The two sister parks facing Mount Kilimanjaro
The two sister parks facing Mount Kilimanjaro : Amboseli National park is one of the excellent, best and known parks of Kenya. This is because of its stunning and iconic views of Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa and the tallest free standing mountain in the world. There is nothing that can be compared to a game viewing with the back drop View of Mount Kilimanjaro, to the east of Amboseli National park lies the Chyulu Hills National Park. This is the beautiful range of hills from this park you can still be able to view Mount Kilimanjaro over its surrounding plains.
Amboseli is well know for its large population of elephants, the biggest land animal in the world. It lies at an altitude of 4,000 , with its landscape consisting of scrubs, fragile saline dry grasses and volcanic Ash. There are a few patches of Acacia woodlands and several rivers arising from the melting snows of Mount Kilimanjaro which supply water to the Amboseli swamps and the seasonal Lake Amboseli. The park is excellent for photographing the variety of animals and a perfect view of Mount Kilimanjaro, which so perfectly clear from Amboseli National park than anywhere else especially on a clear sky.
The community of people living around the park are the Maasai, who are often lying seen grazing their animals on the surrounding community land. They have since developed parts of this community lands into private and community owned conservancies. They have since offered a more exclusive and still rewarding safari tours and away from the busier core areas of the Amboseli National park.
Chyulu Hill is a National Park within a volcanic region with several forested volcanic lava , which flows out across the plains of the park creating an interesting landscape. The park has a number of granite dotted plains which adds to the wonderful scenic experience of the park, this park is one of the beautiful National parks of Kenya. This parks offers tourists on a safari an alternative to the Amboseli National park. Unlike Amboseli National park in Chyulu Hills National Park Game viewing is not much guaranteed but it’s scenery is stunning and offers a more personalised safari. The eastern side of the hills has been gazetted as a National park but the western side is made up of a conservation area , which are owned by several Maasai groups of ranches.
The Mbirikani Group Ranch is one of the ranches within Chyulu Hills, it is home to a variety of wildlife such as Elephant, Zebras, Wildebeest, gerenuk, lion, Impala spotted hyenas, cheetahs and Giraffes. The Birding in the area is varied from the plains and the montane species to both residents and migratory birds available. It is within this conservancies that it houses most of the safari options. The park is excellently known for horse riding safaris which are carried out through the hills and along the plains ,going towards Kilimanjaro, there are a couple of lodges offering both Day and Night game drives and the Nature walks inside the park.
Accommodation facilities
Ol Donyo Lodge
This is a lodge that has been nested into acacia woodlands and facing Mount Kilimanjaro which is seen in a distant far ,it is on the southern Kenya at Chyulu Hills. This facility offer both high level of accommodation, tasty food and exclusive services. The lodge accommodation is spacious and luxurious offering the guests a chance to relax , unwind in tranquillity while exploring the surrounding wilderness. They offer services in a more personalised level and of high quality. From the lodge there is big game to see from the large elephants, rare gerenuk, lion and Cheetahs.
The lodge too offer several activities which include cultural and some of the conservation activities, horse riding , walking and even mountain biking especially on the beautiful Chyulu Hills. This lodge is best for guests looking exclusive and relaxing stay where they can enjoy the hospitality of the lodge.
The lodge can accommodate around 20 guests in the eight deluxe suites rooms and one family suite which is known as the Sambu suite. The suite is luxurious with a separate bedroom section ,dressing area and a spacious bathroom. A private pool and a private star deck on the roof. All the suites have ceiling fans indoor and outdoor showers and the spectacular panoramic view of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Elegant Tortilis Camp
This is a very comfortable tented safari lodge on the Northern edge of Amboseli National park facing the towering Mount Kilimanjaro at the far horizon. The camp is on a small hill in Amboseli National Park which is good for game viewing , wonderful view of Mount Kilimanjaro while enjoy privacy I’m the wild. The camp has a unique safari touch with its tents being very comfortable without being overly luxurious. It has half of its tents facing Mount Kilimanjaro.
This lodge is awesome to guests who want to experience Amboseli National park wilderness. The park is known for its elephants populations especially during the dry season of July to October, it is also one of the best places to bird watching and watching some of the common predators.
Elegant Tortilis Camp has sixteen standard tents ,which have been built on a solid base with a private verandas to the front of each tent . It has a permanent toilet and a shower in a properly plumbed bathroom. The tents face towards the camp except nine tents which actually face Mount Kilimanjaro. On the other side of the hill there are two private accommodation units which are the Family tent and Private house , both shared the second pool. They both have two bedrooms with the Family tent having a covered walkway linking the two tented rooms and the private house has an open area which is between the two bedrooms.
The Central area of the camp has a main lounge , bar and a dining area both built from stone and sits on top of a small hill with amazing views over a floodlit waterhole towards Mount Kilimanjaro. From this central area there are stone pathways that lead to each tent, behind the tents there is a swimming pool and a spa centre which are nested in the woodlands.
