Masai Mara Camping Safari, Amboseli Camping, Maasai Mara Camping, Masai Mara Budget Tour, Amboseli Camping holiday to Maasai Mara & Amboseli, Kenya migration tours
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Luxury tented camps in the Masai Mara
Game viewing in Ngorongoro Tanzania
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Masai Mara Camping Safari, Amboseli Camping, Maasai Mara Camping, Masai Mara Budget Tour, Amboseli Camping holiday to Maasai Mara & Amboseli, Kenya migration tours
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Masai Mara Camping Safari, Amboseli Camping,
Maasai Mara Camping, Masai Mara Budget Tour, Amboseli Camping holiday to
Maasai Mara & Amboseli, Kenya migration tours.
Masai
Mara, Kenya
Samburu
National Reserve, Kenya:
P.O. Box 51322 - 00200, Nairobi,
Kenya. Website:
www.continentalsafaris.com
tours@continentalsafaris.com
Tel: +254 20
244 068; Fax: +254 20 317 656; Mobile: +254 722 884 748
With its rolling grasslands and wide-open savannah, the Masai Mara is the
kind of unfettered, sprawling wilderness you will have discovered in
Hollywood films set in Africa. Kenya's finest reserve, the Masai Mara pulses
with raw energy as an array of animals go about their daily lives.
At certain times of the year the famous Mara throbs to the beat of hundreds
of thousands of hooves as the Great Wildebeest Migration takes place.
The reserve is unfenced and borders the Serengeti National Park. The two
countries share the vast Serengeti plains, with the wildlife free to roam
between Kenya and Tanzania in search of food.
Between July and October millions of wildebeest, zebra and gazelles cross
into the Masai Mara from the Serengeti where they gather to graze and relax
on the Mara's plains, which - at about one third of the size of the enormous
Serengeti National Park, is more manageable from a game viewing point of
view. The Masai Mara's open grasslands teem with wildlife in every
direction.
The Masai Mara Reserve is rich in Africa's biggest attractions - predators
are abundant (lion sightings are incredibly common), and the Big Five are
encountered around every corner.
The Mara is a permanent water source for the area's wild inhabitants and so
even when the very last wildebeest has tardily set off for the southern
Serengeti, massive resident herds remain, offering visitors everything they
could want to see on an African safari. A Masai Mara safari provides a
year-round safari experience.
Amboseli National Park, Kenya:
Amboseli is a top destination for a Kenya Safari. Indeed, one of the classic
images of East Africa, let alone Kenya, is that of a herd of elephant
strolling across the plains with the snow-capped peak of Kilimanjaro in the
background. It is to catch this sight on memory - and on film - that people
flood to Amboseli National Park.
While Kilimanjaro is actually across the border in Tanzania, Amboseli has a
perfect view of this world's tallest freestanding mountain, rising an
impressive 5 kilometers above the plains. The best time to view the majestic
mountain is at dawn and sunset, when the clouds lift and the light is both
clear and soft.
Amboseli is about 200km from Nairobi on fairly good roads, and the usual
route is via Namanga on the A104. The last 75km from Namanga is a bit bumpy
so be prepared. Air Kenya also offers daily flights to the reserve.
It's also a park that combines well with Tsavo National Park to the east, or
Tanzania's Kilimanjaro and Arusha National Parks.
The park is one of the smaller game parks in Kenya, but it offers you the
best opportunity of seeing the critically endangered black rhino, along with
a spectacular range of wildlife. The area's low and well-munched vegetation
also ensures that animals are easy to spot. Lions can easily be found and
can occasionally be watched stalking their prey. Buffalo, cheetah, gazelle,
hyena, jackal, wildebeest, zebra, and baboon are just some of the animals
that can be encountered at Amboseli.
Streams from Kilimanjaro surface in the centre of Amboseli, creating swamps
that attract and support a rich diversity of wild animals and birdlife. Most
of Amboseli is flat and dusty and so the best spots for game viewing are
these wetlands.
Unfortunately the accessibility of the area, and the rich wildlife, have led
to Amboseli's downfall. It seems that it is only a matter of time before the
animals move on to greener grasslands thanks to the perils of safari
popularity.
The first thing you'll notice on a Samburu safari is that it is worlds apart
from the other parks in Kenya. It's not particularly well-known and as a
result is less crowded than most Kenyan reserves.
Samburu National Reserve is situated on the banks of the Ewaso Ngiro River
in the dry northern reaches of Kenya. It is a hot and arid area
characterized by a parched landscape of hills and plains.
The presence, however, of the river - and its shady trees - attracts plenty
of wildlife. Giraffe, buffalo, waterbuck and zebra (including the endangered
Grevy's zebra) from the surrounding savannah plains trek to the water. Lion,
leopard and cheetah are also quite easy to spot, thanks in part to the lack
of grass cover.
Samburu is also home to large herds of elephants, and the reserve is well
known for providing the opportunity to see wildlife that only lives in the
dry north of Kenya. Be on the look out for gerenuks - these odd, yet
distinguished looking, gazelle have long necks, and stand on their hind legs
to feed.
For the birders, around 365 species have been recorded and the river area is
particularly rewarding.
Across the river is the Buffalo Springs National Reserve. A bridge connects
the two, and they are often grouped together by tour companies. Nearby is
the swampy wilderness of the Shaba National Reserve.
