Amboseli
Amboseli, on the southern border of Kenya with Tanzania, had its hayday in the 70s and 80s when a number of big hotels established themselve in the middle of the park. We were then festooned with unromantic images of a Kenyan safari epitomised by fleets of mini-buses with Kilimanjaro in the background. Read more?
Thankfully, Amboseli has now recovered from this bad reputation and the damage that the minibuses inflicted on the environment and while there are still a number of larger hotels within the reserve, the surrounding area has a couple of small conservancies and some great little camps with genuine integrity.
The park itself is relatively flat and characterised by distinctive groves of yellow-fever trees, swamps filled with large herds of elephant and the ever present (although not always obvious), towering twin peaks of Mt Kilimanjaro. Bird life is particularly good here and there are a wide variety of large mammal species, particularly buffalo and elephant. The area has also become and important location for elephant researchers who spend days following family groups in an effort to better understand their complex social structure and behaviour.
So the reality is that your experience of Amboseli needn't be ruined by hordes of minibuses, but if you're considering travelling to this area and you'd like to be sure of some seclusion then it's well worth looking at some of the simpler community camps on the peripheries of the park or, better still, head straight for the absolutely stunning Chyulu Hills about 40 miles to the north of Amboseli.
This area acts as a dispersal area for animals from Amboseli and it's not uncommon to find the large bull elephants, for which Amboseli is renowned, wandering around in this stunning and little visited part of Kenya.
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