Plan your safari
Wildebeest charging through dust during the Great Migration

Amboseli National Park Safaris

Great tuskers beneath the snows of Kilimanjaro, in Amboseli.

Plan your safari Highlights

Amboseli delivers the most iconic photograph in Africa: elephant crossing a dusty lakebed with Kilimanjaro’s snow behind them. The park’s springs, fed by the mountain’s meltwater, keep its swamps green year-round, which is why its elephants include some of the last great tuskers on earth.

It is also compact, close to Nairobi, and pairs beautifully with the Mara. Early mornings and evenings bring the clearest views of the mountain; meanwhile, the middle of the day belongs to the swamps and a long lunch.

Amboseli’s magic is, above all, a combination few parks can match: big-tusked elephants crossing dusty plains beneath the snows of Kilimanjaro, at their clearest at dawn and dusk. The park’s swamps also keep wildlife close year-round, and its Maasai community conservancies add culture and quiet to any Kenya safari.

Highlights of Amboseli National Park

Big tuskers

Amboseli’s elephants are, in fact, the most studied in the world and include rare 100-pounder bulls.

Kilimanjaro views

Africa’s highest mountain fills the southern horizon at dawn and dusk.

Observation Hill

A short climb for a panorama of the swamps, the lakebed and the mountain.

Maasai country

Community visits with the people who have shared this land with wildlife for centuries.

Where you’ll stay in Amboseli National Park

Where you stay is selected privately around your journey. We recommend each camp, lodge or villa according to its location, season, guiding, privacy and suitability for the people traveling. You’ll then see the places we suggest, and why, in your itinerary.

Plan your private safari

Practical details,
in one place

Money, health, connectivity and packing work the same way on every safari we plan, so they live in one place rather than on every page.

Elephant dust-bathing in Amboseli with the slopes of Kilimanjaro behind, Kenya
Elephants beneath Kilimanjaro: the one view only Amboseli gives you

Best time to visit Amboseli

Jun–Oct

Dry season: wildlife packs the swamps and dust makes for dramatic light.

Jan–Feb

A second dry window with clear mountain mornings.

Quieter seasons, considered

Also, in the green months rates ease at many of these camps, the plains empty of vehicles and the light turns dramatic. What each season gives, and what it trades, is set out in our Safari Planning Guide.

Planning & cost

Safari cost

Priced to your budget, and built around your camps, the season and how you like to travel. There are no fixed packages.

How we travel

Every journey is privately designed, with private guides and vehicles arranged where specified, the finest lodges, and a specialist on call throughout. At fly-in camps, game drives may be shared unless a private vehicle is reserved.

Amboseli National Park FAQs

However, the mountain makes its own weather and often hides by mid-morning. Dawn is your best chance, especially in the dry months. Even so, patience over two or three mornings usually pays off.

Two to three. That gives you multiple shots at a clear mountain morning as well as unhurried time with the elephant herds.

Easily. Indeed, a short scheduled flight links the two, making a classic seven-to-ten-night Kenya circuit.

Getting to Kenya: flights, visas and health

Correct when we wrote it. Before you travel, we check every requirement for your exact route and tell you what to apply for and when.

AirportsJomo Kenyatta International, Nairobi (NBO) is the gateway; light aircraft to the Maasai Mara and the northern conservancies leave from Wilson Airport, a 30–45 minute drive across the city. Moi International, Mombasa (MBA) serves the coast.
Getting thereKenya Airways flies nonstop from New York JFK (about 14 hours). From other US cities, connect through JFK, Amsterdam, Doha, Istanbul or Addis Ababa.
Visa (US citizens)US citizens need an electronic travel authorization (eTA, about $30) before departure. This applies to everyone traveling, including infants and overnight transit passengers. Apply only at the official portal: etakenya.go.ke.
HealthYellow fever certificate required if arriving from a country with risk of transmission. Malaria prophylaxis is advised for the Mara, Samburu and the coast. Country guidance: CDC Travelers’ Health.
PassportSix months’ validity beyond your return date, with at least two blank pages. Travel insurance including medical evacuation is required on every journey we plan.
Full flight guidePlan your safari

Plan your Amboseli safari.

An Amboseli safari works best when you choose the timing, the camp and the pace together.

So tell us how you like to travel and start with a complimentary consultation.

Plan your safari

For official park rules, fees and opening hours, see the Kenya Wildlife Service.