Amboseli National Park

Good overall experience in Amboseli National Park

My visit to Amboseli National Park aimed to accomplish two objectives: see large herds of elephants in the open and view Mt. Kilimanjaro. Anything extra was considered a bonus for me because I was going to visit Serengeti National Park for other wildlife opportunities. I can confidently say that these objectives were met and I did end up getting what I would call "bonus material".

First, the elephant herds were very large and easy to spot. There were herds of more than 20 elephants. Since these elephants have been well protected from poachers, there are many mature elephants with very large tusks. If you are into elephants, this is the place to go.

Second, I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Mt. Kilimanjaro. I enjoy mountain scenery and always have high hopes of good mountain viewing. Unfortunately, I was only able to view Kili in the very early morning hours. The remainder of the day it was shrouded in clouds. While that was mildly disappointing, I was grateful to have seen it. When the mountain was visible, it did not disappoint. What makes this a unique viewing opportunity is that Kilimanjaro is the tallest free-standing mountain in the world. There are no other dominant mountains or foothills around it.

Other wildlife was easily visible in the park because of the vast open plains. There were few predator sightings; although, I did manage to see a few hyenas and jackals. There are lions in the park, but are seldom seen. The wildlife in Amboseli National Park does not teem with animals on the scale of Masai Mara or Serengeti. Again, as previously stated, this park specializes in elephants and you would be hard pressed to find other destinations that offer the abundance of opportunities to get clear views of elephants.

The weather in the park was what one should expect from African plains. It was very warm with abundant sunshine most of the day. There were brief periods of higher humidity followed by a short rain. That did not negatively impact the safari experience.

The transportation in the park is quite easy. The park is much smaller than Serengeti or Masai Mara, making it easy to see the entire park in a couple of days. The roads were in good condition while I was there in November.

I stayed in a campground just outside the park. The accommodations were comfortable and the food was good. However, I will say that I am quite low maintenance when it comes to food and lodging.

My safari guide was very friendly and knowledgeable. He knew his wildlife species well and he would drive to specific locations when I asked him. He also asked me questions about the specific things that I wanted to see so that he could ensure that my experience was exactly what I was looking for.

Overall, I would highly recommend Amboseli National Park as a safari destination. It is a convenient place for those who are on their way from Nairobi to Arusha for additional safari tours. Furthermore, it is difficult to find better places to view Mt. Kilimanjaro and find elephant herds as large as those found in Amboseli.

Giraffes with Kilimanjaro in the background: the perfect picture

I have a great experience of safaris in East Africa but never visited Amboseli. Although it lacks the roughness and wilderness of the Serengeti or Masai Mara, it sure is one of the most scenic and beautiful national parks I've ever seen.

Many elephants to see

The mountain makes this park!

It would be hard to have a more picturesque park, Mt Kilimanjaro truly rises like an Empress over Amboseli! The wildlife is good, but the lack of rhinos and the African wild dog make this park less than idea for a perfect safari destination. The villages are starting to crowd onto the edges of the park which makes the bush vibe really lacking. It still is totally a must visit African location, but I wouldn't recommend in June, where the park gets very dusty and the cloud cover hides that spectacular mountain!

Unforgettable!

The visit at Amboseli was a part of a 5 day safari, including the two Tsavos and Amboseli.
As we drove into the park the Kilimanjaro put away his clouds and presented us his beauty. The next day, as we went away, the clouds came back :-)
Before entering the park we have seen the first animals - elephants and giraffes.
On the road to our lodge (the Ol Tukai Lodge) a lot of animals, zebras, gnus, hippos, elephants, buffalos and much more.
We had an afternoon safari at the first day and were able to see very many animals. A lot of elephants in the sump. Some giraffes. Lions unfortunately only far away.
But at the next day at the morning safari we had a lion family directly at the side of our car. Very impressiv.
We have been at Amboseli only a for some hours. But the big number of animals made this visit unforgettable.
A lot of beautiful pictures - with the Kili in the background.

Magical

Amboseli national park is truly magical place to be. There plenty of wild animals to see including elephants, hippos, buffalos, zebra, wildebeests, variety of birds. In addition to this, you have the bonus of viewing the highest mountain in Africa, that is the Kilimanjaro. So really, everything its in the same location.

One thing though, most animals will only come out of their hiding during evening hours and early morning before it gets too hot.

This was a beautiful, five star experience, the staff and facilities were amazing and impressive!

I can't say enough about Amboselli park. The grounds are beautiful and well manicured. The staff was all around excellent, the food was delicious and plentiful. The suites were out of a movie beautiful! The fact that you can sit in the back yard , have a cocktail while watching beautiful animals like zebras and elephants pass by was a dream! Once in the safari, there were so many jiraffes , elephants, wilder beasts, lions, hyenas, monkeys and other animals that we were amazed and pleasantly surprised! The weather was perfect, and our transportation and guide made our trip most enjoyable! The fact that We were able to see Mt. Kilimanjaro was the huge cherry on top of the cake!! It was incredible and I can't wait to return.

both for the landscape and the animals

My first glimpse of African wildlife, extraordinary wildlife and beautiful landscapes

Well, Amboseli was our first stop of our 13 day expedition in Kenya. Something that we read when planning our trip was that most people try to skip Amboseli and Aberdare and spend more time in Maasai Mara, but we decided not to and yes, we were rewarded. You don't get the same type of giraffes in Maasai to begin with, so you'd lose out on that.
Amboseli was simply great, really loved the landscapes which included Mt. Kilimanjaro. We were lucky enough to see herds of elephants, giraffes, zebras and a group of flamingos. The weather was chilly during the day and rather cold in the night (I'm from Sri Lanka and it gets pretty hot here, 34 degrees during the day). My highlight at Amboseli was when we tried taking photographs of the milky way over Mt. Kilimanjaro at about 1AM. It was freezing, but I managed to get a few shots of the night sky in all its glory. (must do, if you're a photographer). One of the travellers in our group (my mother) is a bird watcher and she spotted quite a few number of birds in Amboseli.

We stayed one night and that was at the Amboseli Sopa Lodge. The hotel was good and the food was excellent. A small note to travellers coming in from hot climate countries, you might want to wear winter clothes when you go to bed since it gets very cold during the night. Transportation and guides were brilliant, they were the same two guides we had for the whole stay in Kenya. We travelled about in two safari ready luxury coaches with plenty of space for the eleven us + baggage.

Remember - Do not skip Amboseli :)

I had a wonderful wildlife experience at Amboseli National Park

We were a group of 8 photographers, and we stayed at Amboseli Serina lodge for two nights. We were very pleased with our accommodation and food at the lodge. As we went just after the rains, the park was lush green everywhere. The wild animals had babies with them and it was a pleasure to watch the baby elephants with their mothers and their families. The bird life was less than we had expected , but the ambience of this park with the Mount Kilimanjaro at the background was breath taking. We photographed elephants blowing dust at each other and also baby elephants playing in the mud. The scenery was wonderful and we took sunset and sunrise photos at Amboseli with elephants and water holes in the foreground.
We experienced good weather, no rain and the temperatures were cooler than I had expected. The climate was very pleasant indeed. We travelled with Arunga tours and we had two very capable drivers /guides for our two four wheel drive vans. I would recommend Amboseli National Park to any traveller who appreciate wildlife