ENCOUNTERSAFRICA
6-Day Amboseli Safari

Kenya - Fly-in safari

6-Day Amboseli Safari

Duration
6 days
Countries
Kenya
Suited to
2-8 guests
Pricing
From USD 13,580

The journey

Updated on 23 August 2026

Amboseli's elephants have been watched continuously since 1972, the longest-running study of wild elephants anywhere, and it shows in how the guides talk about them. Individuals have names, ages and family trees. Among them are the big tuskers, bulls carrying ivory heavy enough to touch the ground, of which fewer than forty are thought to survive in all of Africa. Angama Amboseli sits not in the national park but in the Kimana Sanctuary next door: 5,700 acres of community-owned corridor linking Amboseli to the Chyulu Hills and Tsavo, leased from Maasai landowners and relaunched as a conservancy in 2019. The elephant traffic is the same. The vehicle traffic is not, and sanctuary rules permit night drives and walking, which the park forbids. Ten suites sit under yellow-barked acacias with Kilimanjaro through the gap in the canopy. Five nights allows dawn drives for the mountain, full days into the park's swamps where elephant stand chest-deep among egrets, and unhurried time in a landscape that photographs better than anywhere else in Kenya.

Your camps, day by day

Stay 1

Wilson to Kimana

Forty-five minutes south from Wilson over the Athi plains, and the Cessna drops into the Kimana Sanctuary with Kilimanjaro filling the left-hand windows. Angama Amboseli's ten suites sit under fever trees, canvas and glass with the mountain framed in the gap. The afternoon drive meets the sanctuary's elephant almost immediately.

Stay 2

Dawn and the Tuskers

Out before six, because the mountain will be gone by ten. The morning works the corridor for the big bulls, and your guide will tell you which family each belongs to and roughly how old he is, because somebody has been writing it down since 1972. The afternoon is slow, with the pool facing Kilimanjaro.

Stay 3

Into the Park

A full day inside Amboseli National Park with lunch packed. The swamps are the draw: fed by meltwater filtering down from Kilimanjaro, they hold elephant standing chest-deep with cattle egrets riding their backs, hippo, and a bird list that runs past four hundred species. Observation Hill gives the whole basin in one look.

Stay 4

On Foot, Then After Dark

Sanctuary rules permit what the park does not. A walking morning with Maasai guides who grew up on this land turns the corridor into something you read rather than watch. After dinner the vehicle goes out with a spotlight for genet, civet, spring hare and the hyena that work the boundary all night.

Stay 5

The Last Full Day

One more dawn attempt at the mountain, and one more run at whichever bull the guides have been following. The afternoon can go to a Maasai community visit arranged on the village's own terms, or simply to the deck. Dinner is laid out under the acacias with lanterns and the mountain black against the stars.

Stay 6

Kimana to Nairobi

A final early drive with the mountain out, breakfast under the trees, then the short run to the airstrip and 45 minutes back to Wilson for evening international departures. Five nights among elephants that have been studied for half a century, in a corridor kept open because the families who own it are paid to keep it that way.

Safari highlights

  • Five nights at Angama Amboseli in the Kimana Sanctuary
  • Big tuskers, fewer than forty left in Africa
  • Kilimanjaro at dawn through the acacias
  • Night drives and walking, which the park forbids
  • Amboseli's swamps and its chest-deep elephant
  • Africa's longest-running wild elephant study

What is included

Included

  • 5 nights accommodation, per person sharing
  • Return light-aircraft flights Wilson-Amboseli airstrip
  • Road transfers between the airstrip and camp
  • All meals, house wines, local spirits, beers and soft drinks
  • Twice-daily game drives, night drives and guided walks
  • A full-day excursion into Amboseli National Park
  • Kimana Sanctuary and Amboseli park fees
  • Laundry and emergency medical evacuation cover

Not included

  • International flights to and from Africa
  • Kenya electronic travel authorisation and entry permits
  • Comprehensive travel and medical insurance
  • Spa treatments and helicopter excursions
  • Premium spirits, champagne and imported wines
  • Gratuities for guides, drivers and camp staff
  • Items of a personal nature and telephone calls

Frequently asked questions

How much does a 6-day Amboseli safari cost?

From USD 13,580 per person sharing, rising to about USD 15,280 in peak season. That covers five nights at Angama Amboseli, all meals and house drinks, twice-daily game drives, night drives and walks, a full-day excursion into Amboseli National Park, sanctuary and park fees, and the return light-aircraft flights from Wilson Airport. International flights to Africa are excluded.

What are the big tuskers, and will we see one?

Big tuskers are bull elephants whose tusks each weigh over 45 kilograms and reach the ground. Fewer than forty are believed to survive in Africa, and several live in the Amboseli ecosystem. Guides track them individually and know their movements, so sightings over five nights are likely rather than lucky, though no camp can promise a specific animal on a specific day.

When is Kilimanjaro actually visible?

At dawn most reliably, and often again briefly at dusk. Cloud builds over the mountain through the morning and usually hides it from about ten until late afternoon. June to October gives the clearest conditions, with January and February close behind. This is why the first game drive leaves before six: the mountain is a morning proposition.

Why stay in Kimana rather than inside Amboseli National Park?

Kimana is a 5,700-acre community conservancy on the corridor between Amboseli and Tsavo, leased from Maasai landowners. The elephant move through it constantly, but it carries a fraction of the park's vehicles and its own rules allow night drives and guided walking, both banned inside the park. Day excursions into the park still cover the famous swamps.

Are international flights included?

No. International flights to and from Africa are excluded and booked separately, arriving at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta airport. Included are the return light-aircraft flights from Wilson Airport, about 45 minutes each way, with a 15 kg soft-bag luggage limit. Road access from Nairobi takes roughly four hours if you prefer to drive.

Is Amboseli a malaria area?

Yes, though risk is moderate and rises during and after the rains in April, May and November. Prophylaxis is recommended; arrange it with a travel clinic about six weeks before departure. The camp provides nets and repellent. A yellow fever certificate is required only if you arrive from a country with transmission risk.