Elephants in Amboseli National Park!

Amboseli National Park, in the southern part of Kenya on the Tanzanian border, is famous for its elephants. Apparently it is THE park to visit if you want to see elephants and we found it lived up to its reputation (and then some!). There are herds of elephants everywhere in the park, many of which spend several hours a day in the park's swamps munching on green plants. We spent a significant amount of time with four herds while we were in the park (along with several solo elephants along the way). If you parked your car and just sat still, the elephants would drift around you as they slowly and deliberately wandered, ripping grass from the earth the whole time. The sound of the grass ripping from the ground and also of the elephants chewing the grass was overpowering and engrossing. In fact, while we drove in the quiet end of the park, we had herds to ourselves for hours, with no one else around for miles and miles. It was an incredibly still, serene and soulful experience. We watched adolescent elephants spar and play, babies nurse alongside their mothers, and large males watch over their families. The only tense moment came as we left the largest herd we spent time with. The biggest bull swung around as our car crept past, as if was deciding whether or not to charge our car. Another bull had just turned to face us, as well. Needless to say, Brian stepped on the gas pedal and scooted out of there as quickly as he could. Thank goodness the transmission hose didn't break at that moment!