Long standing family friend and photo buddy, Ann Nichols and I went to Amboseli National Park last October. The safari was organised by photographic and safari travel company, Wild Eye. This was the third trip to Amboseli with Wild Eye, but this time we did not have Wild Eye drivers and guides but relied on the guides from the two lodges we stayed in, and just outside, Amboseli National Park.
“Amboseli feels like a place where the land breathes in slow, powerful rhythms, with vast open plains stretching endlessly beneath the watchful presence of Mount Kilimanjaro.” — Kostas Fikas
We visited Amboseli for our five days, staying three nights at Elephant Garden Camp on the east side and two nights at Elewana Tortilis Camp on the west side of the park. The first lodge, Elephant Garden Camp was located outside the park about 20 minutes drive from the Kimana (originally Olkelunyiet) gate on the eastern boundary of Amboseli National Park. From that gate, we accessed the swamps at the heart of Amboseli via the Oloitokitok sand road. It took about 45 minutes on the extremely rough sand/gravel road to get to the swamps where many of the elephant families feed.
“Nothing but breathing the air of Africa, and walking through it, can communicate the indescribable sensations.” -“William Burchell”
Amboseli National Park, is in Kajiado District of the Rift Valley Province in south western Kenya. The park is 39,206 hectares (392 km2) in size and is at the core of an 8,000 square kilometre ecosystem that spreads across the Kenya-Tanzania border. The park protects two of the five main swamps in the district, the Olokenya and Enkongo Narok swamps, the other three are outside Amboseli National Park. The Amboseli lake, which is seasonal, and more often than not dry, is mostly inside the park on its north western boundary.
Thankfully, we flew from Nairobi’s Wilson airport to the Amboseli airstrip which took about 45 minutes and saved a road trip along the A109 highway which would have taken around six to seven hours, depending on traffic. We arrived in Amboseli around mid-morning so the sun was high in the sky and it was already getting warm.
“Amboseli greets its visitors with vistas of Kilimanjaro, herds of elephants, and swamps swirling in dust where vivid reflections of feathers and wings dance in its large open pools.” ~ Mike Haworth
Most safari visitors go to Amboseli for elephants with a Mount Kilimanjaro background, but the crowds have grown materially since my first visit. Unlike the mammals, the bird life around the swamps does not seem to attract a fraction of the visitors’ attention, but is abundant and wonderfully varied. The swamps attract huge numbers of waterbirds and waders. We saw many Squacco herons hunting in the reeds and long grass next to the pools of water in the Olokenya swamp. The swamps in Amboseli National Park are primarily fed by underground water originating from rain and snowmelt on Mount Kilimanjaro. This water travels through volcanic rock, creating a persistent underground aquifer that breaks the surface to form lush marshes and wetlands in the dry savanna.
An adult Greater flamingo on the left-hand side and a juvenile Greater flamingo on the right. Huge flocks of flamingos can be seen in the shallow open pools in the swamps. The swamps in Amboseli National Park are primarily shallow, groundwater-fed wetlands rather than deep lakes, with water levels on the dried-up Lake Amboseli floor often remaining under 0.6 meters even when filled during rainy seasons.
A male Greater Painted snipe. Sexes of this species are dimorphic regarding their plumage colouring. The male is distinguished from true snipes by his pale breast harness and white eye-patch. The female is more brightly coloured than male with a dark chestnut neck and breast.
Once you have spotted a Painted snipe it is easy to keep your eyes on it but it is usually well camouflaged so to see it in the first place can be tricky and it is usually its movement that gives them away.
Great white pelicans are abundant in the swamps and can often be seen hunting in groups corralling the fish into a shallow or small inlet. The Great white pelican is easily identified by its large size and its yellow bill pouch and pink skin around its eyes.
A Collared pratincole is an elegant, agile flier that looks like a cross between a plover and a swallow. The Collared species is recognised by grey-brown upper parts, beige throat and breast with a dark brown necklace and a white belly. The base of its beak is red. The Collared pratincole is a bird of open country, and is often seen near water in the evening, hawking for insects.
A White browed coucal is a member of the cuckoo family. The underparts and nape are streaked, and it has a distinctive white eyebrow. The rump and upper tail coverts are barred, unlike other coucals. It prefers to clamber through reeds and thick vegetation when foraging. Like most coucals, the white-browed coucal is considered omnivorous. While it is primarily known as an opportunistic carnivore and insectivore, its diet is broad and flexible. Due to this unique sound and its tendency to call during high humidity or before storms, it is widely referred to as the “rainbird”.
An elephant bull feeding on the lush vegetation in the swamp. While feeding the bull was disturbing many insects in the surrounding vegetation which attracted several Cattle egrets.
“Wetlands are actually unsung heroes. They nurture young fish, provide refuge for animals and birds, and protect our communities from floods.” — Annie Proulx
An adult Cattle egret perched on the back of an elephant watching and waiting for insects to be flushed by the movement of the elephant.
Amboseli beyond the swamps is dry and arid. Our first sighting in this arid section on our way from the airstrip to Elephant Garden camp was a pair of mating lions. The heat haze dictated that I could not get tack sharp images of this sighting.
A Fischer’s sparrow-lark found in its usual habitat in dry grasslands and semi-arid areas. Beyond the swamps Amboseli is surprisingly arid. Fischer’s sparrow-lark is a ground-foraging bird that primarily eats grass seeds, supplemented by insects. They are often seen in small flocks foraging in short grass, bare fields, and semi-arid savannas to find food. The staple of their diet is grass seeds, which they collect from the ground. Their finch-like bills are adapted for handling these seeds.
A White-browed sparrow-weaver. I am always amazed at how sparrows and weavers can land on an acacia branch with huge spikes and not get impaled.
A Little bee-eater hawking insects in the heat of the day.
There was plenty of activity in the open grasslands away from the swamps. A pair of Ostriches were mating. The mating ritual is quite a display. Ostriches mate through an elaborate courtship ritual where males (cocks) defend territory, turn their shins and neck bright red and perform a dance by waving their wings, swaying and booming. Females choose mates based on this display. The mating occurs when the female sits, allowing the male to mount her from behind. Unlike most birds, male ostriches have a phallus for mating.
A male Black-bellied bustard striding through the long grass hunting for insects. This species looks very similar to the Hartlaub’s bustard. The male is similar to the male Hartlaub’s Bustard, but separated by a greyer face with a less definitive white mark on the cheek and it has lighter coloured eyes.
We eventually got to Elephant Garden camp around midday and were very pleasantly surprised. It was restful and luxurious tented camp. The accommodation was in large very comfortable tents with all the modern facilities.
The main dining, reception and bar area is large and open to all passing breezes. It looks onto a wonderful vista which stretches south across a large open grassland to Mount Kilimanjaro.
A traffic jam of safari vehicles all jockeying for place to get the best view of a breeding herd of elephants crossing the road. This is not what we were expecting and it happened time and time again. The quality of driving by the majority of safari vehicle drivers was inconsiderate and at times reckless. There seemed to be little regard for the animals which were supposed to be the centre of the attraction.
On the first afternoon of our Elephant Garden part of the Amboseli trip, Ann and I went out on a game drive into Amboseli through the Kimana gate and along the Oloitokitok sand road which was in very poor condition. To make matters worse, the rutted and very bumpy road had what looked to be about 150mm of fine white dust on it. It took about 45 minutes of rough riding to get from the Kimana gate to the lower end of the Olokenya swamp.
Little did we know when it was time to turn back to get through the Kimana gate before it closed at 18h00 all the other safari vehicles that entered through the Kimana gate had the same idea. There must be around 15 camps/lodges within half an hour drive of the Kimana gate. On the evening return trip to the Kimana gate, the safari vehicle drivers were reckless, driving way too fast on an extremely bumpy road and all of them churning up dust to the point where you could not see the road in front of you. I have never experienced anything like this in the 60 years I have been visiting wildlife parks in Africa. Our safari vehicle had no windows so our camera kit was covered in a thick layer of fine white dust, and I cannot tell you politely what we looked like.
“Be a curator of your life. Slowly cut things out until you’re left only with what you love, with what’s necessary, with what makes you happy.” ~ Leo Babauta
Needless to say we told our safari guide/driver we were not prepared to do another afternoon drive in Amboseli like that again. The next afternoon we chose to stay in camp and photograph the wonderful variety of birds which we saw around the camp. A relaxed afternoon photographing birds and enjoying early sundowners reset our attitude. The third afternoon we drove around Elephant Garden Camp’s small conservancy. We had wonderful sightings of Gerenuks and saw many new birds.
“Shifting the mind into lower gear can bring better health, inner calm, enhanced concentration and the ability to think more creatively.” ~ Carl Honoré
At the time we questioned why Wild Eye had chosen a camp outside the eastern gate of Amboseli but on the third day it became apparent. The oldest biggest tusker, Craig spent much of his time feeding in the conservancies just east of Amboseli near the Kimana gate. On the third day we got the message that Craig had been located and we could take a short easy drive to spend a couple of hours photographing him.
Explore, see to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.
Have fun, Mike