Amboseli National Park, towered by Africa’s highest mountain, the 5896 high Kilimanjaro, is one of Kenya’s earliest wildlife conservation areas. This gme sanctuary, located 1260km (160 miles) from Nairobi, lies immediately North west of Mt Kilimanjaro on the boarder with Tanzania. Its magnificent location at the foot of the mountain combined with its excellent opportiunities to view Kenya’s wild, make it one of the most visited parks in Kenya attracting over 200,000 thousand visitors each year..
The climate in Amboseli is a combination of hot and dry. The park lies on the leeward side of the mountain which affects the amount of rain it receives, at just an annual total of 300mm. However, water flowing underground from mt Kilimanjaro wells up the park in a series of papyrus swamps that provide dry-season water and forage for wildlife. April and May, and November to December is the rainy season. Temperatures range between 27 degrees celicius and 33 degrees celicius.
The park’s ecosystem comprises of a mixture of open plains, acacia woodland, rocky thorn bush, swamps, marshland and the mostly dried up Lake Amboseli. It is a place of wide dry plains stretching miles and miles to become with the sky.
Amboseli National Park is reknowned for its large herds of free ranging African elephants estimated at not less than 900 at any given time. Other wild animals in the park include Lions, Blue Wildebeest, Zebras, Maasai giraffes, Cape buffalos, Gazelles, Rhinos, Hippos, crocodiles, Impalas, Wild dogs, Mangooses, Dik-diks, Lesser Kudus, Cheetahs, Spotted hyenas and many more.
For birding lovers, Amboseli will not disappoint. The park has a rich bird fauna with over 400 recorded species of birds, including 40 birds of prey. These include; Cranes, Pelicans, Hammer cops, Madagascar pon herons, Lesser flamingoes, Lesser kestrels, King fisher, African jacana, Rufous chatterer, Harlaub’s bustard, Grey crowned crane, Goliath heron, African swamphen, Pangani longclaw, Dickson’s kestrel, Eurasian thick-knee and many more species