Been There Done That Too…

Kilimanjaro and Amboseli

// November 14th, 1996 // Kenya, Passage To Africa

The countryside past Tsavo gradually goes from the dramatic red and orange earth of Tsavo to a much grayer, less dramatic landscape with the tall grass and less brush. Crossing the plains on the way to Amboseli we were frequently rewarded with the site of Kilimanjaro, however we never did see the top of the legendary mountain that dominates the plains that surround Amboseli. We also passed several native villages and all the children in the villages would run out to the minibuses asking for candy and pencils.

Amboseli is not as dramatically striking as Tsavo, but there are more animals including large herds of gnu (i.e.. food), zebra, elephants, giraffes, hyenas, warthogs, a few lions, and the occasional cheetah. The flat plain that makes up the majority of Amboseli almost seems staged, it’s so flat, and there are so many animals. The animals seem almost completely unfazed by the minibuses, except for the zebras – they usually turn around and give you their tails. The animals walk the electric fence line around the lodge compounds too. It’s amazing to be in the pool at the lodge and have a line of zebras walking along the electric fence 100ft away.

One morning we had to be ready to go on a 5:30am game drive. I am not a morning person. I joked with our driver/guide that if I had to be ready to go at 5:30am I had better see something with fur, four very large paws, and some very big teeth – and we did! The lionesses were really funny. They seemed to think posing for pictures was part of their job. It was like someone had given them their schedule for the day:

5:45am be in the clearing for all the tourist

6:15am leave for breakfast

The lodges at Amboseli are beautiful. There is one thing truly unique about the lodge compound – it has a resident baboon population, and they’re a cheeky bunch! I was staying in a newer lodge and they were still a little warry, however some friends staying at one of the older lodges had a great story to tell:

A lady at breakfast had a banana, one of the baboons wanted it so he jumped in her lap took it out of her hand and ate it. Then jumped down went to an empty table that had a cup of coffee sitting on it, got up on the table and drank the coffee. Guess he’d finished his breakfast, so he went back to the trees.

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