Travel Eye on Amboseli National Park (Kenya)

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Overview:

The Amboseli national park offers one of the most classic and breathtaking views of Kenya , the gigantic Kilimanjaro mountain, with its 5,985 m dominating the plains like a powerful god ruling the world from his silver throne. The national park was gazetted in 1974 with an extension of 392 km², though it is surrounded by a much larger reserve in which the Maasai people settle and breed their cattle. The Amboseli territory belongs to the land of the Maasai, the legendary tribe of nomad warriors and shepherds that feed on a mixture of blood and milk. The Maasai keep living today in the reserve surrounding the park the way they always did, grazing their herds around the plains and moving their household searching for the best pastures. Along their migrations, restricted today by encroachment of their territories, the Maasai build their settlings, the enkang' or more popularly manyatta or emanyata , using wooden sticks and poles plastered with cow manure. With their long and slender bodies, their proud and hieratic faces, their colored clothes and their plated and red-stained hair, the Maasai are a visually pleasant motif for the photographer, but for your own safety never take pictures of them without their consent.

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.

Locality:

Amboseli is located in the Rift Valley province, close to the Tanzanian border northwest of Kilimanjaro. Despite the high temperatures, the park's lands are elevated above 1,180 m. The mountain's summits remain hidden by the clouds for the most part of the day, dawn being the best moment to catch a view of its snowy square head.

Entertainment/Facilities/Attractions/Things to do:

The sole attraction to Amboseli is the safari experience along with an experience of tribe culture and some breathtaking scenery. 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.