know YOUR COUNTY
the KWS also operates the Amboseli
Campsites. This facility, located
just 200 metres from the Amboseli
National Park headquarters, is a public
campsite with a capacity of 60.
Numerous other accommodation
facilities abound outside the park,
catering for every budget from
backpacker to thetravel er with
exquisite needs.
A special feature on most tour
packages involves a trip to Masai
villa ges dotting the expansive
ecosystem. Here, the visitor is treated
to personalized interactions with the
community, whose remarkable feats
in the wild and bravado remain the
subject of a legend.
Visitors will be brought face to
face with the eco-friendly initiatives
that have been rolled out to help
empower the community, as well as
foster productive and sustainable use
of the natural resources available in
the vast ecosystem.
The opportunity to take a game
drive remains a crowd pull er to
this park, specificall y due to the
remarkable chances available to
view a plethora of game in such a
considerably small environment.
The park, according to Wildlife
Direct’s CEO Dr Paula Kahumbu, has
the biggest concentration of elephants
in the wild than many other parks in
the continent – and the globe at large!
Game drives are a special package
offered by tour companies and game
lodges operating in the park.
Most game drives are customised
to meet the visitor’s expectations,
depending on what the visitor hopes
to see.
In this regard, one can enjoy an
early morning game drive or in some
other later hour of the morning, or
drive in the late afternoon or evening.
Different animals have different
patterns of movement and behavior, so
the early morning game drive might
offer different viewing experiences
from a game drive taken at dusk.
There are very good dirt roads in
key parts of the park. One requires
special permission to venture off-road,
and there are heavy fines for those
who violate the rule. Vehicles that
have permission for off-road driving
are usuall y given special stickers
indicating this privilege.
September 2017
The allure of Amboseli
National Park
By Joseph Maina
Located in Loitoktok, Kajiado County, the Amboseli National
Park is a getaway for wildlife lovers. From close range view
of the elephants to spectacular view of Kilimanjaro, the park
gives a therapeutic experience to the visitors. Our writer
was at Amboseli and tells us why the park has, perhaps, the
friendliest herds of elephants on earth.
T
he golden rays of the evening sun as it graciously sets
behind Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest snow-capped
peak, cast an almost magical sheen on the parched
plains of the Amboseli National Park.
This idyllic view, combined with the opportunity to view
the African bush elephant at close range, makes this park an
irresistible stop for the perceptive nature lovers and partly
explains Amboseli’s coveted ranking among the top three parks
in the country.
Nestled at the foothills of the Kilimanjaro, just a stone throw
away from Kenya’s border with Tanzania, Amboseli National
Park has earned its mark as one of the safest havens for the
elephant.
In this park, your chances of coming within a few metres
of an elephant are higher than in any other park in Kenya and
in Africa, according to Princeton-educated ecologist Dr Paula
Kahumbu, who is CEO of Wildlife Direct.
“The Amboseli’s elephant is the most studied elephant in
the world,” Dr Kahumbu told this writer, during a recent trip
to the facility. Amboseli has been host to a scientific research
center since the 1970s.
The elephant population of this park is the least poached
than in any other Kenyan park, and this is said to be one of the
reasons why the elephants are so approachable and down to
earth, if the phrase may be permitted.
From the comfort of your car, you can expect to catch
remarkable views of these giants as they saunter about the
plains, looking almost completely unhampered by human
presence.
You might be lucky to see two elephants mating, and
experience the ensuing guttural sounds as the two animals
exchange pleasantries. Now here is an exchange that you
could rightly call “mumbo-jumbo.”
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