Amboseli National Park was established in 1968 as a reserve. It stands at an area of 392 sq km and is famous for its big game - elephants, lions and cheetahs are the main attractions, plus a generally dry lake bed - Lake Amboseli. It is also home to the magnificent snowcapped Mount Kilimanajaro Africa’s highest point at 5,895 meters above sea level.
Amboseli offers a wide range of accommodation with luxurious lodges, small-tented lodges and two campsites. The climate is mainly hot and dry, maximum average temperature is 33 degrees centigrade, the minimum, 27 degrees centigrade.
Amboseli is a place of stark contrast. Meaning a "place of water" in Maasai, Amboseli despite its sometimes dry and dusty appearance, has an endless water supply filtered through thousands of feet of volcanic rock from Mount Kilimanjaro's snow melt. These underground streams converge into two clear water springs in the heart of the park.
The endemic dust is volcanic ash, which spewed from Kilimanjaro a millennium ago. During the dry seasons, a curious feature is the shimmering dry lake bed where false mirages of populated horizons, punctuated by real herds of zebras and wildebeests hover in front of visitors. The principal attraction in Amboseli is its vast herds of elephants within the park. The bull elephants here have some of the largest tusks in Kenya. Plentiful game includes: zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, impala and leopard. Caracal and serval cat can be seen. Bird watchers can see pelicans, bee-eaters, kingfishers, African fish eagles, martial eagles and pygmy falcons. Amboseli is an important rangeland in Maasai culture.
250 kilometers south of Nairobi, access is by half a days drive through the Maasai country and an hours flight on a scheduled flight.
