History of Amboseli National Park

History of the Amboseli National Park:  The area where the Amboseli National Park was first habited by the hunter-gathers and over 1500 years ago who were the Chagga, the Bantu-speaking peaking people, and the Kamba that begin to arrive. Therefore, at the beginning of the 17th century and it is when the Masai occupied here from the North with their cattle.

The first European Jeremy Thompson that is ventured into these feared Maasai regions known as Empusel in the so Maasai language meaning the salty and the sandy place and this was in the year 1883.

Jeremy Thompson was later astonished by the hallmark array of the wildlife and the contrast between the semi-arid areas of the dried bed and the Oasis of the swamps which area habitat for the birdlife a controversy that is still happening today.

Still, he was also the 2nd European to see the majestic snowcapped Mount Kilimanjaro after German missionary John Redman. This is instrumental man did a great work to prove to the Kenyan government that the area would turn into a great tourist destination since this man was so friendly to the animals

and the nature lover.

In the early twentieth 20th century the colonial government imposed to ensure and protects the wild game from poaching and mostly the elephants and the victims of the ivory merchants which were later created in the southern Masai Game Reserve that includes a wide area south of the Nairobi which is today Amboseli National Park which made a larger to the lands which now belongs to the Masai Mara National Reserve.

Historically, the land occupied by the Amboseli National Park was occupied by the Masai people with their large herds of cattle but after the land was set aside for the southern reserve for the Masai in the year 1906 and later the Amboseli was handed over to the local control as a game reserve in 1948 which occupied the 1259 square miles equivalent to 3261 square kilometers that is northwest of the Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

And this was characterized by the habitats which among others include swamp, open plains, acacia woodland, Marshland, Larve-strewn thorn bush country including the Amboseli bedlike and the slopes of the famous Oldoinyo Orok.

Lastly, in 1974, the Amboseli game reserve was gazetted into a National park to protect the biodiversity within the park and it was later recognized as the UNESCO wildlife reserve in 1991 and later, more than ten percent of the reserve was established as the so-called the Amboseli National Park which covered the 392 sware kilometers centrally to the Lake Amboseli.

Different animals do inhabit a big game drive and these include the Masai giraffe, buffaloes, Oryx, gerenuk and gazelles, cheetahs, elephants, black rhinos baboons, and other very many species of wildlife animals. The Amboseli national park got its name from the word Amboseli which is Masai word meaning the salty dust and it is one of the wonderful places within Africa where tourists can easily view large herds of elephants.

In the year 2015, the Kenyan government decides to give back to the Masai people, and later the some [part of the park was reverted to being reserve and was later handed back to the local council. And this sparked debate from the conservationist about this action of the government of the transfer which was later stopped.

From there, the Masai people moved freely on the land with their animal’s grazing and even collecting water from the Kilimanjaro mountains but they later found some challenges with wild animals within the areas and this made them flee the park and took some of the even arid areas and they couldn’t manage to stay in such surrounding areas.

After the establishment of the national park, meaning that the Masai couldn’t again live within the gazetted land with their herds of cattle and were thus relocated to the nearby areas which had enough water supply.

However, this was not good news to the Masai as they were not ready to abandon their ancestral villages and they couldn’t live in a place where they could still get water to supply their livestock and their wellbeing.

 The Kenyan government heard their prayers and they were allowed to access some wells for waters especially during the dry season therefore while visiting the Amboseli national park, you will be able to see the Masai leading their larger herds of cattle to the wells that are within the borders of the Amboseli National Park looking for the water for their animals. However, also this creates some damage to the ecosystem within the park.

 The effect on the wildlife animals after the relocation of the Masai people was so positive as animals were no longer being targeted for poaching and they were not chased away from the park and all of them returned to their normal status and they filled the park.

All that Masai People appreciate the presence of the Amboseli National Park because of the importance it has done for them to change their lives and the income opportunities that are available and shared with the Masai people.

Most of the people have turned into being the safari guides within the Amboseli National Park and this has turned out to be so interesting and wonderful and that why we call upon you also to join us ta African Adventure vacations and enjoy the wildlife safaris to the Amboseli National Park that is found within Kenya.