National park offers some of the best opportunities to see African wildlife because the vegetation is sparse due to the long, dry months. The park has a large concentration of wildlife that occurs here in the dry season, making Amboseli a popular tourist destination. It is surrounded by six communally owned group ranches and due to its large concentration of wildlife, the park embodies five main wildlife habitats and these include open plains, acacia woodland, rocky thorn bush country, swamps, and Marshland and this covers part of a Pleistocene lake basin.
Attractions and Activities in Amboseli National Park include;
Observation Hill; is a pyramid-shaped volcanic hill which is the only place in the entire park where walking safaris are permitted. The hill s a mushroomed volcano on a predominantly flat park, from the hill the traveler can admire the view of plains and swamps against the backdrop of Mount. Kilimanjaro. The best places to see elephants in the park, also all attract lots of tourists both local and international due to its scenic nature. To enjoy the hill a tourist is advised to bring a pair of binoculars to be able to view up close as the wildlife drink water from the numerous swamps below from the summit of the hill and a powerful lens for taking good pictures.
Wildlife; what sets Amboseli apart from all its other neighboring national parks is its small size which can easily be navigated by two or three-game drive safaris. The park is mostly open country with a large concentration of wildlife around the swamps which are found in the park. These marshes are permanent enough to keep the hippos all year round in the Amboseli. One of the perks of game driving in the Amboseli National Park is that there are drivable tracks along the peripheries of the swamps which will bring one up close to the wildlife that inhabits the park. Game drives in the Amboseli provide a truly refreshing and exceptional encounter to a traveler while watching the sunrise and sunset in exceptional tones of color change over the horizons during your African safari in Kenya. The park has over 80 different mammals to be found ranging from the tiny spectacular elephant shrew to the huge bulk of the African elephants. A few visitors would go home without superb elephant pictures with Kilimanjaro as the backdrop. There are over 400 bird species.
Nature guided walks; with the company of an armed ranger to ensure your safety, a guided nature walk safaris in the Amboseli National Park is worth it and a great way for travelers to stretch their legs and experience Africa’s beauty on your safari on a more intimate level. The backdrop of Mt. Kilimanjaro the highest free-standing mountain in the world makes the Amboseli the ideal jungle in Africa for nature photography; capture the giants of the Amboseli wandering tirelessly in search of pasture and water while trying to take a snapshot of the African cheetah hunting for prey. To get the best out of nature photography in Amboseli National Park, a traveler is advised to camp in the wild and witness wildlife behavior unravel, from the roars of the king of the jungle to the singing of birds in the sky.
Elephant research camp; Amboseli’s elephant population is one of the most intensely scrutinized and studied in the world, thanks largely to the hard work of Dr. Cynthia Moss. The research camp she established has since been taken over by the Amboseli Trust for elephants.
Kilimanjaro views; despite Kilimanjaro residing in Tanzania and there being closer parks to the mountain, Amboseli remains the best place in the world aside from a top Kilimanjaro to take in the roof of Africa’s majesty. On a clear day, the mountain provides a startling backdrop to the great herds of elephants that roam Amboseli’s plains.
Bird watching; Amboseli is a popular destination with bird watching safaris, and the park is home to more than 400 species of birds including rare species such as the Madagascar Pond Heron, the lesser flamingo, the lesser kestrel, and the shoebill. During the October to January migratory season, local numbers are bolstered by migratory birds.
Maasai culture visits; you can enjoy several Maasai communities that exist on the fringes of the park on your cultural safari, and it is possible to arrange visits to these villages to gain a better understanding of Africa’s most famous tribal people. The Maasai people are nomadic pastoralists and live within the parks boundaries have a very unique culture, tourists can visit the people and learn about their ways of life or even engage in cattle grazing various local dancing groups can entertain you in the evening but above all acquire a gift to take back home as a souvenir for remembrance from the craft shops.
The best time to visit Amboseli National Park for an African safari is in January and February and from June to September, during this time the roads are very passable and the vegetation is not thick providing very good views of wildlife.
Accessibility
The park can be accessed by both air and road. By air, through a scheduled flight from Nairobi to Amboseli or Namanga and Buffalo lodge, the local crafts normally operate daily. There is also an airstrip at emousel gate. By road transport, there are several gates by white you can access the park depending on which route they use for traveling, the best route is from Mombasa via Kimana gate through Tsavo National Park.
Accommodation
Accommodation units variety some of the Parks lodges include, Amboseli Serena lodge, Amboseli so Lodge, Ker and downy tented camp, Kimbla campsite, leopard tented camp, kent tented camp and Kimana lodge among the rest.
