Welcome -

You will be impressed on how wildlife is able to bounce back in a few years as long as humans keep out of their way and let them take their normal way of life.
I look forward hearing from our No 1 field reporter when she is back.

Welcome PT123. Always glad to see a new member who is interested in African wildlife.

I did indeed just return from Kenya, but I didn't go to Amboseli this time. It was too sad to see last August.
However, I know KWS is in the process of translocating a lot of zebra there now. I saw some of the trucks on Wednesday. The lions in the park have been going after the Maasai cattle out of the park and KWS hopes that by bringing in a lot of zebra the lions will return to the park and feed on them rather than the cattle, goats, etc.

The wildebeest move in and out of the park. Females and babies leave for greener pastures and the males stay and guard their little piece of territory until the females return. THerefore they will probably be back by June. Giraffe you sometimes see in sufficient numbers and other times they stay toward the Tanzanian side near the trees but come for water.

The elephant babies were indeed hard hit during the drought. However, Ambo is now lush and green so there should be plenty of food for the eles. You might want to keep watch on the elephant researcher's website at http://www.elephanttrust.org/. I'm sure in the future they will be telling the results of their censuses and how many familys have returned to the park, who is missing, etc.

The one thing you will want to think of in June, July or August is Ambo is COLD at night (I wouldn't want to be staying in a tented camp then). And in the morning on game drives you will need to wear long pants and a fleece jacket. After about 10 a.m. it warms up and you can usually wear shorts until dinner time.

Amboseli is a small park. The beauty of it is you will usually see many animals very up close. They stand near the road or will cross the road right in front of you - a real asset for taking pictures. The negative thing is that if lions or cheetah are around, there might be up to 30 vehicles surrounding them for pictures.
However June is still early so there might not be too many tourists there yet. Most tourists find two nighs sufficient to see the park and its wildlife. However, I've often stayed for a week and enjoyed every minute of it

Enjoy planning your trip.

Hi Jan,

Thank you very much - I'm counting the days until June and will update the forum when I get Back.

Best regards

Hi PT

First of all: Welcome! I hope you join on a regular basis our bushdrums concert!

I just returned from the Massai Mara (8 days) and can confirm: Everything is green now! Grass is tall and NO carcasses!
Very good plains game, good number of lions, leopards, cheetah, serval cats....are all doing fine and seemingly everything is back to normal.

I visited the reserve itself but also the Mara North Conservancy. There also: No carcasses. Even cattle were doing very well. No carcasses on that end as well!

May I ask: Which camp/s have you chosen?

Enjoy anticipation!

Hi PT, actually you will be there a couple weeks before we are but the time is so close together I don't think I can read your report in time--unless you post while there. We will be in Kenya 7/1 but not to Ambo until the 13th or so. We are so looking forward to the adventure.

Hello,

Thank you for the kind welcomes Pippa and Jane. I hear that KWS is restocking the park s hopefully the predetors will be ok. I'll be staying at the Serena whch looks to be ok and will do a trip report upon my return.

Best regards,

PT