Located along Kenya's southern boundary with Tanzania, Amboseli National Park is dominated by nearby Mt. Kilimanjaro, located only 25 miles away across the Tanzanian border. On clear days, the fine cone of Mt. Meru, located near Arusha, can also be seen. To the west, the large massifs of Longido and Oldonyo Orok guard the border post of Namanga.

Amboseli was designated a National Reserve in 1947, because it sheltered a vast animal population. But native Maasai people also relied on the area as a place to graze their cattle and serve a vital source of water. Their very presence was in opposition to the stated goals of a National Reserve, To reconcile the needs of both wildlife and the Maasai, a landmark solution was reached whereby a core area was designated for the animal population; and water was provided the Maasai via a pumping system to outlying areas.

Despite the compromise, however, many years of overgrazing and unrestricted movement of safari vehicles have obliterated much of Amboseli's natural vegetation. New, stringent rules now forbid vehicles to drive off the tracks; and it is hoped that the fragile ecosystem of Amboseli will soon return to its former balance.

The main gameviewing areas at Amboseli are the swamps and marshes at the edge of "Lake" Amboseli, actually a huge, dry lake bed that floods in the rainy season. Elegant giraffe and slow gray elephant move among the fever trees and marsh vegetation. Buffalo, gazelle, lion, and cheetah are also found within the Park, as well as many species of bird.

Amboseli National Park, at the foot of Africa's highest mountain, 5895m Kilimanjaro, is one of the most popular of Kenya's national parks. It lies some 240 km southeast of Nairobi very close to the Tanzania border. The snowcapped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro rising above a saucer of clouds dominates every aspect of Amboseli. Gazelle as a national park in 1974 it covers only 392 sq. km but despite its small size and its fragile ecosystem it supports a wide range of mammals (well over 50 of the larger species) and birds (over 400 species). Years ago this was the locale around which such famous writers as Ernest Hemingway and Robert Ruark spun their stories of big-game hunting in the wilds of Africa.

It is also the home of the Maasai people, those tall, proud nomads whose legendary prowess in battle and single handed acts of bravery in fights with wild animals has spread across the globe. Perhaps more than any other community in Kenya the Maasai have learned to live in complete harmony with their environment and the wildlife which surrounds them. All round the park are occupied and abandoned manyatta - Maasai villages - quickly built out of bent poles and sticks and plastered with cow dung and equally swiftly abandoned when the grazing is finished and the herds must move on. A part of the Park is composed of a dried-up lake bed which in the shimmering heat produces mirages. Swamps and springs, fed by underground rivers from Kilimanjaro's melting snows, form permanent watering places for the wildlife through times of drought. The lake bed is subject to sporadic floods and noxious salts in the gravel bed are dissolved to serve as a deadly poison for what is left of the local woods; very few of the fine acacias, once a feature of this region, remain.

The snows of Kilimanjaro, white and crystalline, form a majestic backdrop to one of Kenya's most spectacular displays of wildlife - lion, elephant, leopard, rhino, cheetah, buffalo and hosts of plains' game, creating Kenya's most sought after photographer's paradise. But the Park's popularity is also causing serious concern. The combination of wildlife, tourist vehicles and Maasai cattle are destroying the delicate but precious grassland. Park rules now insist that vehicles stick to roads and tracks. The Park's best game runs are around the swamps and there is a fine lookout on Observation Hill which offers views over the whole of the Park and beyond.