
First safari for the new year, our traditional Elephants and Big Cats safari started from the open plains of Amboseli, at the foot of Mt Kilimanjaro. There have been good rains at the end of 2017 and the park was quite green in January. We witnessed an amazing daily procession of Elephants’ families emerging from the acacia woodlands. Family after family would cross the empty plains around the marshes before joining the herds in the water.
We were determined to try to find one of Amboseli’s big tuskers and we lucked out when we spotted the might Tim hiding under the shade of a large Acacia Tortilis. It was mid-morning and getting quite hot. We waited and waited until finally he made a move. Slowly, as Elephants often do. He and his companion, a younger bull, decided to come to a waterhole just across the road. We could watch him parade slowly in front of us, with his huge tuskes and his relaxed and confident attitude. An amazing encounter.
The air was humid and hazy in Amboseli. On the last evening and the following morning we had a beautiful and soft atmosphere, with Elephants walking through the bush surrounded by a thin layer of dust and mist.
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