Amboseli National Park is located in Loitoktok District, Rift Valley Province of Kenya. The ecosystem mainly savannah grassland spread across the Kenya-Tanzania border. The park is famous for being the best place in Africa to get close to free-ranging elephants among other wildlife species. Other attractions of the park include opportunities to meet the Maasai and spectacular views of Mount Kilimanjaro.
African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) herd in front of Mount Kilimanjaro, Amboseli National Park, Kenya
Location
Amboseli National Park is located in Loitoktok District, Rift Valley Province of Kenya. The park is 39,206 hectares (392 km2; 151 sq. mi) in size at the core of an 8,000 square kilometres (3,100 sq. mi) ecosystem that spreads across the Kenya-Tanzania border. The park is famous for being the best place in Africa to get close to 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 it is 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 funnel into two clear water springs in the heart of the park.
Amboseli Lake, Amboseli National Park, Kenya
However, the climatic pendulum can swing from drought to flood, and in the early 1990’s ceaseless rain changed Amboseli into a swamp. A few years later the rains failed and the grass-covered plains turned to dust.The park protects two of the five main swamps, and includes a dried-up Pleistocene lake and semi-arid vegetation.
240 kilometers (150 miles) southeast from the capital city Nairobi, Amboseli National Park is the second most popular national park in Kenya after Maasai Mara National Reserve and the visit can easily be done in a weekend.
Amboseli National Park – History
The name Amboseli comes from the word “empusel,” which in the language of the local Masai tribe means “salty dust.” Amboseli is indeed dusty, mostly because of its proximity to Mt. Kilimanjaro, a 19,340-foot-high snowy volcanic peak that lies just 25 miles away. From the time the mountain first emerged, between two and four million years ago, Kilimanjaro has periodically erupted — probably as recently as within the last 10,000 years, scientists say — and covered the area with dusty volcanic ash.
Amboseli is nevertheless quite lush in places, because the melting snows of Kilimanjaro flow underground into the park, continually feeding water to springs, swamps, and marshes. Because of this easy availability of water, Amboseli has always been a favorite spot for wildlife. In addition to the 900 or so elephants that live there, zebra, wildebeests, giraffes, impala, leopards, lions, hippos, antelope, rhinos, wild dogs, hyenas, cheetah, buffalo, and more than 400 species of birds all gather in the haven of the park.
Amboseli National Park, Kenya
Of course, where wildlife goes, humans often follow. The local Masai tribes people have lived in the Amboseli region, generally in harmony with the wildlife, for more than 400 years. Nearly a century ago, in 1899, the British government, which then governed what would become Kenya, decided that the area’s wealth of wildlife ought to be protected and named it an official game reserve.
By the 1930s, the area was very popular with hunters, photographers, and filmmakers. In 1974, the government of the now independent nation of Kenya designated it Amboseli National Park, setting aside the land exclusively for wildlife and tourism. The Masai, the ancestral inhabitants of the land, were sent to live outside the new park’s boundaries.
This was a tense compromise, and some Masai speared elephants and rhinos in political protest. Even so, the Masai have always been very protective of their local wildlife, and do not tolerate any poaching of elephants by outsiders. So the elephants of Amboseli have seen little disturbance, even during poaching’s heyday in the 1980s. Today, Amboseli is one of the most popular national parks in Kenya, and is one of the best places in Africa to watch elephants.
Flora and Fauna
The vast amount of animals, big cats, Elephant migration, and the swamps and grasslands and Mt. Kilimanjaro are the main reasons why everyone comes to Amboseli National Park.
Amboseli Lake, Amboseli National Park, Kenya
This mind blowing national park in Kenya is home to a wide variety of animals as well as home to four of the Big Five and the huge herds of Elephants that gather in the swamps.
Attraction
Wildlife in the Park
Amboseli National Park is one of the best places to see elephants in Kenya with Maasai Mara National Reserve and Samburu National Park. In addition to the elephants, you are sure to see the zebra, gnu, hippopotamus, buffalo, spotted hyena, waterbuck, maasai giraffe, Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelle, impala, lion and cheetah. Note also the rare presence of the gerenuk and the fringed-eared oryx in the arid northern part of the park. Most mammals stay aroung the swamps during the day and move towards the hilly countryside (southern section) before night. The birdlife is also abundant as about 420 species of birds have been recorded in the park !
Kilimanjaro
It is a must to get some pictures of elephants grazing fresh grass from the swamps in front of the mount Kilimanjaro. To do so, you will need to wake up early (not later than 7 am) as the Kilimanjaro is becoming a mass of clouds after 10 am (even if the sky is blue and unclouded). Then, go around the main Ol Tukai and Olokenya swamps as elephants are coming down from the moutain to feed in the swampy areas. Stop your car, drink your hot coffee and photograph to the sound of pulled out grass !
Amboseli Lake, Amboseli National Park, Kenya
This flat and dry area was 10’000 years ago a large and permanent lake of 40 meters deep. Since, the whole lake dried up and is today a small seasonal lake existing only after heavy and prolonged rains. Most of the dry-lake bed is covered by alkaline white ashes, remains of the eruption of the Kili a few thousands of years ago. Ashes are responsible of the constant dust in the park, the growing salinity of the soil and the destruction of woodlands ! When leaving the park, the Kitirua road towards Namanga is a good alternative as the road is smooth, not dusty and it crosses the dried lake in Maasai land.
Observatory Hill
Located at the southern part of the park (a few kilometers after the airstrip, near the “Sinuet” causeway), this small hill was used in the past by K.W.S. Rangers to fight poachers offers an impressive 360° panoramic view over the park and the moutains surrounding the park : the Ol Doinyo Orok (2’717 m – 8’151 ft) near Namanga, the Mt Longido (2’629 – 7’887 ft) and the Mt Meru (4’565 m – 13’695 ft) both in Tanzania. The only place where you are allowed to go out of your vehicle and have a short and pleasant walk. At the top of the hill, you’ll easily catch the contrast of vegetation, locate wildlife and swampy areas.
Enkongo Narok / Ol Tukai / Olokenya Swamps
Swamps are oasis in a arid and dry surroundings and are the finest areas of the park, as they offer a wide variety of habitats for mammals and birds (e.g. large pools for hippopotamus, elephants and buffalos and small pools for antelopes, zebras, waterbuck and gnus) and many fresh grasses and aquatic plants. The presence of swamps is due to the streams running down from the Mt Kilimanjaro towards Amboseli plains. All streams are underground; there are no permanent rivers around the park
Accommodation in Amboseli National Park
Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge
Set against the magnificent backdrop of Africa’s highest mountain, the glittering Mount Kilimanjaro, Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge enjoys a uniquely privileged position at the heart of this world-famous national park.
Secluded within a grove of acacia trees, the lodge looks out over the golden savannah plains, with uninterrupted views of the mountain itself. Close by are a series of emerald green swamps, which are fed by the melting snows of Kilimanjaro. These, the only sources of water in this otherwise starkly beautiful but arid park, attract huge numbers of wallowing elephants, hippos, buffalos and plains game. Meanwhile, from the prehistoric site of Observation Hill, the sunset over Kilimanjaro is magnificent.
At the centre of ‘Maasailand’, the lodge’s décor reflects the brilliant primary colours and iconic shapes representative of these legendary warriors. At the heart of the lodge, shaded by palm trees, is a free-form swimming pool; to either side of which stretch the rooms. Each room is housed in a single storey building opening directly on to the grounds, each reflecting a Maasai manyatta theme: each with its own hand-painted wall frescos.
The central dining area is reached by a timbered bridge over a melt-water stream, while the lounge and bar feature a broad terrace and a blazing fire-pit where evening cocktails can be enjoyed. Activities include daily game drives in custom-built traditional safari vehicles, ‘sundowners’ on Observation Hill, bush breakfasts, bush dinners, Maasai dance performances, visits to Maasai villages and tree-planting programmes.
Getting There
Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge is located within Amboseli National Park, which lies approximately 250 kilometres from Nairobi and close to the Tanzanian border.
By road: transfers by road from Nairobi take approximately 5 hours.
By air: the airstrip is 11 kms from lodge and a ‘meet and greet’ and transfer service can be offered (Please let us know your arrival time in advance).
Nyati Banda – Amboseli National Park
Ol Donyo Lodge (Wuas) – Chyulu Hills National Park
Kilimanjaro Guest House (KWS)
Amboseli Sertrim Lodge – Kimana gate, Amboseli
Tortilis Camp – Amboseli
Amboseli Sopa Lodge – Amboseli
Kibo Guest House (KWS)
Ol Tukai Lodge – Near Mount Kilimanjaro
Kibo Safari Camp – Amboseli National Park
Porini Amboseli Camp – Amboseli
Kampi ya Kanzi – Amboseli
Satao Elerai Lodge – Amboseli National Park