Amboseli Safari Kenya Amboseli National Park Safari Tour

The Amboseli national park provides one of the most classics and very exciting rather impressive views of Kenya, the extremely large Kilimanjaro mountain, with its 5,985m dominating the plains like a powerful god ruling the world from his silver throne. Prior to the discovery of the mountain for the Western world, by a missionary Johannes Rebman in 1884, ancient Arab and Swahili legends used to tell about this great inland mountain, in the summit of which lived a terrible god who punished whosoever dared to approach his dwelling by paralysing their hands and feet. In this very poetic way, the people who lived in the tropical shores described a phenomenon that was alien to them. That is, freezing.

To be more critical, Kilimanjaro mountain is not within the limits of Amboseli, in fact it is not even in Kenya. However, the Tanzanians have not yet found the way to avoid that one of the most famous views of their mountain is provided by their neighbours. In fact, is one critically looks at the map, one will be able to tell that the absurdly straight line dividing both countries detours to leave the mount in Tanzania territory. A clear reason?
During the partitioning of East Africa into two spheres of influence, German and British, Britain had two mountains while Germany had one. However, Queen Victoria gave the Kilimanjaro mountain as a birthday present to Kaiser Wilhelm II, her nephew-ground son, and so the deal kept everyone satisfied.

In 1974, the national park was gazetted with an extension of 392Km2, though it is surrounded by a much larger reserve in which the Maasai people settle and also breed their cattle. Amboseli is located in the rift valley province in proximity to the Tanzanian border Northwest of Kilimanjaro.
Though the temperatures are high, the park’s lands are elevated above 1,180m. The summits of the mountain remain hidden by the clouds for the most part of the day. And the best time to catch a view of the mountain’s snowy square head is dawn.

The Amboseli territory belongs to the land of the Maasai, the legendary tribe of nomad warriors and shepherds that feed on a mixture of milk and blood. Today, the Maasai still live in the reserve surrounding the park, just the way they did long ago, grazing their animals around the plains and moving from place to place while looking for the best pastures. Along their migrations, restricted today by encroachment of their territories, the Maasai construct their settlements, the ‘enkang’ or more popularly known as manyatta or emanyata, using wooden sticks and poles plastered with cow manure. Because of he Maasai’s long and slender bodies, their proud and hieratic faces, their coloured clothes together with their plated and red-stained hair, they are a visually pleasant matif for the photographer, however, for security purposes, never take any of their pictures without them allowing you, or else, a great dangers arises.

Amboseli is a very delicate and beautiful ecosystem, submitted to great seasonal changes.
The overall sensation is of a dry land, actually annual rainfalls are scarce, ranging from 350-400mm. The Northwestern area is occupied by the dry bed of the Amboseli Lake, which for a large part of the year is nothing but a huge frying pan covered within shattered saline earth populated with dusty whirlwinds. The mirages blend with the herds of zebra and wildbeest that traverse the scalding plain one after the other, crestfallen and with a weary and lost look.

During the time when it is wet, the rains flood the lakebed and the surrounding area. However, though the water is in plenty at this time, it does not sustain a rich vegetal variety. What causes this, is high salt deposits in the lake bed, which is diluted by the flood and dispersed, thereby hindering plant growth. Because of this, few trees grow in Amboseli park, only small patches of acacia and some palm trees far off the lake. Contrariwise, salt-rich pastures grow and are very appreciated by the herbivores.

Despite the first impression of a land that is dusty with little or no rainfall, in reality, Amboseli is overflowing with water throughout the year, but under the ground. The snows of mount Kilimanjaro melt and flow downhill, soaking the porous subsoil layers of volcanic rocks.
Waters converge into different underground streams that rise in two clear water springs in the centre of the park and ooze from down under in several points, giving birth to large marshes like the Loginya swamp, where papyrus grow and different animals like elephants, hippos and buffalos find their particular spas, together with their accompanying cattle eglets.

The geography of Amboseli is very simple in that, the way it is described brings to mind the pirates’ treasures maps. The vast plain begins from the dry bed of Amboseli lake, which welcomes the visitor with its desolating image.
Southward and Eastward, there is an area known as Ol Tukai, a patch of luxuriant green which hides some lodges of the park. Continuing Southwards, there exists a palm tree forest, a cool oasis, which provides shade, water and shelter for plenty of wildlife. To both sides of the forest, it’s the swamp’s reign, and as the Western part, there is the Observation Hill, the only height in the park, a smooth hill that can be climbed on foot and which shows an extremely attractive and impressive view of the entire park and beyond.
Southward, there rises to surface, the layers of volcanic rocks expelled by Kilimanjaro mountain some hundreds of years back, giving the landscape a lunar aspect. There is another lodge right at the edge of the lava flow, that is, the Amboseli Serena. Finally, several Maasai villages lay at the South border of the park next to the Tortilis camp.

Continuous pressure both from the tourists and the natives, threatens Amboseli. The flat and sparse geography encourages off-roading, however, this activity is highly destructive and the park’s authorities endeavor to stop it. On the other hand, the locals continue grazing their animals within the premises of the park, though they were prohibited. But this is a thorny issue simply because, when the city of Nairobi was founded, the Maasai were already thrown away from their historical dwelling lands.

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