Apart from the vastness and diverse ecosystems in Amboseli this is one aspect that cannot be ignored, the giant looking down from just across the border in Tanzania, the snow capped Mount Kilimanjaro. It is quite incongruent to be sitting in a game vehicle in the warm equatorial sun in the swamps and grasslands of Amboseli National Park in south east Kenya looking up at the snow capped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro – the sight is breath-taking!

“Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So… get on your way!” ~Dr. Seuss

No one knows the origin of the name Kilimanjaro. It may mean “mountain of caravans” (kilima – mountain; jaro caravans), a landmark for caravans seen everywhere from afar.

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” ~Edward Abbey

This mountain is massive and is positioned in south east Tanzania about 205 miles from the equator, along the Tanzanian/Kenyan border.

Africa’s eastern side is scarred by the Great Rift, a fracture zone running from north to south. Along the fault lines lie volcanoes of all sizes, but in Tanzania the biggest dwarfs them all – Mount Kilimanjaro (Kili). It is one of the ‘Seven Summits‘ which comprise the highest mountains on each of the seven continents of the Earth: Everest, Aconcagua, Denali, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Mount Vinson and Carstensz Pyramid. Kilimanjaro is not only Africa’s tallest peak, but also the world’s tallest free standing mountain. The summit, named Uhuru Point, is 5,895 meters (19,341 feet) above sea level.

Kili is a dormant volanco, in fact one of three volancoes. Kili is classified as a dormant stratovolcano which is composed of three distinct volcanic cones: Kibo, the highest at 5895metres (19 340 ft), Mawenzi at 5,149 metres (16,893 ft); and Shira, the lowest at 4,005 metres (13,140 ft). Mawenzi and Shira are extinct, while Kibo is considered to be dormant and could erupt again. Uhuru Peak is the highest summit on Kibo’s crater rim and the word Uhuru is Swahili for “Freedom”. This mountain was so named in 1961 when Tanganyika gained its independence from Britain. Tanganyika later joined with the islands of Zanzibar to form Tanzania.

Seeing “Kili” clearly at any time of the day from Amboseli is a chance affair. The weather around Kilimanjaro is influenced by the height of the mountain, which allows the concentrates to influence the equatorial trade winds and the high altitude. Kilimanjaro has daily upslope and nightly downslope winds, a regimen stronger on the southern than the northern side of the mountain. The flatter southern flanks are more extended and affect the atmosphere more strongly. The northern slopes receive much less rainfall than the southern ones.

Kilimanjaro is 40 miles wide, covering an area 50 times the size of Manhattan. Being so big, Kilimanjaro creates its own weather system. The south-east trade winds carry moisture from the Indian ocean and eventually hit “Kili” forcing them upwards. As the air rises it cools and condenses, forming clouds and precipitation. So mid-March through to the end of May is the wet season on Mount Kilimanjaro and its surrounds. 

The rain from Kilimanjaro together with the melting snow waters are vital to the mountain’s varied plant life and the mountain’s immediate surrounds.

“How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains!” ~John Muir

There are two dominant influences on the climate in Kenya: the onshore monsoon winds from the Indian Ocean, and its altitude. The winds determine the onset of Kenya’s two rainy seasons, with the hot anti-trade winds or northeast monsoon or kaskazi blowing dry air in from the Persian Gulf from November to March/April and the warm, moist kusi monsoon blowing in from the southeast from April/May to October.

Mount Kilimanjaro was estimated to have developed about 3 million years ago during the formation of the Great Rift Valley. During that period many volcanoes erupted in the Kilimanjaro region. Three distinct volcanoes formed Shira, Mwanzi and Kibo. Shira was the first to become extinct, eventually collapsing and was later covered by debris from the other two volcanoes. Shira was thought to have been 16 000 ft high before its collapsed. Mawenzi followed and a massive explosion broke its eastern rim creating a spectacular gorge. Kibo continued to grow after Mawenzi’s collapse and later the magma pulled back from the central vent and was covered by a cone of ash around the rim. Today, Kibo is considered dormant but not extinct like the other two. “Kili’s” last major eruption was dated at 360 000 years ago with the most recent activity around 200 000 years ago.

The changing size of Kili’s snow cap has been the source of much speculation around the effects of climate change. Some call it “the poster child of global climate change”. Kili’s icecap has shrunk 82% since 1912 and some scientists estimate the glaciers may be completely gone in 50 years. There is much debate about the cause of the reduced snowcap but its is thought to be due to deforestation rather than global warming.

At the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro in southern Kenya, the melting snow off the mountain’s permanent snowcap feeds south into a large wetland called Kimana in Amboseli National Park. Kimana wetland area is approximately 10 square kilometres with other small wetlands along the rivers and the whole area acts as a vital water stop for wildlife migrating between Amboseli and Tsavo National Parks.

The landscape of Amboseli is made up of swamps, grasslands and acacia bushveld and even fever tree forests, but the heart of the park is certainly the swamps which draw in herds of elephant and buffalo, giraffe and zebra, to the water and lush grass in the dry season.

The park is dependent on the water fed by Kili and is critical to the high productivity of the swamps sustaining a vast array of wildlife and contributing to the biodiversity of the ecosystem.

Amboseli like the Tsavo West National Park supports large concentrations of wildlife despite the relatively arid terraines thanks to the nearby volcanic structures. Wildlife is sustained throughout prolonged dry seasons by underground water fed through porous rocks of the volcanic uplands. Swamps on the Amboseli Plains rely on groundwater from the Kilimanjaro massif. Tsavo West is fed by the Mzima Springs with water derived from the Chyulu Hills.

Life is abundant in the grasslands and swamps below Mount Kilimanjaro. The view of this “island in the sky” is breath-taking. I had seen it briefly, somewhat shrouded in clouds, the last time I was in Amboseli in 2018, but this trip we were fortunate to get several opportunities to see this mountain in all its majesty in bright sunshine. Once you wander around the Amboseli National Park you realise how important the melt waters from “Kili’s” snow cap and its weather influences are to the abundance and diversity of wildlife in this wonderful park.

“Dark clouds become heaven’s flowers when kissed by light.” ~ Rabindranath Tagore

There are many wonderful game parks with a range of hills in the background, Mana Pools in Zimbabwe with its high escarpment in the background springs to mind but nothing on the scale of “Kili”.

“No matter how sophisticated you may be, a large granite mountain cannot be denied – it speaks in silence to the very core of your being” ~Ansel Adams

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun,

Mike

I had the privilege of visiting Amboseli National Park in south-east Kenya in mid-April this year. This trip was postponed by a year due to the pandemic travel restrictions. Thankfully with the requisite tests and paperwork and guidance from photographic safari operator, Wild Eye, I was able to return to this amazing national park. I first travelled to Amboseli with Wild Eye in 2018 with Andrew Beck and was so impressed, that I wanted to return. The team at Wild Eye were amazing to get all the paperwork sorted out and made the trip as stress free as possible – and a big thank you to Judy van Zyl for that. Our guide was Mike Laubscher who was knowledgeable and fun and a big thank you to him for looking after us and pushing us to try new things photographically.

“Wildness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit.” ~ Edward Abbey

There are two dominant influences on the climate in Kenya: the onshore monsoon winds from the Indian Ocean, and the altitude. The winds determine the onset of Kenya’s two rainy seasons, with the hot northeast monsoon or kaskazi blowing dry air in from the Persian Gulf from November to March/April and the warm, moist kusi monsoon blowing in from the southeast from April/May to October. Despite Covid, April is not considered the high season because of the long rains. Well that might be so for general tourists but not for wildlife photographers. The heavy skies associated with the long rains bring vernal green grasslands and deep dark blue skies as dramatic backgrounds – perfect!!

“Not all who wander are lost.” – JRR Tolkien

Amboseli National Park, was formerly known as the Maasai Amboseli Game Reserve. It is a national park in Kajiado South Constituency in Kajiado County, in south east Kenya. The park is 39,206 hectares (392 km²) in size at the core of an ecosystem that spreads across the Kenya-Tanzania border. It is located just inside the Kenyan side of the Kenya/Tanzania border at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. The park protects two of the five main swamps in what is a flat open area with several distinct ecosystems. The National Park embodies five main wildlife habitats (open plains, acacia woodland, rocky thorn bush country, swamps and marshland) and covers part of an ancient lake basin, which is dry for most of the year.

There had been a lot of rain before we arrived. The swamps had filled and there were large pans of shallow water which attracted Greater and Lesser Flamingoes by the thousands. With so much water around the flamingoes were spread out and not confined to a few large pans. In the mornings the surface of the pans were dead still reflecting the cloud laden skies.

Adjacent to the swamps were huge tracts of open grasslands which attracted the elephants. Where there were elephants, the Cattle egrets followed. Invariably there were family groups with a few females and several calves foraging on the low bush and grasses. The skies at this time of the year are filled with cumulus clouds providing a dramatic background especially in the afternoons when the cumulonimbus clouds formed creating deep dark blue backgrounds with towers of heavy rain clouds.

With so many elephants on the open grasslands so too were there many Cattle egrets. The elephants disturb the insects in the grass as they are foraging, and the egrets stay close by to take advantage of the insects which have been disturbed.

The grey of the elephants in the verdant green grasslands with deep dark blue skies were beautifully punctuated with splashes of white.

Where there are rain clouds so too were rainbows which added the extra colour and spectacle to a wonderfully peaceful scene.

Mount Kilimanjaro in the background just peeking through the clouds. It is the highest mountain in Africa standing at 5,895 metres above sea level and is snow capped all year round. It is quite incongruent to be sitting sweltering in a game vehicle while looking up to “Kili’s” snow capped peak.

The cloud formations in the “long rains” made a dramatic and colourful background for our wildlife landscapes in Amboseli. This is a place of big open spaces and even bigger dramatic skies which makes the pachyderms look minute in the context.

With all the drama in the skies, the scene in the foreground was tranquil with Greater flamingoes filter feeding before sunset.

I have been wanting to go back to Amboseli since my first trip with Andrew Beck of Wild Eye in 2017. The last trip was in June when it was dry. This trip cast an entirely different complexion on the park.

There is an openness in the park which is to be found in the Kenyan game parks. The long rains created a verdant landscape with dramatic cloud filled skies. There is an abundance of wildlife in Amboseli which of course is more dispersed in the rains because of the abundance of water, but it is full of life.

“The sky above me the earth beneath me and the fire within me.” – Unknown

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun,

Mike