Amboseli Reserve
Amboseli lies immediately North West of Mt. Kilimanjaro, on the border with Tanzania. Amboseli includes open plains, acacia woodland, rocky thorn bush country, swamps and marshland and is most famous for the concentrations of its big game and its great scenic beauty dominated by the awesome snow capped Mount Kilimanjaro on its southern boundary, the highest free-standing mountain in the world.
Large concentrations of wildlife occur here in the dry season, making Amboseli a popular tourist destination. It is surrounded by 6 communally owned group ranches, a number of which support the best ecolodges and tented camps in the area, and offer some of the nicest oppportunities to see wildlife here, instead of the relatively crowded park.
The park is most famous for it's large elephant herds, which can be approached quite easily having been studied now by well known elephant expert Cynthia Moss for over 30 years. Thanks to the long term protection of the Amboseli elephants their matriachal families span the whole age range, from newborn calves, old matriarchs in their 60s, and unusually many large adult bulls in their 40s, 50s and even 60s. Today the the Amboseli population comprises over 2000 individuals in 54 families and over 211 independent adult bulls. all known to Cynthia personally.