The next stop on our tour of Africa in late June was Amboseli in southern Kenya. Having already seen the tallest peaks in Asia, Europe, South America, and North America, I figured we might as well round things out by seeing the tallest peak in Africa. Not that I was going to climb it, of course!
We were told that even though the mountain is in Tanzania, the absolute best place to view Mount Kilimanjaro was actually from southern Kenya in Amboseli.
A Night in Nairobi
From Victoria Falls, we flew into Nairobi and spent the night near the airport. Since our flight was early the next morning, staying close made the most sense. The hotel was simple and serviceable.
Bright and early the next day, our guide picked us up and took us to the regional terminal for our flight on Airlink. After standing at the counter for a bit, some lovely staff members came over and collected us. They carried our bags up the stairs to a small waiting lounge. The flight was only about an hour long, which meant we arrived early enough to fit in an afternoon game drive.
Arriving in Amboseli
The airstrip is actually located inside the national park, so our safari started the second our guide picked us up. My main goal for visiting Amboseli was to see Kilimanjaro. Unfortunately, when we first landed, the whole mountain was completely hidden in thick clouds. Having looked for large mountains around the world, this was pretty typical. They like to hide! Then we were told that it would probably clear later in the day.
Luckily, during our afternoon game drive, the mountain decided to reveal itself. Suddenly all the clouds disappeared, and we took tons of pictures. In addition to watching all the animals and birds, I spent most of my time focusing on the mountain peak.
The Elerai Lodge
Fortunately, our guide brought along some snacks for us, because we didn’t get back to our lodge until well after sundown. We stayed outside the park at a place called Elerai, which was about forty-five minutes from the main park gate.
Because our lodge was outside the park and not in a private conservancy, all of our game drives took place within the national park itself. This meant our driver had to stick strictly to the established roads. It was the only place on our trip where we weren’t in a private conservancy. Even so, the wildlife viewing was phenomenal.
Our room was very comfortable and came with an outdoor shower, which is always one of my favorites. It was nicely warm at night, too. That was a welcome change after the cold nights in Botswana. Even though June is winter here, we were much closer to the equator, so it wasn’t so cold.
Elerai Lodge served pretty good food, but the best part about dining was our dinner table. All of the tables sat in a cozy private alcove looking out over a nearby watering hole. During dinner, there was a constant stream of visitors at the watering hole while we ate, including elephants, giraffes, and zebras. Not a bad way to have dinner!
Views of the Mountain
All of the brochure photos for this lodge showed a view of Kilimanjaro framed by the tent doorway. It turned out our room had that exact view, and I was thrilled.
Even though it was wintertime, there was no snow at all on top of the mountain, which really surprised us. It almost looked like the peak had blown its top, leaving a bit missing at the summit. There is another large cinder cone just to the left, and the main peak sits at 19,341 feet above sea level.
Safari Schedule and Stargazing
We only had two nights at this lodge. After our game drive on the day we arrived, we went out early again the next morning. Aside from a tiny bit of traffic on the main road, the game drives were awesome, especially with the mountain standing in the background.
Our days followed a relaxing routine. We went out for a drive in the morning, returned to the lodge for lunch, and set out again around four o’clock. But the afternoon drives always included a sundowner drink before heading back for dinner.
While we were there, I remembered reading about a rare planetary alignment. I pulled out the stargazing app on my phone that identifies objects in the sky, and we went outside. The night sky was unbelievable because it was so dark. We were even able to capture clear pictures of Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter.
Our Final Morning
On our final morning in Amboseli, we headed back to the airstrip to fly to Nairobi, where we would catch our connecting flight to the Masai Mara. Since the airstrip is inside the park, our drive there to the airport turned into one last bonus game drive. There was even plenty of wildlife roaming around right by the runway.
Upon our return to Nairobi, we didn’t head into the city. Instead, we just hung out in the Airlink terminal lounge until our flight to the Mara was ready.
The animal viewing in Amboseli was wonderful, and those views of Kilimanjaro really can’t be beat. I would definitely recommend adding it to your list.
Have you ever traveled somewhere specifically to see a natural landmark, only to have the weather hide it from you?
