My African safari adventure started with Amboseli, famous for its elephants sightings and views of Tanzania’s Mt Kilimanjaro. The weather was cloudy when I got here so I missed out on seeing Mt Kili clearly. Despite that, it was still nothing short of amazing. The pictures here are from Amboseli conservancy (land owned by the local community) and the national park.

I saw plenty of wild elephants (woohoo!). They are distinguished from their Asian brothers primarily by the shape of their ears.

Elephant herds are matriarchal in nature. Our guides pointed out that the matriarch is the oldest and is usually the one with the biggest tusks amongst the adults. Losing a matriarch is detrimental to elephants in the herd since they are responsible for day to day decision making. But unfortunately their big tusks are sought after :(

Plenty of Giraffe, Zebras, Wildebeest sightings. This picture shows all of them in one shot.

Giraffes – They look so calm and at peace all the time. It’s like they know they are in a beautiful place and all they want is to enjoy it.

Zebras. Unlike most of the other animals that seem to camouflage well, these stand out. But their powerful legs and sticking together mentality also makes it difficult for predators to hunt them.

Big 5 – a term constantly thrown around during my trip – is a list of 5 animals that are most difficult to hunt on foot. Cape buffalo is one of them. Their horns are made of keratin, just like our hair.

Resident wildebeests who are not part of the famous wildebeest migration. Our guide mentioned how they look like they have been assembled from features of different other animals – stripes of zebra, goat’s beard, buffalo horns.

A herd of Grant Gazelles. The one in the center is the male with its fancy horns and the rest are his wives – “Harem” herd is what my guide said. Females tend to have smaller bodies and horns. Males use these horns to fight and claim territories.

The giraffe-necked antelope or Gerunuk have long necks that help them pluck on bushes and acacias.

Ostriches!

 

This poor hyena was limping with an injured leg.

Amboseli is also home to Maasai tribes, one of the very popular semi nomadic tribes in Africa. The warriors were known to hunt for lions as symbol of their courage and strength. Much of their traditional lifestyle has changed with urbanization, ban on hunting/poaching & tourism.

I am sure the pictures tell how incredible this place is. Every aspect of my experience was unique including the stay in tented camps, transfer using charter flights to/from the park, sundowners, people including staff & guides and the wealth of wild-life.

What better way to get digitally disconnected :)