Amboseli

To me there is no view more beautiful than the Kilimanjaro dominating the sky from Amboseli. But a drought has hit Kenya hard the last couple of years. Large parts of the country hasn't seen rain since 2007. When the drought hits, animals die and the landscape loses it's colors. I was expecting colors and a lively game park in Amboseli, but what I got touched me in a different way from what I was planning for.

You cannot avoid seeing the Kilimanjaro when in Amboseli, expecting the clouds of the rainy season. Call it luck, but the masais would have preferred a snowcapped and clouded mountain to this clear and snowless view. (Foto: Geir)
The underground water keeps the large trees alive, and the lesser peak of the Kilimanjaro is an impressive sight in itself. (Foto: Geir)
The camera can trick the eye into believing that Kilimanjaro is just something on the horizon. But believe me, it's monumental from all parts of the Amboseli plains. (Foto: Geir)

Whirlwinds hit hard and often when the earth is dry. Dramatic in it's form and unpleasant to experience for those who prefer the more pleasing experience of the rainy season. (Foto: Geir)
The Masai live in their bomas, but time is catching up on them, and even the living conditions change from houses of mud to these wooden or brick houses. The rocks are lava remains from one of Kilimanjaro's eruptions. (Foto: Geir)
It could've been One Tree Hill in California, but the mountain reveals that we are in the beautiful and harsh environments of the Amboseli. (Foto: Geir)
The drought has hit a Masai village. This donkey has sung it's last song near the slopes of the mighty Kilimanjaro. (Foto: Geir)

Another whirlwind hits, we were lucky to escape with our cameras intact, it was half a meter from us at the closest, and we felt it hit. (Foto: Geir)
Semi-desert? If the rain stays away, this might be final end to the plains of the Amboseli. (Foto: Geir)
Children living close to the animals and the arid lands of the Amboseli. (Foto: Geir)