Proudly Laikipian - Kenyan Safaris

Once a year go some place you’ve never been before. ~Dalai Lama

What is the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions Amboseli national park? For me it has to be the elephants and the view of Mount Kilimanjaro. If you are on Twitter you probably have come across the debate of who owns Kilimanjaro… Apparently Tanzania owns it and Kenya owns the view.

A few weeks back, 14 of us got together to celebrate one of our friend’s birthday and off to Amboseli we went. Amboseli is a Maasai word that means the land of white dust. You don’t need to drive far into the park to see ‘the land of white dust’ literally come to life.

ARRIVAL

We left Nairobi at 6AM and arrived at Iremito gate at 10.30 AM. We had two stop-over’s, one at a convenient store in Salama and another at a curio shop that I didn’t particularly like because nothing had a price tag… I guess it’s a marketing strategy but I hate it because it’s basically a dm for price scenario. The guys there look at you and decide this one looks like they have money and name the price to go with that perception.

At Iremito gate there is a group of women selling all kinds of beaded accessories at super friendly prices. If you are here please support them.

ARRIVAL

Our guide Peter knew the park quite well as well as the wildlife species, their life span behavior etc etc… The welcoming committee was a lone bull elephant and after that a series of everything. By everything I mean I have never seen so many wildlife species in one day. We saw elephants, a pride of lions, spotted hyenas, wildbeest, plain zebras, waterbucks, more elephants and over 30 bird species.

The landscape varies from dry semi-arid to swampy areas. Whether you want to go to Amboseli as a daytrip or an overnight stay here is everything you need to know…

1. Amboseli is classified as one of KWS premium parks so it will cost you a little more than other parks (860 ksh per person). The mode of payment as usual is cashless so have your money on MPESA or card. 2. The park is quite vast so I recommend having a guide who knows their way around. 3. Don’t spend your whole game drive chasing the big cats. Enjoy the landscape and the often overlooked animals… I mean have the whole experience. 4. The network connection is intermittent for both Airtel and Safariom. What is more disturbing is they both roam to Airtel TZ and Vodacom so if you don’t want to incur roaming charges please don’t answer your phone or put on your data.

That said, here are my favorite photos from that day. It was a cloudy day so unfortunately we didn’t get a glimpse of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

The highlight of this trip for me was on our way out when we passed through a road in the middle of a swamp where there were all kinds animals and birds. It was a moment of overwhelming beauty. Enjoy the photos and as always thank you for stopping by. Leave a comment and remember to share. Love and light Kuhi.