Amboseli - Elephant Heaven

We loved our visit to Amboseli. It is truly an elephant heaven.  There are lots of other animals there too, but the elephants were my favorite.  And if you are really lucky, you can see  Mt. Kilamanjaro in the background.  It is a massive snow covered mountain.  Clouds move in and hang over it much of the time.

It is amazing to have elephants walk right past the van and see them at such close range.  Some bulls are loners, but some travel around with their familiy.  Our driver stopped the van so we could watch a group of elephants cross the road.  This familly included mothers, babies and a great big bull.  Some crossed the road in front of or behind the van.  Apparently the preferred route for this bull was right where we were parked.  As he approached us he stopped with his ears flapping.   Our driver read the body language and quickly moved our van 6 feet forward, at which point the bull crossed the road immediately behind us.  We asked the driver what might have happened if he hadn't moved the van and he said, "he would probably have walked right over us!"

There is a big swamp fed by natural springs in Amboseli.  The elephants love this swamp.  Their idea of wonderful is spending the day in the swamp up to their bellies.  The little ones are too small to stay in the swamp, but take the plunge only to be rescued by their mothers and lifted up on the grass.  They eat and enjoy the grass and water all day long.  

Elephants love to stop and roll in the dirt and are sure to throw some dirt and dry grass up on their backs.    

We saw some playful calves.  A little head butting anyone?  One day these guys will need to be able to push over a tree for food.  

This little one would dart away from his mother, quickly turn around and run back.  You can tell a newborn, because they can walk underneath their mother.

Honestly, there is nothing cuter than a baby elephant!