Safari Njema Sept 2017 Safari_Njema_Sept | Page 41

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.” 41