We had a great day out to the Amboseli National Park and also visited a Masai village on the way back, near the park. I think it took about 5 hours to get there due to the everyday traffic; the road is full of trucks transporting goods to neighbouring countries. We travelled comfortably in 4WD minibus, with one short break on our way to the park. Managed to see Kilimanjaro in the early morning. Arrrived to the park and bought the tickets there. (This needs to be done online, filling in the purchase details on the website, but there is an option to pay locally by card or via the website. I would recommend buying the ticket on the way to the park, and saving time that way.)
The park is great, full of animals everywhere you look. Elephants, hypos, zebras, giraffes, birds, antelopes. There is a lot to see. Many of the animals came so close to us that we could even take decent photos with our phones. (I would still recommend taking any sort of camera with proper optical zoom for much better results.)
Our guide was very knowledgeable and knew the park very well, so we saw hundreds of animals. In the afternoon, we stopped in a beautiful lodge inside the park, where we had an option for lunch. The lodge is just like in the movies. Our group opted to have lunch outside the park (which I think was our mistake), should have eaten here. Much better scenery.
After the break, we were heading back, but just after leaving the park, we stopped by a Masai village, which was a great experience.
They were very welcoming and we also visited the school there. (Just a note, if you go on weekdays, the school will be full of kids, so take some pencils and maybe a paper or a notepad for the kids as they have nothing literally. English language books are also appreciated, so any donation).
We had a chance to purchase some gifts there as well. (They are not cheap and we had to bargain as usual, but the money goes to the village from the sales, so consider it a donation.)
So in the village, you have to pay the entrance fee, which is the only mandatory payment, but then you can donate specifically to the school, which is optional, so if purchasing gifts.
After the village, we had a lunch break at the same place where we stopped in the morning and headed back to Nairobi.
I recommend taking drinks and some food (or snacks) for the trip.
We really enjoyed the day, and we would go back again if we could.
The trip is well worth the money. Seen other companies advertising the same for a lot more than this.
We had a great day out to the Amboseli National Park and also visited a Masai village on the way back, near the park. I think it took about 5 hours to get there due to the everyday traffic; the road is full of trucks transporting goods to neighbouring countries. We travelled comfortably in 4WD minibus, with one short break on our way to the park. Managed to see Kilimanjaro in the early morning. Arrrived to the park and bought the tickets there. (This needs to be done online, filling in the purchase details on the website, but there is an option to pay locally by card or via the website. I would recommend buying the ticket on the way to the park, and saving time that way.)
The park is great, full of animals everywhere you look. Elephants, hypos, zebras, giraffes, birds, antelopes. There is a lot to see. Many of the animals came so close to us that we could even take decent photos with our phones. (I would still recommend taking any sort of camera with proper optical zoom for much better results.)
Our guide was very knowledgeable and knew the park very well, so we saw hundreds of animals. In the afternoon, we stopped in a beautiful lodge inside the park, where we had an option for lunch. The lodge is just like in the movies. Our group opted to have lunch outside the park (which I think was our mistake), should have eaten here. Much better scenery.
After the break, we were heading back, but just after leaving the park, we stopped by a Masai village, which was a great experience.
They were very welcoming and we also visited the school there. (Just a note, if you go on weekdays, the school will be full of kids, so take some pencils and maybe a paper or a notepad for the kids as they have nothing literally. English language books are also appreciated, so any donation).
We had a chance to purchase some gifts there as well. (They are not cheap and we had to bargain as usual, but the money goes to the village from the sales, so consider it a donation.)
So in the village, you have to pay the entrance fee, which is the only mandatory payment, but then you can donate specifically to the school, which is optional, so if purchasing gifts.
After the village, we had a lunch break at the same place where we stopped in the morning and headed back to Nairobi.
I recommend taking drinks and some food (or snacks) for the trip.
We really enjoyed the day, and we would go back again if we could.
The trip is well worth the money. Seen other companies advertising the same for a lot more than this.
The whole process including pick up/drop off at the accommodation (Airbnb) was extremely smooth. Our driver (Jack) was excellent and provided many animal encounters up close in the park. Kilimanjaro we could only see briefly due to weather conditions but at least. A strenuous but worthwhile excursion.