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Amboseli National Park | Kenya National Parks

Amboseli National Park, at the foot of Africa’s highest mountain, Kilimanjaro, is one of Kenya’s most popular national parks. It lies 150 miles south-east of Nairobi, very close to the Tanzania border.The snow-capped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro rising above the clouds dominates every aspect of Amboseli.

amboseli national park

Established as a national park in 1974 it covers 150sq miles and supports a wide range of mammals (well over 50 of the larger species) and birds (over 400 species).Years ago this was the locale around which such famous writers as Ernest Hemingway and Robert Ruark spun their stories of big game hunting in the wilds of Africa.

The park encompasses dry lake beds, savannah woodland and extensive swamps constantly fed by springs emanating from the mountain.The water and seasonal lakes attract a wide variety of bird and animal life, in particular herds of elephant. Amboseli is one of the best parks in Africa to observe family groups of elephants and large bull elephants at close quarters

Amboseli Wildlife

Amboseli is a very fragile ecosystem, submitted to great seasonal variations. The overall sensation is of a dry land, in fact annual rainfalls are scarce, in the range of 350-400 mm. 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 with shattered saline earth populated with dusty whirlwinds.

The mirages blend with the herds of zebra and wildebeest that traverse the scalding plain one after one, crestfallen and with a weary and lost look.

During the wet season, the rains flood the lake bed and the surrounding area. Though, this plentiful water does not sustain a rich vegetal variety. The cause is the high salt deposits in the lake bed, which the flood dilute and disperse hindering plant growth. For this reason few trees grow in the park, only small patches of acacia and some palm trees far off the lake.

Despite the first impression of a dusty and arid land, actually Amboseli is overflowing with water all the year round, but under the ground. The snows of Kilimanjaro melt and flow downhill, soaking the porous subsoil layers of volcanic rocks.

Waters converge into various underground streams, that rise in two clear water springs in the center of the park and ooze from down under in several points giving birth to large marshes like the Loginya Swamp, in which papyrus grow and elephants, hippos and buffalos find their particular spas, together with their accompanying cattle egrets.

Amboseli's geography is so simple that its description brings to mind the pirates' treasures maps. The vast plain starts in the dry bed of Amboseli Lake, that welcomes the visitor with its desolating image. Southward and eastward the area named Ol Tukai shows up, a patch of luxuriant green that hides some of the park's lodges.

Following southward there is a palm tree forest, a cool oasis that supplies shade, water and shelter for plenty of wildlife. To both sides of the forest it's the swamps' reign, and at the western part rises the Observation Hill, the only height in the park, a smooth hill to be climbed on foot that displays a magnificent view of the whole park and beyond.

Southward, the layers of volcanic rocks expelled by Kilimanjaro some hundreds of years back rise to the surface, giving the landscape a lunar aspect. Right at the edge of the lava flow there is another lodge, the Amboseli Serena. Finally, at the south border of the park lay several Maasai villages next to the Tortilis Camp.

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