Amboseli National Parks

One of the main attractions of Amboseli is its location, with the stunning back - drop of Mount Kilimanjaro (5895 m, the highest mountain in Africa) , located south just over the border in Tanzania.

The park is near Namanga Town, the Kenya border town on the A104 road. In fact it is the nearest town to Amboseli National Park. It is located in the Eastern Province of Kenya.

Attractions:

The park is comprised of open plains, savannah with areas of beautiful yellow - barked acacia woodland, swamps and marshland and areas containing thornbush growing amidst lava debris. To the west of the reserve, close to Namanga, is the massif of Oldonyo Orok at 2524 m.

The main wildlife you are likely to see here are herbivores such as buffalos, Thomson's and Grant's gazelles, Coke's hartebeests, warthogs, gnus, impalas, giraffes, zebras and lots of baboons. One of the most spectacular sites is the large herd of elephants here (some 700 living in the park) and you may be able to see the very rare black rhinoceros that has been poached out of existence.

There are also few predators including the lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas and the jackals. Birdlife is again abundant especially near the swamps and seasonal lakes which include a few flamingos.

How to get there:

Air:
There is a daily return flight from the private aerodrome at Wilson Airport to Amboseli on Air Kenya. The journey takes 45 minutes.

Road:
From Nairobi to Namanga is about 250 km and then from Namanga to the park is 75 km down an appalling road. The whole journey from Nairobi to Amboseli takes about 4 hours. It is possible to get to the northern and eastern gates by driving down the Nairobi/Mombasa road.

From there take the road southwest for the Lemeiboti/Iremito Gate, the total distance is about 230 km. another possibility is to drive further south past the town of Kimana until you reach the C103 road on the right. This is the road that traverses Amboseli National Park.