Amboseli National Park
Sprawling across the Kenyan-Tanzanian border, the greater Amboseli ecosystem is one of East Africa's preeminent wildlife viewing regions and Amboseli National Park is the postcard park of Kenya.
This is where those photographs of herds of elephants with a backdrop of the (fast melting!) glaciers of Mt Kilimanjaro are taken. The elephants and the scenery are the real highlights of this park, but plenty of other wildlife is attracted to the swamps and marshy pools in what is an otherwise very dry part of Kenya.
Another big reason to visit Amboseli is the chance to see conservation in action in the conservancies and other environmental and community projects surrounding the park.
Safari in Kenya
Kenya's best safari reserves and camps
My single most important tip for Kenya safari first-timers is to avoid the mistake of non-stop game drives. Standard tour operator itineraries shuttle you from park to park with a gruelling schedule of game drives. Yes, this is the best way of seeing large mammals up close, but the bumpy tracks, early starts and long hours quickly exhaust even the most ardent wildlife-watcher...read more