Amboseli is an icon of Africa: elephant and giraffe traversing wide, open plains – grazed by abundant and diverse plains game - against the magnificent backdrop of snow-capped Mt Kilimanjaro. Big game includes buffalo, lion, leopard and cheetah. With its wealth of wildlife in a unique setting and its proximity to Nairobi, Amboseli is Kenya ’s third most-visited national park.

The elephant-viewing is exceptional in Amboseli. Cynthia Moss has studied the elephants of Amboseli for nearly 30 years and visiting the Elephant Research Centre is both educational and inspiring.

Amboseli takes its name from the seasonal Lake Amboseli. The lake bed occupies about one third of the park’s area, but it is usually dry and dusty except during the rains. Underground streams fed by the snows of Kilimanjaro are the lifeblood of Amboseli: they feed swamps, wetlands and pools large enough to support pods of hippo. Amboseli encompasses areas of acacia woodland, rocky thornbush stands of fever trees and a few sulphur springs and, with this diversity of habitat, superb birdlife.

We favour the smaller camps on private concessions beyond the park boundaries where you can have your cake and eat it too: an Amboseli safari enriched by bush walks, night drives and exclusive game-viewing. These camps play an important role in conserving crucial wildlife dispersal areas and providing the Maasai landowners with a source of income.

East of Amboseli, above the heat, the Chyulu Hills are a young volcanic mountain range – only about 500 years old. In the foothills, Ol Donyo Wuas is a wonderful place from which to explore this extraordinary wilderness area of kopjes and volcanic outpourings, savannah and acacia woodland, with sunsets over Kilimanjaro.

For information about places to stay, see Amboseli accommodation.