Amboseli offers great wildlife viewing, and four of the Big Five are present. Rhinos are absent, and leopards are very rarely seen, but big herds of elephants reliably move to and from the marshy swamps in the center of the park. Buffalo, wildebeest, plains zebra and gazelle are all very common. Lions are the easiest to spot of the big cats, but cheetahs are also possible.
At its best, Amboseli is magnificent, and it’s the beautiful mix of landscapes and habitats that enables the park to shelter such amazing wildlife. Amboseli inhabits a vast basin with deep-green swamps in the heart of the park, stands of acacia forest in the east, and expansive savannah grasslands stretching all the way to distant hills and mountains. Mt Kilimanjaro (actually in Tanzania) towers gloriously over the park to the south.
Amboseli National Park is one of Kenya’s most popular parks and offers great wildlife viewing. The park is famous for its elephants, but most big safari animals can be spotted here. Black rhino is no longer found here, and leopards are very rarely seen, but the other three of the Big Five are present. The open plains can be excellent for seeing cheetah. The plains support an abundance of large herbivores including wildebeest, plains zebra and Grant's and Thomson's gazelle.
Elephants are Amboseli’s specialty. Big herds roam the dusty plains morning and evening. During the day many elephants spend their time partially submerged, foraging in the park’s swamps. Having been protected from poaching, Amboseli’s elephants carry impressive ivory and are very relaxed around cars. Cheetah and lion sightings are fairly common, and there’s a spotted hyena den northeast of the airstrip. Watch for bohor reedbuck lying low in the grass.
Elephants at the Amboseli National ParkAmboseli National Park is a good birding destination and more than 420 species have been recorded here. The swamps are great for waterbirds such as egrets, herons, pelicans and crowned cranes. Large numbers of flamingos may be present in the two rainy seasons (March to May and November to December). Grassland areas offer some interesting ground birds such as Hartlaub’s bustard and the localized Pangani longclaw. The park’s acacia woodland holds some dry-country specials such as steel-blue whydah, white-bellied go-away bird and Von der Decken’s hornbill.
Amboseli is a bird-watcher’s paradise throughout the year, but the best months are generally from December to March. Residents include unusual species that are spotted at any time. The migratory bird population fills the park from November to April. The months when rainfall is most likely to disrupt your bird-watching plans are November and April.
Crowned Lapwing at the Amboseli National Park
