mboseli is a fairly small National Park yet so rich in both flora and fauna that it has recently been designated an International Bio-sphere Reserve. Amboseli, meaning “Salty Dust” in the Maasai language is an important rangeland for the Masai culture whilst the ‘salty dust’ itself is volcanic ash from the eruptions of the Mount Kilimanjaro a millennium ago.

The Amboseli ecosystem is typical of the open savannah grassland habitats of Eastern Africa, featuring open wooded grasslands, rolling hills and swamplands whilst the presence of Mount Kilimanjaro creates a unique selection of ecosystems found nowhere else on earth. The Amboseli basin is fed by springs that provide a permanent source of water during the dry season, while the river systems north of the basin form a seasonal flood plain that is used by migratory animals during the rainy seasons.

Although the region has a relatively low wildlife biomass it supports a greater variety of animals than neighbouring Tsavo which is fifty times bigger than the compact but comprehensive Amboseli. Over 53 species of herbivores and carnivores can be viewed with ease, the most conspicuous being the troops of over one thousand elephant who range the plains and wallow the swamps. A number of other unique animals also populate the area including lion, cheetah, giraffes, zebras, buffalo, rhino, wildebeest, gerenuks, impalas, gazelles, hyenas, baboons, bats and about 425 different species of birds.

A place of endless skies, dust-red plains and palm-fringed rivers, this areas lies on the fringes of the vast and arid desert once known as the Northern Frontier District, whose heat-scorched scrublands extend all the way to the jade-green waters of Lake Turkana and beyond. Physically dramatic, the park’s landscape features rocky battlements, craggy scarps, dry river beds and fallen boulders rising out of the thorn scrub against a backdrop of the far-distant hills and the great red table mountain known as Lololokwi. As for wildlife, Samburu provides one of the few sanctuaries in Kenya for the endangered Grevy’s zebra, the rare Beisa oryx and the blue-shanked Somali ostrich whilst large herds of elephant roam the gaunt hills during the day before returning to bathe on the banks of the river in the evening.

The reserve is essentially lava plain that features steep sided gullies and rounded hills and the Uaso Nyiro River provides both the central feature of the landscape and the lifeblood of the ecosystem. The vegetation comprises predominantly acacia woodland interspersed with bush, grass and scrubland, which is broken here and there by small rugged hills whilst the meandering loops of the river are bordered by a narrow gallery of riverine woodland in which acacia and doum palm flourish. This is a dry country ecosystem and is therefore prone to large variations in the animal populations as they move in search of water and pasture.

When it comes to game viewing, there is nowhere in Africa richer in wildlife or more eventful in encounters than the Mara. A pristine wilderness of haunting beauty, it promises its visitors a profusion of wildlife, prolific bird life and the unprecedented opportunity of catching up with all the members of the ‘Big Five’ in one morning. The scenery is a classic mix of African imagery; miles of lion gold grasslands, shoals of lilac-misted hills, a meandering river, acres of thorn-bush and mile upon mile of undulating wilderness.

Known as the ‘greatest show on earth’ the annual migration of up to one and a half million animals between the dry plains of Tanzania and the lush grasslands of Kenya has featured as an annual event on Earth’s calendar for the past two million years. And it’s still as extraordinary, enlightening and exciting an event as ever. Taking place around the months of August and September the migration is a spectacle, both comic and tragic, that features the epic journey of vast herds of wildebeest between the grasslands of Kenya and Tanzania – flanked by a carnival of other herbivores and stalked by a ruthless pack of predators. As a vivid portrayal of the violence of the concept, ‘survival of the fittest’, this is a spectacle, not always for the faint-hearted, that goes beyond memorable and into momentous.

Mount Kenya plays a crucial role in the life of the country being Kenya’s single most important permanent watershed and her largest forest reserve. The fertile soils of its lower slopes also sustain the growth of the nation’s richest farmlands whilst much of its vegetation is globally unique.

With its volcanic ridges and glacial valleys radiating across the land, the massive bulk of Mount Kenya straddles the Equator yet is permanently crowned with snow. Traditionally venerated by the Kikuyu people as the dwelling place of their God, Ngai, and known by them as ‘Kirinyaga’ or ‘the mountain of whiteness’, all Kikuyu homes were once built to face the mountain and elderly Kikuyu are still regularly found wandering the high moorlands in search of their God.

The Mount Kenya Forest Reserve is the largest forest reserve and water catchment area in Kenya and features magnificent stands of buttressed and lichen-draped juniper, podocarpus and African olive trees whose dense canopy provides the ideal habitat for vast herds of buffalo and elephant as well as a bright kaleidoscope of birds and other wildlife.

At higher altitudes, the forest gives way to lush bamboo groves where Colobus monkeys leap and leopard prowl and, higher up, the stunted woodlands give way to tussock grass and alpine moorlands, jewel-studded by icy glacial tarns and moraines. Game highlights include elephant, buffalo, black rhino, leopard, Colobus and Sykes’s monkey, duiker, buck, giant forest hog and the extremely rare Bongo antelope, as well as a wide range of birds, of which 57 types are endemic to Mt. Kenya.

Contact United Vacations 1-800-417-9246