Our Time In Kenya: Day Six, Sept. 10th

Day Six is our day for relaxing in the Amboselli National Park near the Kenya-Tanzania  border by Mount Kilimanjaro.

We went to breakfast at 6:00 a.m. and then headed to the gate of the Park to be there when they open at 6:30 a.m.  We entered the Park as the sun was coming up and immediately saw heards of giraffe, elephants, birds of all kinds, hippos, gazelles, cape buffalo, wildebeests, jackal, hyena etc. We saw a cheetah with a fresh kill in his mouth. We drove around until about noon and then walked to the top of Observation Hill to get a panoramic view of Amboselli (means "dusty") where we could see the elephants grazing below and Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background. The wind started to pick up in the early afternoon and dust began to blow. I was amazed at the number of dust devils all around us. Visibility became a factor so we went back to the Kibo Camp and ate a late lunch, took a nap and then went back into the Park about 4 p.m. We were still on the hunt for lions. It was amazing how much the animal herds had moved since we saw them earlier in the day. It was like a totally different place.  Eventually we discovered that we were getting low on fuel, so we picked up a couple of Maasai guides Peter and Paul who promised they knew where to get fuel inside the Park and also knew where to find lions. So they led us to a gas pump behind one of the resort hotels where we could buy diesel, then they led us to where 5 lions had been spotted. We got to see them for a few minutes before we had to make a mad dash for the exit. The rule is you have to be out of the Park by sundown and the gate closed at 7:00 p.m.  We drove furiously as the sun was setting and arrived at the gate at 6:50 p.m.
We finished out the evening with a late buffet supper at Kibo Camp and then went to bed happy but exhausted. It was truly a great day! The night sky was full of stars. We had a perfect finish to a truly wonderful experience.