Amboseli National Park

Amboseli, in southern Kenya near the Tanzanian border, is famous for one view: herds of elephants walking across the plains with the snowy summit of Mount Kilimanjaro behind them. Swamps fed by underground water from the mountain keep the park green even in the dry season and draw elephants, buffaloes, hippos and hundreds of species of birds.

Game drives follow the tracks between the swamps and the dry lake bed, and Observation Hill gives a wide view over the whole park. Amboseli’s elephants, many with impressive tusks, have been studied here for decades.

Kilimanjaro is often hidden by cloud by mid-morning, so set out at dawn for the classic view and look again at sunset. Amboseli is four to five hours by road from Nairobi, or a short flight.