Amboseli is the perfect start or end to your safari, a must-see for any traveler visiting Kenya. The swamps here are the only source of water for the elephant during the dry season and the whole west Kilimanjaro/Amboseli ecosystem depends on water from the Amboseli springs and swamp.
Observation Hill and Enkongo Narok Swamp are usually teeming with elephants, and there’s good general game viewing, with plains game and even buffalo, cheetah and hyena.
4 DAYS:AMBOSELI – TSAVO WEST EAST NATIONAL PARKS
DAY 1:NAIROBI – AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK
Depart from your hotel at 7.30am and drive through the beautiful landscape of the Athi Plains via Emali and to Amboseli Game Reserve
arriving at the the Kibo Safari Camp in time for lunch. Later at 3.00pm, proceed for the evening game drive. Amboseli National Park, despite its small size (392 sq.km) and a fragile ecosystem, supports a wide range of animals (over 50 of the larger species) and birds (over 400 species). The waters from Mt. Kilimanjaro drain down the mountain under lava flows and surface in Amboseli, creating a green belt of swamp land amidst dusty plains. Amboseli lacks the profusion of animal species found in the Mara, but the landscape provides limited cover so you have a better chance of seeing some of the larger Animals. Elephant, buffalo, lion, gazelle, cheetah, wildebeest, hyena, jackal, warthog, giraffes, zebra, baboon and waterbuck are all present in the park. Dinner and overnight at the camp.
Meal plan – Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Driving time – 5.5 hours
Host camp – Kibo Safari Camp
DAY 2:AMBOSELI NATIONAL. PARK – TSAVO WEST NATIONAL PARK
After breakfast, depart Amboseli for Tsavo West National Park crossing the now extinct dramatic lava flow at the park boundary. Arrive at
Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge in time for lunch. Take a short rest followed by a game drive in this Kenya’s largest park, noted especially for its enormous elephant population. Also visit Mzima Springs, an oasis where hippo and crocodile can be seen. Dinner and overnight at the lodge.
Meal plan – Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Driving time – 4 hours
Host camp – Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge
DAY 3:TSAVO WEST NATIONAL- TSAVO EAST NATIONAL PARK
Depart from the lodge after an early breakfast and take a morning game drive en-route to the Tsavo East National Park. Picnic lunch will be served while visiting the Luggard Falls, a part of amazing landscapes in this park. Take afternoon and evening game drives in this vast and least explored national park. The enormous northern region of Tsavo East was closed to the public for many years and, although it is now open again, distances are vast. In practice, it’s an area for adventurous explorers, not game drives. Tsavo East is mostly a vast flat plain of sandy soil, split by the shallow trough of the Galana River. Nearly all visits take place south of the Galana, where seasonal streams form tributaries that run into the river, their banks lined by small areas of thicker bush. Another watercourse, the seasonal Voi River, runs east through this part of the park, feeding the shallow Aruba dam and then meandering to the coast. The Galana River, which rises in the central highlands and whose upper reaches are known as the Athi, is one of Kenya’s biggest rivers. Its valley, rocky in much of its western course, sandy and doum palm fringed further east, is one of Tsavo East National Park’s defining physical features. You will be back to your lodge at 6.30pm. Dinner and overnight at the Ashnil Aruba Lodge.
Meal plan – Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Driving time – 4 hours
Host camp – Ashnil Aruba Lodge
DAY 4:TSAVO EAST NATIONAL PARK – BACK TO NAIROBI
After Breakfast proceed for a final game drive as you exit the park and then proceed to Nairobi arriving by 5pm.
