Mount Kilimanjaro as pretty as a picture
Amboseli National Park lies immediately north-west of Mount Kilimanjaro on the border with Tanzania. The Park covers 392 sq km and forms part of the much larger Amboseli ecosystem, that’s 3,000 square km. Amboseli is famous for big game and spectacular scenery. The landscape is dominated by the towering Mount Kilimanjaro.
The National Park is surrounded by six communally owned group ranches and embraces five wildlife habitats.
Open plains, acacia woodland, rocky thorn bush country, swamps and marshland. You’ll find large concentrations of wildlife at Amboseli, especially in the dry season. There’s more than 80 different mammals. More than 400 species of birds. Expect to see elephants, Thomson and Grant’s gazelles, lions, cheetahs, leopards, bat-eared fox, mongoose, porcupine, giraffe and yellow baboon. Pelican and Egyptian geese are in the swamps and marshlands.
You might see the rare Speckled elephant shrew!
Amboseli covers part of a Pleistocene lake basin, now dry and within this basin is a temporary lake, Lake Amboseli. During years of heavy rainfall, the lake floods. So bring your gumboots, if it’s raining!
Main roads:
- from Nairobi via Namanga, 240 km, on Nairobi-Arusha Road via Meshanani Gate
- from Nairobi via Emali, 228 km, on Nairobi- Mombasa Road via Kimana Gate
- from Mombasa thru Tsavo West via Kimana, Olkelunyie Gate
By Air:
- The Park has an airstrip at Empusel Gate
- Park Headquarters, Olekelunyiet, has an airstrip for light aircraft
- Kilimanjaro Buffalo Lodge and Namanga town have airstrips
Where to stay:
- basic campsites
- well-appointed safari lodges
- luxury tented camps with large, fully furnished tents
- small private camps for your exclusive use
