24 May 2009

Amboceli


last weekend i had the chance to go to Amboceli National Park . Amboseli lies immediately North West of Mt. Kilimanjaro, on the border with Tanzania. Amboseli was established as a reserve in 1968 and gazetted as a National Park in 1974. The Park covers 392 km2, and forms part of the much larger 3,000 Km2 Amboseli ecosystem. Large concentrations of wildlife occur here in the dry season, making Amboseli a popular tourist destination. It is surrounded by 6 communally owned group ranches.

The National Park embodies 5 main wildlife habitats (open plains, acacia woodland, rocky thorn bush country, swamps and marshland) and covers part of a pleistocene lake basin, now dry. Within this basin is a temporary lake, Lake Amboseli, that floods during years of heavy rainfall. Amboseli is famous for its big game and its great scenic beauty - the landscape is dominated by Mt. Kilimanjaro.

This was truly an amazing experience, we drove all over the park and found giraffes, hyenas, ostriches and ELEPHANTS!!! the only downside was that the clouds covered the peak of Mt. Kilamanjaro ALL DAY!!!
Oh, and before we entered, we had to stop to pay at the gate and we were bombarded with the Massai people trying to sell us things...i bought a mask, well I traded for it...it's a really nice mask danita...and i'll buy you new sunglasses :) I promise! I LOVE YOU!!!

8 comments:

PappaSistas said...

That was a fun report... I am glad that you learned so much. I got to the last couple of sentences and laughed hysterically! Who needs sunglasses when you can walk around with a mask? Who knows, maybe D will feel the same way. How do you know what to trade? That would be a fascinating kind of education! I LOVE YOU!!! I MISS YOU!!!

scammed said...

I continue to be blown away with all that you are experiencing and how well you write about it. I'm sure others feel as I do, I'm enjoying everything as though I were there without the smells and bugs and weather.

Stay safe, you are so loved,

Grandma

Unknown said...

HA!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! oh that's great.... LUCKY! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hernan+ said...

I am so jealous!

Diana said...

Have you ever noticed that when you take something on vacation that belongs to someone else, it has a difficult time making it home again. I am sure the mask si better than the sunglasses....good trade. I am so pleased for the experiences you are having. I love you.

PappaSistas said...

I LOVE ELEPHANTS!!!!!!!!!!! And you know I love you more than the sunglasses. When I read that last sentence, I about peed my pant. Except I'm wearing a skirt... but you know what I mean... Does this mean that I get the mask???

LOVE YOU!
D

PappaSistas said...

i knew you were going to ask that D...no... :D