Amboseli National Reserve

At dawn, as the cloud-cover breaks and the first rays of sun illuminate the snow-capped 19,340 feet (5,895 meters) peak, you'll be awed by the colors—rosy pinks and soft reds—of the sky that provide the perfect backdrop for the plains below. It gets even better at dusk, when the whole area is backlighted, and the mountain stands out in stark relief against the swiftly setting fiery sun. That's the pretty picture. The reality, though slowly improving, is that one of Kenya's most visited parks has become a dustbowl of overused tourist trails, traffic jams, and irresponsible off-road driving.

Amboseli has a checkered history. First established as a natural reserve in 1948, it was returned to Masai ownership and management in 1961, but soon became environmentally degraded with too many cattle and too many tourists. Some 10 years later, 392 square km (151 square mi) were designated a national park, and cattle-grazing was forbidden. This angered the mainly pastoral Masai, who took their revenge by killing a majority of the rhino population. Eventually peace was restored with some expedient land swapping, and today there's a responsible environmental program that controls the well-being of the game, puts limits on tourist numbers, and enforces a strict policy on off-road driving.

There are five different habitats in Amboseli: open plains, acacia woodland, thornscrub, swamps, and marshlands. To the west is the Ol Doinyo Orok massif and Lake Amboseli, which is usually dry, but when the heavy rains return so do the flamingos, and the whole surrounding area becomes green and lush again. Expect some impassable roads at these times, as well as when the lake is completely dry, because the fine alkaline dust which blows up from the lake's surface is hell for tires.

Amboseli is filled with great game: zebra, warthog, giraffe, buffalo, impala, wildebeest, the long-necked mini-giraffelike gerenuks, and baboons galore. But your chances of seeing predators are much less than in the Masai Mara. Lions were almost hunted to the point of extinction by the Masai because they killed their herds of cattle. Those that survived are still skittish and often not comfortable with vehicles. If a predator is spotted, it is often surrounded by far too many vehicles, and put under great stress. Interestingly, the hunting methods of cheetah within the park have changed dramatically because of tourist pressure. Accustomed to hunting at dawn and dusk, they've now resorted to hunting at midday—tourist siesta time—with poorer success rates, thus their numbers are decreasing. But if it's elephants you're after, then Amboseli is the place. Perhaps the oldest and most studied elephant population in sub-Saharan Africa lives here. There are more than 1,000 of these great pachyderms today, and because they are accustomed to visitors and vehicles you'll experience eyeball-to-knee-high close encounters.

Game-viewing is best around the main swamps of Enkongo Narok, which means black and benevolent, and the Amboseli landmark, Observation Hill. Enkongo Narok, in the middle of the park, is where you can see water seeping up from the lava rocks. Observation Hill provides a surefire opportunity to spot game, especially elephants, as it looks out over the plains.

Birdlife is also prolific, with more than 420 recorded species. There are dozens of birds of prey including more than 10 different kinds of eagles. In the swamp areas, which are fed by the melting snow of Kilimanjaro, there's a profusion of water birds including seasonal flamingo and more than 12 species of heron.