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TORTILIS CAMP - AMBOSELI:
Arriving at this award-winning eco-tourism lodge in Amboseli, one cannot help but appreciate the contrast and enormity of Africa. Dwarfed by the majestic snow-capped peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tortilis camp nestles in a verdant acacia grove. Luxury tents with private ensuite bathrooms and unrivalled views of the mountain make this, the place from which to be up close and personal with Africa’s land levithians, the Elephants, in the company of Kenya’s other prolific wildlife. |
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Accommodation
Tortilis Camp is a charming, rustic tented camp, shaded by a natural forest of Acacia Tortilis thorn trees, which the camp is named after. The main feature of the camp is the view of the Amboseli plains and Mount Kilimanjaro. Tortilis Camp has won the British Airways Regional Award for Ecotourism and has been awarded a place on the Conde Nast Travellers 2005 Gold list. The camp has earned itself an international reputation for its commitment to the environment with its rustic simplicity, unobtrusive design and attention to comfort without compromising the ecosystem. Each tent leads from a bedroom with expansive king-size or generous twin beds, through a dressing area into modern bathrooms with pressured hot showers and flush toilets. Each tent is raised up on a wooden deck and sheltered by a makuti (thatched) roof overhanging a large verandah, ideal for an early afternoon siesta…
Children are welcome at Tortilis Camp. Early mealtimes and a baby-listening service are available, and during the day our experienced guides know how to make a bush walk or safari game drive 'come alive' for young guests.
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In the heat of the day, parents can relax by the swimming pool whilst kids enjoy a refreshing dip, with iced-drinks available from the poolside bar.
This is a great place to start a safari, relax and acclimatise. The food is part of the charm: North Italian traditional recipes from the owner’s family cookbook, complimented by delicious salads and herbs grown in the camp’s own garden.
Here clients enjoy varied game viewing and can also spend time following the matriarchal elephant herds from the luxury of open sided safari Land Rovers; or walk with a trained Maasai guide, sip sundowners on top of Kitirua hill as the sun sets colouring the snows of Kilimanjaro pink, bush breakfasts out on the plains or a visit to one of the Maasai manyattas (villages) to meet the Maasai women, watch the Morans (young warriors) dance and experience their age-old existence.
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Activities:
Swimming pool
Game drives in 4-wheel drive vehicles
Guided bush walks |
Bush Breakfasts
Hilltop sundowners
Massage
Cultural visits
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Weddings:
Getting married in Amboseli is an amazing 'bush wedding' option. A simple altar in the shade of an ancient Tortilis Acacia (umbrella thorn tree), canvas safari chairs for your guests or hay bales covered with brightly checked 'shukas' (traditional red Maasai blankets). In front of you stretches a vast open plain awash with golden sunlight, dominated by snow-capped Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa.
As the guests, groom and ushers arrive in open sided luxury safari Land Rovers, a line of Maasai Morani (warriors) and the women from their manyatta (village) perform a traditional greeting song, rising to a crescendo as the guests are seated and the bride arrives. The women follow the bride down the simple woven matting path leading to the altar and her groom, then all is still and the marriage ceremony begins. The lines of Maasai women on one side and Morani move back and line up silently, some yards away from the altar.
After the wedding ceremony and address are complete, the Maasai begin a chant to praise the newly married couple, Kilimanjaro catches the afternoon sun on its snow cap, a line of elephants often appear on the horizon at the end of the afternoon, making their daily return from the swamps to the saltbushes…
After photographs, the wedding party drives up to the top of Kitirua Hill for champagne sundowners and bitings and a stunning view as the sun sets on Kilimanjaro, turning the sky pink.
Dinner at the lodge, speeches followed by dancing in the main rondavel (circular sitting room & bar), overlooked by the resident family of owls makes a special end to a wonderful day. Staggering down the hill to your comfortable tent is the only hard part at the end of it…
For the morning after the night before: an early morning gamedrive for the hardy followed by hearty breakfast or get up late in time for Bloody Mary's by the pool. The bride and groom can leave by safari vehicle to go to the airstrip and depart for their honeymoon: at the Coast, in the Maasai Mara or on a walking/camel safari in the Northern Frontier District…
NB February and March are probably the best months for clear views of Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru in Tanzania.
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Reservations and Enquiries |
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AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK:
The Amboseli national park offers one of the most classic and breathtaking views of Kenya, the gigantic Kilimanjaro mountain, with its 5,985m dominating the plains like a powerful god ruling the world from his silver throne. Before the discovery of the mountain for the western world by the missionary Johannes Rebmann in 1848, ancient swahili and arab legends used to tell about a great inland mountain, in the summit of which lived a terrible god who punished those who dared to approach his dwelling by paralysing their hands and feet. In this very poetic way the inhabitants of the tropical shores described a phenomenon that was alien to them: freezing.
Long a favourite of Hollywood film makers, Amboseli National Park's 392 square kilometres form the perfect auditorium for scenic views of Africa's highest mountain, Kilimanjaro, the highest free-standing mountain in the world. The image of elephants wandering across grass plains with the snowy peak of Mt Kilimanjaro in the background is one known even to armchair travellers. This epitomises Amboseli National Park and highlights the stark contrasts Africa has to offer.
In Amboseli's case it is big skies and far horizons combined with swampy springs and dry and dusty earth trammelled by hundreds of animals. Amboseli has an endless underground water supply filtered through thousands of feet of volcanic rock from Kilimanjaro's ice cap, which funnel into two clear water springs in the heart of the park. However, the climatic pendulum can swing from drought to flood, and in the early 1990's ceaseless rain changed Amboseli into a swamp. A few years later the rains failed and the grass-covered plains turned to dust.
Amboseli's dust is ancient volcanic ash, whose salt crystals shimmer on the surface of the parched lakebed during the dry season. This creates hazy mirages which make you question just what is real.
Surrounding Amboseli are ranch areas where the Maasai share the land with the wildlife. Wild animals tends to avoid the village areas as there are far too many people and the grazing has already been eaten by the Maasai's all-important cattle.
Animals & Birds:
This park is renowned for its elephants, which may be seen in herds over 100 strong drinking from the surface springs. There are so many of them that their penchant for pushing down trees is destroying the habitat that sustains them. Big old bull elephants carry some of the largest tusks to be seen anywhere in Africa and is a renowned feature of this park.
Also happily roaming the grasslands are buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, giraffes, impala and warthog. Attendant carnivores include lion, leopard, caracal, cheetah, jackal, hyena and serval cat. Unfortunately any rhino are long gone from this area after intensive poaching.
Birdlife is extremely good and you can expect to see pelicans, bee-eaters, kingfishers and many types of eagles.
Seasons:
Rainy Season: The long hot and humid rainy period starts around April and lasts until June, then the short rains come during the warm months of November and December.
Dry Season: January through to March are hot and dry, while July to October are warm and dry. The warm dry season is the best for game viewing and for personal comfort.
Amboseli Specialities:
· Majestic Mt Kilimanjaro backdrop
· Large herds of elephants
· Big old tuskers
· Contemporary Maasai Culture |
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