Tourist attractions in Amboseli national park

Tourist attractions in Amboseli national park

Tourist attractions in Amboseli national park: Amboseli national park formerly known as Masai Amboseli game reserve is a popular national park in Kenya located in Kajiado country of Kenya, the park is also referred to as the land giant because of the big herds of elephants with over 1000 individuals. Amboseli national park is the second popular national park in Kenya coming second to Masai Mara national reserve, the park covers an area of 392 square kilometers stretching over the border of Kenya and Tanzania.

Amboseli national park consists of many tourist attractions that is why it is a loved tourist destination, tourist attractions in the park include

Beautiful scenery

Amboseli national park has been recognized as one of the most scenic national parks and tourist destination in Kenya, the beautiful features a backdrop of mountain Kilimanjaro which is capped with snow on its peaks. Mountain Kilimanjaro is the highest free standing mountain in Africa standing at the elevation of 5,895 meters above the sea level, the scenic backdrop of snow capped mountain Kilimanjaro creates an excellent opportunity for photography experience and scenic nature lovers.

Wildlife

Amboseli national park is an excellent habitat for wildlife and a recognized national park to find wildlife species in Kenya, the park is a home for about 56 recognized species with a big population of elephants recorded to be over 1,000 individuals that is why the park is sometimes referred to as the African park of Africa. These animals live in the savannah grassland plains, marshland, thick thorn bush, acacia forest and swamps. Animals in Amboseli national park include the big five that are lion, elephants, buffalo, leopard and rhinos. other animals in the park include cheetah, zebra, wildebeests, Masai giraffe, spotted hyena, gnu, gazelles, duikers, caracal, serval cat, bush baby, baboons, waterbucks, aardwolf and many more.

Birds

Amboseli national park is a recognized bird habitat and one of the famous important birding areas in Kenya, the park is a home to over 410 bird species which live in the savannah grasslands and swamps dotted around the park. Birds in Amboseli national park include globally threatened Madagascar pond-heron, most sought bird the shoe bill and over 40 species of birds of the prey there is also migratory bird species, 92species of Somali-Masai Biome species and resident species. Bird species in Amboseli national park include African swamp hen, common redshank, Dickinson’s kestrel, Eurasian thick-knee, greater flamingo, lesser flamingo, long-toed lapwing, pangani long claw, Rufous-bellied heron, spike-heeled lark, steel-blue whydah, Taveta golden weaver, von der decken’s hornbill, yellow-necked spur fowl, grey crowned crane, lesser Moorhen, Eurasian Moorhen, black crake, yellow-throated sand grouse, crested francolin, yellow necked francolin, Von Der Decken’s hornbill, white stork, white-headed mousebird, Naamaqua dove, mourning collared dove, ring-necked dove, laughing dove, malachite kingfisher, pied kingfisher, little bee-eater, red and yellow barbet, Nubian woodpecker, cardinal woodpecker, white browned councal, African stripped skink and many more.

Lake Amboseli

Lake Amboseli in Amboseli national park is a temporary lake situated in the north western region of the park and occupies a great portion of the area of the park, Lake Amboseli is always dry in dry season and in rainy season it is filled with water to create a lake. The lake is a great spot for game viewing and bird watching as the swamps on its banks are habitat to animals and birds, the shores of Lake Amboseli are used as camping site for camping tourists.

Masai people and their culture

The Masai people are one of the traditional people in Kenya with authentic culture and norms, the Masai people are fearless people depending on live stock and are noted to be the early settlers of areas occupied by national parks including Amboseli national park. Visiting Amboseli national park is never complete without getting a taste of the amazing African culture in the Masai people living on the outskirts of the park, Masai people have unique dressing code with stripped attires, amazing beads and artifacts, traditional songs and dances. The Masai people organize annual 7 day Masai gala in Loitoktok, in this gala cultural practices, norms, and are showcased, there is also Masai annual Olympics hosted in Kimana.

Weather conditions in Amboseli national park

Amboseli national park is a very conducive national park though typically hot with dry climatic conditions most especially in the dry season, the park experiences two seasons that is wet and dry season. Wet season is experienced in the months of October to May and features short rainfalls in the beginning and long rainfalls in March, April and May. Dry season in Amboseli national park is experienced in the months of June- July and August – September, dry season features a lot of sunshine with average temperatures of 25 degrees Celsius in the afternoon. Amboseli national park is hot in the months of June and July, and hotter in September.

How to get to Amboseli national park

Amboseli national park is reached using road and air transport means and easily accessed from Nairobi the capital city of Kenya and a major tourist city, using road transport the park is using various routes such as Nairobi – Arusha route via Namanga to Meshananai gate, Nairobi – Mombasa route via Emali.

By use of air means of transport to Amboseli national park domestic flights are offered by many air companies such as Air Kenya, SafariLink, and MombasaAir from Jomo Kenyatta airport and Moi international airport to Amboseli Airstrip.