Amboseli National Park
Amboseli National Park, lies at the foot of Africa's highest mountain, the 5,895m high Mt Kilimanjaro. This National PArk is one of the most popular of Kenya's national parks. It lies some 240 km south-east of Nairobi very close to the Tanzania border. The snowcapped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro rising above a saucer of clouds dominates every aspect of Amboseli.
Amboseli was established as a game Reserve in 1968 and gazetted as a national park in 1974 and it covers only 392 sq km but despite its small size and its fragile ecosystem it supports a wide range of mammals (well over 50 of the larger species) and birds (over 400 species). Amboseli, despite its sometimes dry and dusty appearance, has an endless supply of water filtered through thousands of feet of volcanic rock from Mt. Kilimanjaro's snow melt. These underground streams converge into clear fresh water springs in the heart of the park. An amazing spectacle of Amboseli is the shimmering dry lake bed where false mirages of populated horizons, punctuated by real herds of zebra and gnu hover in front of you.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.
At an altitude: 3,900 to 4,500 feet above sea level. the main attractions takes you across this vast lakebed ‑ often dry, but still very swampy in areas. Amboseli is best known for its great herds of elephant The bull elephants here have some of the largest tusks in Kenya. ‑ you'll often find many of them standing knee‑deep in the water, spraying themselves to keep cool. But there's a lot of other game here too ‑ cheetah, buffalo, giraffe, many types of gazelle and other plains game ‑ and it's all set against the amazing backdrop of majestic Mount Kilimanjaro showing all its glory.
Early morning and late afternoon photographic opportunities are incredible, with plentiful game and Mt. Kilimanjaro (the highest freestanding mountain in the world) providing an impressive and majestic backdrop.
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