Amboseli

Highlights

• Large elephant herds, including some of the biggest surviving tuskers in Africa
• Kilimanjaro rising behind the plains — usually clear at dawn and dusk, often cloud-covered by mid-morning
• Permanent swamps fed by snowmelt, which pull in elephant, hippo, buffalo and enormous birdlife
• Observation Hill, one of the few places you are allowed out of the vehicle, with a view over the whole basin
• Maasai community visits in the group ranches around the park

Getting around

• Light aircraft from Nairobi, or a road transfer of roughly four to five hours.
• A 4x4 is genuinely necessary — the tracks are fine dust in the dry and slick black cotton soil when wet.
• Most visitors combine Amboseli with Tsavo or the Mara rather than visiting it alone.
• Distances inside the park are modest, so a single base works well.

Good to know

• Two to three nights. The park is compact and you will have covered it well in that time.
• Be out at first light for the mountain. By ten it is often hidden and may not reappear until evening.
• Dust gets into everything. Seal cameras and lenses, and do not pack anything you mind being coated.
• June to October and January to February are the drier, easier months for both roads and viewing.

Elephants here are habituated but not tame — give herds room, especially with calves present, and let your guide decide the distance. Stay in the vehicle except at designated points.