Amboseli

Amboseli is 300 kilometers from the Coast and seven hours of hard road travel but only one hour by air with the chance to view Majestic Mt. Kilimanjaro Africa's highest mountain. The park is long established and well run but is one the smaller animal sanctuaries. Wildlife is however very concentrated and easily viewed making this one of Kenya's more popular parks especially with children.

Amboseli has a large game population and is well known for it's Elephant herds and superb variety of birdlife. All of this makes for a photographer's paradise. Be prepared for dust and heat. Because of it's small size we recommend a one night stay as sufficient to enjoy this jewel of a park unless you stay at a small privately run luxury camp in which case you may never want to leave. Hemmingway found it hard to go. 

An evocative place of harsh yet timeless beauty with constant change and contrast Amboseli is compressed within an area of only 390 square kilometers. The park is a study of adjoining eco-systems with lava rock thorn-bush country open plains swamps marshes sulfur springs. Lake Amboseli is a dry salt pan that occasionally turns into a rain filled lake during flooding. In recent years a new lake fed from a rising water table appeared on the central grass-plains complete with flamingos and other lake and riverine bird species.

Amboseli lies north of the largest East African volcano Mt. Kilimanjaro and at the southern most rangeland of Kenya's famous cattle ranching warrior tribe the Maasai. During the dry season long lines of Maasai cattle trail dust clouds as they march in singe file across the dry lake. Such a sight shimmering in a heat haze with the snow of Kilimanjaro soaring in a blue sky makes time stand still.