Kenya safari destination

Amboseli National Park – Kenya

At the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro on the Kenya / Tanzania border: big elephant herds, open plains and swamps.

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1968Reserve; national park since 1974

392 km²Park area

5main wildlife habitats

6communally owned group ranches

Amboseli National Park lies immediately North West of Mt Kilimanjaro, on the Kenya / Tanzania border.

Amboseli was established as a reserve in 1968 and gazetted as a National Park in 1974.

The park covers 392 km² and forms part of the much larger 3,000 km² Amboseli ecosystem.

Large concentrations of wildlife occur here in the dry season, making Amboseli a popular tourist destination.

It is surrounded by 6 communally owned group ranches.

The Amboseli National Park embodies 5 main wildlife habitats (open plains, acacia woodland, rocky thorn bush country, swamps and marshland) and covers part of a Pleistocene lake basin, now dry. Within this basin is a temporary lake, lake Amboseli, that floods during years of heavy rainfall. Amboseli is famous for its big game and its great scenic beauty – the landscape is dominated by Mt Kilimanjaro.

Location

Amboseli National Park lies on the Kenya / Tanzania border in southern Kenya.

It covers an area of 392 km²

Climate

The climate at the Amboseli National Park is mainly hot and dry. Amboseli is in the rain shadow of Mt Kilimanjaro.

The maximum average temperature of the warmest month is 33ºC during the day, while that of the coldest is 27-28ºC. An annual rainfall of 300mm per annum is distributed in two seasons: April/May and November/December.

Recurrent droughts and potential evaporation of 2200mm per annum typifies the region (KWS, 1991).

How to Reach the Amboseli National Park

Flexivel Kenya Safaris includes Amboseli National Park in its Kenya safari programs.

Roads

The main road into the Amboseli National Park is from Nairobi via Emali (240 km) on the Nairobi-Mombasa Road, The road is tarmac up to the Amboseli.

Access from Mombasa is mainly through Tsavo West via Kimana (Olkelunyiet) Gate.

Park Roads

At the Amboseli National Park, game viewing roads network covers the park adequately.

Many of the park viewing roads are not usable during the rains and because of the loose ashy nature of volcanic soil, the roads become very dusty during the dry season.

What to look forward to

Highlight of Amboseli National Park

Mt. Kilimanjaro views
Views of Mt. Meru in Tanzania
Observation Hill which allows an overall view of the whole park especially the swamps and elephants
Contemporary Maasai culture and indigenous lifestyle

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