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Revision as of 16:31, 9 February 2007 by Harvey Croze (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| Amboseli National Park | |
|---|---|
| IUCN category II (national park) | |
| Location | Kenya |
| Area | 3,260 km² |
| Established | 1974 (as a game reserve from 1906) |
| Governing body | Olkejuado County Council and the Maasai tribe |
Amboseli National Park, formerly Maasai Amboseli Game Reserve is in Kajiado District, Rift Valley Province in Kenya. The park is 390-square kilometer (150-square mile) in size at the core of an 8,000 km2 (3,000 mi2) ecosystem that spreads across the Kenya-Tanzania border. The local people are mainly Maasai, but people from other parts of the country have settled there attracted by the successful tourist-driven economy and intensive agriculture along the system of swamps that makes this low-rainfall area (average 350 mm (14 in) one of the best widlife-viewing experiences in the world. The park protects two of the five main swamps, and includes a dried-up Pleistocene lake and semi-arid vegetation.
260 km (160 mi) from the capital city Nairobi, Amboseli National Park is the third most visited game area in Kenya after Maasai Mara National Reserve and Nakuru National Park and the visit can easily be done in a weekend.
In 1883, Joseph Thompson was the first European to penetrate the dreaded Maasai country known as Embosel (meaning dust in Maa) and he was astonished by the fantastic contrast between the arid areas of the dry-lake bed and the oasis of the swamps, a contrast that persists today.
Amboseli was set aside as the 'Southern Reserve' for Maasai in 1906 but returned to local control as a Game Reserve in 1948. Gazetted a National Park in 1974 in order to protect the core this unique ecosystem. It was declared a UNESCOMan and the Biosphere Reserve in 1994. The park brought in 3.5 million U.S. dollars (2.9 million euros) in admissions in 2005. On September 29, 2005, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki delisted the park, taking control over it from the Kenya Wildlife Service and turning it over to the Olkejuado County Council and the Maasai tribe. Several groups saw this as a political favor in advance of a vote on a new Kenyan constitution and legal challenges were expected. The delisting would give the admission fees collect directly to the County Council and perhaps allow the Maasai to graze cattle within the park.
The park is famous for being the best place in Africa to get close to free-ranging elephants. Other attractions of the park include opportunities to meet Maasai and spectacular views of Kilimanjaro, the highest free-standing mountain in the world.
There is a small airport in Amboseli, the Amboseli Airport.
External links
- Road map, Park map & Things to see in the park
- Extensive information on the park
- Kenya Safari Guide
- Amboseli Trust for Elephants