Hello,

My wife and I will be visiting Kenya during the last two weeks of June and are considering visiting Amboseli. I understand that although the drought has passed, it has taken a terrible toll on the animals and that massive numbers of elephants and other animals died. Additionally, a lot of the resident grazing animals left the park in search of food.

Has anyone been recently (i.e. January 2010) that can advise how the conditions are now and if the animals have started to return to the park. We'd love to go and visit Amboseli but are concerned that there will not be abundant wildlife (elephants, zebras, carnivores, etc.) for us to view. Any comments will be greatly appreciated.

PT123, I just returned from Kenya. Though I did not visit Amboseli, I was in Tsavo and I asked many people about the situation in Amboseli. There was a report floating around about a recent game count in the Amboseli area. There was a lot of animal mortality (primarily wildebeests and elephants), but the report was done with incorrect assumptions... they did a game count instead of counting carcasses, which would have been more accurate (since a game count ignores the possibility of wide dispersal of animals out of such a small area during a drought). I heard that the report is being revised.

You will still see plenty of game -- including plenty of elephants. The comments I heard from everyone in Kenya is "where were these animals hiding 3 months ago?" Wildebeests have been hammered, however, in the greater Amboseli -- but there are survivors.

Thank you SafariDude - it's good to hear that things are getting better. I look forward to reading your full trip report.

PT, it is always hard to decide on a destination, and even with the best research and information we can be surprised and/or disappointed. If you are hanging your hopes on elephants in front of a cloud free Kili, you are bound for disappointment but if you are going to enjoy a classic and historical Kenyan game park, Kili will probably smile on you big time!

Usually the end of the rains will give you the best chance to get reasonable amounts of snow on the peaks so June would catch the end of that (not the rainy season, but the snow before the warmer weather sets in). It can be cloudy but if you are up really early and ready you might get something quite spectacular. Whether the elephants are prepared to parade in the right area is anyone's guess, but like everything in Africa, surprises are what it is good at …

Thanks Twaffle - Lynne said pretty much the same thing on another site. If I get a good, cloud free view of Kili and if it seems that the animals are no longer in such dire straights, then I'll be quite happy. Of course if an obliging elephant or two happened to stop and pose in front of a cloud free (and snow covered) Kili then I'd be one happy (and very lucky) camper. Either way I'll be there and I'll be happy so it's all good (as the kids say)!

Have a look here:

http://blog.taragana.com/science/2010/02/1...game-park-5850/

The announced translocation of zebras and wildebeests from Soysambu (funny because there are no wildebeests at Soysambu) to Amboseli has been stopped. It seems that there are many more surviving ungulates in the Amboseli area than previously thought. Many of the animals had dispersed in search for food during the drought.

That's what I had heard too, that the herds had dispersed and then reappeared which is why I often question the ungulate counts as being figures pulled seemingly from the sky sometimes. Not that I blame anyone, pretty hard to count in an open system.

Resiliancy! We often under estimate it. Thanks for the update.