We left Nairobi and headed for Amboseli National Park. Once again, the road from the main tar road to the park was horrible and full of corrugations. Most of the time we spent on the tracks that have been made on either side of the road rather than on the road itself. At least this time though it was only about 30km,
The park itself is quite small and at this time of year the animals are all around the swamp areas which means you travel over the same few roads during your game drives. The park is mostly a plain and dry, except in the swamp area. Whilst we saw lots of elephants and the highlight was seeing a cheetah with 4 very small cubs, which we had all to ourselves for ages, we were in general disappointed with the park. I think we have seen so many animals and parks now that we want to see the unusual rather than the regular, along with some varied scenery. If it was one of the first parks you visited then it would be fantastic as you are guaranteed to see heaps of animals.
Whilst we were in Amboseli we decided we would treat ourselves and spend the 2 nights in a lodge. The first night we stayed at Ol Tukai which is right in the middle of the park with views out to to the swamp from your room where we could see elephants, zebra, wildebeest and buffalo as well as hear the hippos. It was great to have a really hot, long shower for a change and the food was great. The second night we stayed at Kilima lodge, just outside the southern park gate. This time we were in a “tent”, well at least the walls and roof were made of canvas, but that is about as close to a tent it got. Again the food was great and we even got a free 30 minute massage each. Both places were expensive but we negotiated them down on the price quite a bit, at Kilima we got just over 30% off. Both of us have to say though that we sleep better in our tent!
We did though finally manage to see Mt Kilimanjaro. It wasn’t completely clear, but we could see the bottom and the top, which has very little snow on it, with a band of clouds in the middle. Most of the day though it is hidden behind cloud and mist and you can’t see any of it at all.
