LAND OF THE GIANTS – AMBOSELI

Today you will join us on a safari in Amboseli NP.

A short 35minutes flight on a Cessna 208 – Caravan transferred us from the capital city to the rolling flatlands of the Amboseli. The immediate reaction was one of breathtaking views of flatland extending and rising majestically to the peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro – Africa’s highest mountain and the World’s highest free standing mountain.

As soon as we set foot on the ground, we all instinctively grabbed cameras and pointed our lenses towards the mountain, wanting not to miss out on whatever chances there were to get the peaks glistening in the morning sun, Kibo the highest was clearly visible.

A polite tap on my shoulder brought me out of my mini trance to see the smiling face of our guide Thomas (we met him the previous day on our arrival at the international airport). We later came to know that he had driven the previous afternoon from Nairobi to Amboseli inorder to pick us up this morning, it was a great relief to see a familiar face.

Wasting no time Thomas asked us to get into the jeep for our first game drive enroute to the lodge – Amboseli Serena. We drove through the golden savanaah grasslands and immediately got sight of huge herd of Impalas and Thompson gazzelles.Heading towards the marshes, we had huge expectations and before long Mutti excitedly pointed out black features that looked like boulders, to our joy Thomas confirmed these to be elephants, slowly the boulders transformed into herds upon herds of elephants!

It is astonishing how close we could get to the elephants, grazing placidly we could see the hairs on the eyelids and hear low rumbling sounds – Thomas explained that these sounds are how elephants communicate and that they have highly varied vocals.

We were greatly favoured to find these gentle giants in their hundreds, enjoying the lush Amboseli vegetation to our delight. It is what Amboseli is famous for and we were getting the full treatment!

Our afternoon game drive yielded more animals as well as numerous other birds that co exist with the Elephants.

We had a wonderful 3 nights in the Amboseli and crowned it all by visiting the “locals” – The Maasai people, always adorned in their bright red shukas, pierced ear lobes and forever smiling. We shared many stories under the African sky around bonfires each night. These amazing people will always amaze you by how easily the take you in and share their lives. 

Finally……..more and more elephants..

On our last ride to the airstrip, we did meet a huge bull who blew dust in our direction which could only mean one thing ….that he was biding us bye and as they say in Swahili “kwaheri ya kuonana” – bye and see you again.