Amboseli lies North West of Mount Kilimanjaro on the Tanzania border.  Was established as a reserve in 1968 and gazetted as a National Park in 1974. The Park covers 392sq.km, and forms part of the much larger 3,000sq.Km Amboseli ecosystem. Large concentrations of wildlife occur here in the dry season, making Amboseli a popular tourist destination. It is surrounded by 6 communally owned group ranches. The National Park embodies 5 main wildlife habitats (open plains, acacia woodland, rocky thorn bush country, swamps and marshland) and covers part of a Pleistocene lake basin, now dry. Within this basin is a temporary lake, Lake Amboseli that floods during years of heavy rainfall. Amboseli is famous for its big game and its great scenic beauty - the landscape is dominated by Mount Kilimanjaro. The climate is mainly hot and dry.