Amboseli National Park, Kenya - Kilimanjaro's Kingdom
Tortilis Camp lies on the edge of Amboseli National Park, which is 250 km south (four hours drive, one hours flight time) of Nairobi and close to the Tanzanian border and Mount Kilimanjaro. The camp enjoys soaring views of the legendary snows of Kilimanjaro. Located at the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, on the edge of Amboseli National Park, Tortilis Camp enjoys soaring views of the legendary snows of Kilimanjaro. Designed for optimum panoramic views, the lodge has been designed to an open-sided theme allowing for stunning views from rooms, bar and dining room alike.
Once part of the Great Southern Game Reserve, Amboseli is one of Kenya's earliest game sanctuaries; it is also one of her most popular attracting over 200,000 tourists per year.
About the tented camp experience in Kenya
When on safari in Amboseli National Park, the traditional tented camp offers a selection of canvas-sided safari tents, usually with thatched rooves, often raised on a timber platform with private verandah. Usually, the tented camp accommodation features comfortable double or single beds with mosquito netting, electric lighting (generator or solar powered) and luxury ensuite safari bathrooms (flushed WC, hot and cold running water, shower and vanity unit).
Location of Tortilis Camp
The camp lies on the edge of Amboseli National Park, which is 250 km south (four hours drive, one hours flight time) of Nairobi and close to the Tanzanian border and Mount Kilimanjaro.
Kenya hotels and accommodation
Amongst the wide range of Kenya hotels, some make the ideal Kenya safari destination. Choose a safari lodge, safari hotel, bush camp, luxury lodge, safari camp, tented camp or bush lodge. National park accommodation usually takes the form of a traditional safari lodge or tented camp, but numerous other options exist on the park boundaries. Luxury lodges and luxury camp options are also offered in the private wildlife conservancies.
Safari Background
Amboseli National Park, Kilimanjaro's kingdom
Towered over by the magnificent bulk of Mount Kilimanjaro (5,896 m), Africa's highest mountain, Amboseli is one of Kenya's oldest, famous and most-visited parks. Endlessly panoramic, yet comparatively compact, it is dotted with emerald green swamps in which great herds of elephant wallow; half submerged in the papyrus grasses. The permanent marshlands also provide a potent draw to hippos and buffaloes, while offering a haven for the abundant water birds. An International Biosphere Reserve, the park largely constitutes the usually dried-out lakebed of Lake Amboseli, which is surrounded by flat grasslands relieved by very few trees. On the plains are numerous antelopes, spotted hyenas, jackals, warthogs, olive baboons and vervet monkeys. Lions are rare. Observation Hill, a conical peak, which is easily climbed, offers stunning views of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Accommodation at Tortilis Camp
Tortilis Camp features 17 green canvas tents accommodated beneath traditional Makuti (palm) roofs. Widely spaced amongst acacia trees, each tent features a generous stone verandah with comfortable wickerwork chairs and a traditional safari ‘day bed' on which to lounge in the heat of the day and the cool of the evening. Inside, the décor features wildwood lamps, traditional safari furniture, hand-woven rugs and polished wooden floors. To the rear of the tent, the bathrooms feature hot showers and flushed WCs. The lodge works closely with the local Masai community from whom it leases the land, and they receive a fee per guest. The camp also features a ‘family suite' with one double bedroom and one twin room.
Dining and bars
The camp offers excellent cuisine, its particular speciality being classic Italian cuisine. Other choices, however, such as international, Asian and vegetarian are offered. The charming Rondavel bar is nightly lit with hurricane lamps and offers the ideal safari cocktail setting. Soft drinks, beer, house wines and non-luxury spirits are included.Champagne, special wines and luxury spirits are additional.
Child-friendly
The camp welcomes children, children's meals and babysitting provided. Family suite available (double and twin-bedded rooms plus ensuite bathroom facilities).
What to see and do
The camp offers morning and afternoon game-drives and Maasai-guided nature walks and bird-spotting tours inclusive of the cost. Amboseli is world-famous for its populations of large mammals. The swamps are a centre of activity for elephants, hippos, buffaloes and abundant water birds. The surrounding flat grasslands are home to grazing antelopes. Spotted hyenas are plentiful, as are jackals, warthogs, olive baboons and vervet monkeys. No longer present in their original numbers, lions can still be found in Amboseli though the famous black-maned lions have long since disappeared, as have the black rhinos that were once so plentiful.
Wildlife highlights: lion, cheetah, leopard, elephant, zebra, hippo, spotted and striped hyena, giraffe, oryx, wildebeest, gerenuk, impala and Grant's gazelle. Birds: 425 recorded species.
Other attractions
The camp features its own swimming pool and its waterhole, which attracts large amounts of animals, particularly elephant. The stone-flagged terrace features easy chairs and long-views of Mount Kilimanjaro. Inclusive in rates are: Full board accommodation, game drives and soft drinks, beer, house wines and non-luxury spirits
All game drives are included within the cost, as are exclusive cocktail sundowners and canapes from a scenic view point. The camp also features its own resident owl, which lives in the pitched roof of the bar, and joins guests for drinks nightly. Ecologically-sound, the lodge works closely with the local Masai community from whom it leases the land, and they receive a fee per guest.
Highlights and special features
Game Drives, nature walks and medicinal plant discovery
Experience the real safari - morning and afternoon game drives through the park with our trained driver-guides. Picnic lunches and sundowners can be provided. Our Maasai guides also offer guided nature walks, bird-spotting, tracking and medicinal plant walks.
Visits to Observation Hill
One of the high points of the park, Observation Hill towers above a small car park and its summit is accessed by a winding stone stairway. Once at the top the views are tremendous, the photo opportunities countless and, as the sun begins its descent, it provides one of East Africa's finest sundowner venues.
Visit to an authentic Maasai En'kaang
To experience the true Maasai culture, we offer a visit to a traditional Maasai village or En'kaang. Here guests will be given a traditional Maasai welcome (with dance and song), experience a unique insight into the Maasai lifestyle, learn more about Maasai handicrafts (beading and leatherwork) and have the opportunity to purchase Maasai artifacts direct from those who make them.
Bush lunches and dinners
Private ‘bush' lunches and dinners can be arranged in the bush, complete with waiters, private bar and private BBQ cooking station, campfires and hurricane lamps.
Bush Spa
The camp offers luxurious massages and beauty treatments.
AWARDS
Travel & Leisure Worlds Best Awards 2007.
Condé Nast Traveler Gold List 2006 Awards - Best for Service in Africa.
Condé Nast Traveler Gold List 2005 - Readers Choice Awards 2005 -
The British Airways Regional Award For Ecotourism.
Tortilis Holds A "Certificate Of Merit & Recognition" From The Friends Of Conservation (Kenya).
Certificate of Accreditation from the Ecotourism Society of Kenya 2004, 2005, 2006 (pending audit for 2007).
Tortilis Camp - Amboseli • Kenya Safari Tented Camps
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