Amboseli National Park is 390 square kilometers located in the middle of the Rift Valley. It is filled with so many different types of birds and animals it was hard for me to keep track of everything we saw! Amboseli means “dust” and it was dusty!
We drove over many narrow, bumpy, roads and sometimes went through water.
We had a break at the Oltukkai Lodge. Lovely property, but next to a resort that eight years ago was flooded from waters from Kilimanjaro and has gone into disrepair. Our second stop was at Observation Hill where – on a good day – you have a view of Mount Kilimanjaro. No luck for us today – it was obscured by clouds. We headed back to Kibo Lodge about 5pm after a full day.
I will post pictures below with some brief descriptions.
We enjoyed dinner and I was able to post our first few days blog before the internet went out. We have an early morning start tomorrow, so goodnight.
BIRDS
The Secretary bird is powerful! It can kill snakes with their feet. Notice how prim and proper it looks – ready for a day in the office!
Superb starling – they are so beautiful with iridescent blue necks and backs, russet color chests and a white band on their chest.
Sand grouse – the male is more colorful than the female, but they are both cool!
Spoonbill
Hadada Ibis
Vick Knee waterbird
Saddlebill stork
Crown Crested Crane
Egyptian Geese
Fish Eagle
Tawny Eagles
Vultures were sunning themselves, drying out their wings. A group of vultures is called a committee of vultures. We all decided it sounded like Washington, D.C.!
Sacred Ibis 
Flamingos
Flamingo video will be loaded later!!!
Goliath Heron – the tallest of all herons
Lilac Breasted Roller – the national bird of Kenya
Ostrich – the male has a black body with white belly and brown tail. They can run up to 70 Km / hour! The females lay 1 egg which is the size of 24 chicken eggs. Multiple females will lay their eggs in the same nest and the dominant female will hatch them. You don’t want to get too close to one because one kick from an ostrich is powerful enough to kill you!
Squacco heron
ANIMALS
To say we saw a lot of animals would be an understatement! It was so amazing that my poor camera could hardly keep up!
Elephants, zebras, Thompson gazelle
Thompson Gazelles
Babboons on a termite mound and Mama and baby
Velvet or Black-Faced Monkeys
Elephants, elephants and more elephants!
Hippos 
Giraffes
Spotted Hyenas – they can smell up to 5km!
Impalas
Serval Cat – He was obviously not interested in hunting because he walked right through all of the birds and they ignored him!
Warthog
Cape buffalo
Eastern White-banded Wildebeest – a group of Wildebeest is a “Confusion of Wildebeests”.
Zebras
Lions – We were heading out of the park when we spotted these two lions. They were chewing on something in the grass but we couldn’t tell what it was. Now for the bathroom humor. The one on the left got up and walked away from their food and went to the bathroom (#2) and then came back. A little while later, the one on the right went off to the right and squatted, too!
There were more animals, but I think this is enough for today! Last, but not least, Tobey and I at the Oltukkai Lodge. The wall carving behind us was pretty amazing, too!
Elephants, elephants and more elephants!
Hippos 
Giraffes
Spotted Hyenas – they can smell up to 5km!
Impalas
Serval Cat – He was obviously not interested in hunting because he walked right through all of the birds and they ignored him!
Warthog
Cape buffalo
Eastern White-banded Wildebeest – a group of Wildebeest is a “Confusion of Wildebeests”.
Zebras 
Lions – We were heading out of the park when we spotted these two lions. They were chewing on something in the grass but we couldn’t tell what it was. Now for the bathroom humor. The one on the left got up and walked away from their food and went to the bathroom (#2) and then came back. A little while later, the one on the right went off to the right and squatted, too!
There were more animals, but I think this is enough for today! Last, but not least, Tobey and I at the Oltukkai Lodge. The wall carving behind us was pretty amazing, too!
Until next time, hakuna matata!
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