Amboseli National Park

Amboseli means “a dust pan” in Maasai language. The park is crossed by whirlwinds that send winding columns of dust into the sky thus called Amboseli by the local people.

Amboseli is a place of wide dry plains where the horizons stretch into the furthest distance and becomes one with the sky. The most spectacular sunrise and sunset are seen here. Imagine painting and visualizing a 1000 sunset and sunrise!! For a true African evening, try a sundowner in one of the Amboseli hills.

 This is the land of the giants.

Amboseli is renowned for its large herds of elephants including some impressively tusked bulls all drawn to the series of large lush swamplands courtesy of Mt. Kilimanjaro. 

The most impressive giant of all is Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa largest mountain lies just over the border in Tanzania, but the most impressive views of its snow-capped peak are to be found in Amboseli. The sight of Mt. Kilimanjaro high above herds of elephants crossing the plains of Amboseli is a timeless African image.

 This area is home to many Masai communities catered on the Amboseli National Park. The park is 390sqkm’s within its southern boundary along the Tanzanian border.

The park is also a very good place for Game viewing which includes elephant, lion, leopard, cheetah, Maasai giraffe and buffalo. Also common game is zebra, eland, coke's hartebeest, white-bearded Gnu, waterbuck, Thomson’s and Grant gazelle and impala. Black rhinos are seen though occasionally as they are rare due to poaching in the mid-1970s

In the dry bush country towards Namanga you can find two interesting antelopes; the long -necked gerenuk (giraffe-necked antelope) and the fringe-eared Oryx. In addition are smaller animals such as; black faced velvet monkey and yellow baboon, black-backed jackals, spotted hyena and bat-eared foxes which are often seen basking in the sun outside their dens. 

The park is centered on a large hill, with fantastic views of the surrounding plains and season Amboseli lake for water. During the day, the lakes background illuminates mirage that often intrigues visitors often crossed by whirlwinds that send winding columns of dust into the sky.

This open country is good walking territory, and many camps and lodges organize game walks, or trips to spend time in local Maasai villages.... 

How to get there:

Amboseli is a 4 hour drive and about 250km from Nairobi. The nearest town is Namanga, on the Kenya/ Tanzania border. There are regular buses and matatus to Namanga from Nairobi and other destinations. There are also regular private shuttles from Nairobi to Arusha in Tanzania, which pass by Namanga. There are daily scheduled flights from both Nairobi and the coast. Amboseli has a central airstrip. Private Charters also use this strip.

 Accommodation in Amboseli