Searching for elephants at Amboseli

Nestled at the base of the majestic Mount Kilimanjaro,  Amboseli National Park has perhaps one of the most stunning backdrops of all of Kenya’s national parks.

At 392 square km, the park is relatively small by African standards, however it is certainly not small on animal viewing.

Our viewing experience began before we had even checked into our accommodation with the sighting of a giraffe on the side of the road.

From our tented campsite – Kibo Guest House – we looked out across the national park and onto elephants, monkeys and more giraffes grazing in the woodlands.

While the monkeys were cute to watch and photograph as they played around the campgrounds, we soon discovered that they weren’t always so entertaining.

Arriving back at the campsite from our first game drive we discovered a couple of the little creatures had made their way into our tent and had a wow of a time with our toothpaste, tissues and sunscreen.

Fortunately, their antics were contained to the bathroom. It was a good reminder to zip up and lock the tent carefully before leaving in future.

Like much of Kenya, Amboseli is in the grip of a long-running drought, which has caused devastation across the park. Carcasses of wildebeest and zebra are scattered throughout the park ensuring that the only well-fed animals are the scavengers.

The bittersweet side to the drought means that game viewing is relatively easy in comparison to other, more lush parks.

On our first drive we saw a cheetah within minutes of arriving in the grounds, a heap of elephants, zebras and wildebeest, as well as buffalo. Not bad considering we were only in the park for two hours.

Throughout our two days of game viewing at Amboseli, we also saw four different prides of lions, including a male, hyenas and vultures. We were also fortunate to see a baby impala seconds after its birth so watched in amazement as it took its first steps. Mirrored against the death all around in Amboseli, it was a true reminder of the circle of life.

However, the best was perhaps saved for last, as we drove out of our campground on the last day we saw a mother and two baby elephants right beside the road. 

It was on this day also, that Mt Kilimanjaro, which had been hidden by cloud cover for the two days we were at the park, finally came out for a viewing in all its glory.

There is something quite magical about the snow-capped mountain of Mt Kilimanjaro reaching up to the heavens in the middle of the harsh, dry African landscape.

Amboseli is about a five-hour drive from Nairobi. The road was still under construction when we travelled it, so we hit everything from new bitumen to sand trails – for those that have seen the Long Way Down with Ewan McGregor that’s pretty much what the road was like – fortunately we were in a four-wheel drive van, not on bikes.

Fast Facts

We travelled in August 2009.

We stayed at Kibo Guest House.

We were at Amboseli for two nights.

Was it long enough? We saw everything we wanted to see in that time and didn’t feel rushed.

Highlights: The elephants! Seeing the snow-capped peak of Mt Kilimanjaro emerge from the clouds.

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