Amboseli is known for its large population of elephants. 

Amboseli National Park was my first stop in Africa.   Getting here was half the fun.  After taking off from Wilson Airport we headed to Amboseli.  Upon our final approach to landing in Amboseli the pilot abruptly aborted the landing and circled around to make another approach.  The second approach was also unsuccessful and I started to worry.  I looked out the front window and discovered what the problem was.  There was a herd of wildebeests on the runway!  As it turns out, the pilot was buzzing the runway to scare off the wildebeests so we could land.  His attempts were unsuccessful.  With the help of the awaiting passengers on the ground, who held hands to create a chain, they moved them off the runway so we could land.  What an introduction to Africa!

Late night commentary from a wildebeast:  Apparently wildebeests pick a territory of land that they claim just before breeding season and the female wildebeast "shop around" to find land that they like and thereby choose their mate.  According to Judy, our poor wildebeast didn't pick a great plot of land and wasn't really attracting the ladies.  Ya kind felt sorry for the guy.

Upon going to bed my first night Judy warned me that there was a resident wildebeast that was occupying the land where we set up camp.  She said that they are perfectly harmless but he will voice his opinion in the middle of the night and express his dissatisfaction with us living on his land.  I'm a bit on edge after she tells me this.  (This, by the way was the first time in my life I've ever slept in a tent.  Yea, I had to travel all the way to Africa for this.)   Anyway, as I crawled in to bed I feel something very warm and very squishy under my covers.  I let out a yelp and threw back the covers to find that one of the helpers placed a hot water bottle in the bed to warm it up for me.  I laughed and then tried to fall asleep.  Just as I started nodding off I could hear rustling near the tent.  I assumed it was just one of the helpers checking to make sure I was tucked in okay.  Much to my surprise, moments later a very large MOOOO came bellowing into my tent right by my bed.  The wildebeast had chosen this moment to tell me to get out.  I laughed and then fell asleep sort of feeling comforted that a big large wild animal was protecting me.    Back

The ultimate Amboseli Experience; an "Elephant Moment"  This was truly one of my favorite moments of my entire trip!  On the first full day I was at Amboseli we decided to take a game drive to see what we could find.  Our driver, James, was amazing.  He could spot animals out in the distance long before I'd even begin to see them.  At one point, Judy said to him "Stop, let's wait".  Out in the distance you can see them, a very large herd of elephants coming our way.  We turned off the car and Judy gave me some instructions.  She said "I've been doing this for 25 years.  I understand the behavior of the elephants.  As long as you follow these rules, you are about to experience something truly amazing."  She said she called it an "Elephant Moment".  She went on to tell me to be very quiet and still but I could take as many pictures as I wanted.  As the elephants approached we counted in excess of 30 of them coming our way.  As they walked up to our Jeep, they parted and walked around us as if we weren't even there.  At one point we were completely surrounded by elephants in every direction.  You can see pictures of this moment in the slideshow (pictures 9-14) but here's a small image of the Elephant Moment.  Back

Spotting a nearly extinct Reed Buck  One day, as we were driving, James suddenly stopped the Jeep and started speaking to Judy in Swahili.  I couldn't understand them so Judy then translated and said that James just spotted a Reed Buck.  We drove closer and I was able to get a good glimpse of it.  I believe Judy said that there have only been 13 ever spotted in Amboseli. I was very lucky to witness this animal in the wild. Back

Watching baboons play at dusk  One night before dinner we took a drive to watch the sunset.  Little did I know what a special sunset this was going to be.  We drove out to this very remote area and turned the car off.  It didn't seem like much of anything as we were sort of in the thick of some brush with lots of trees in our way.  Judy said to me "Now we wait."  As the sun continued to set, out of the woodwork came hundreds of baboons.  The all began climbing up the trees and began to wing and play and wrestle for a nesting place for the night.  They were so comical and very entertaining.  It was better than television for sure! Back

Visiting a Boma  On one of my last evenings, again before dinner, we took a drive to a local boma.  A boma is like a small community of Masai.  It is a very tight knit community as the men share their wives.   Shocking!  The structure of the boma was very interesting.  A circular type campground with mud houses all around.  Next to each house was a gate.  Apparently, the house to the left the gate is the "first wife" of the head man that lives in the boma.  All the cattle and goats are kept in the center of the ring.  It is the responsibilty of the wives and children to tend to the animals.  I was able to go into on of the bomas and meet a family.  The room was very, very small.  Maybe 12x12 and a family of 8-10 could live in there.  I remember one of the children kept on staring at me.  As I emerged from the boma I asked my guide what the fascination was and he said that she had never seen blue eyes before.  Back