AMBOSELI

Amboseli is to Elephants what the Maasai Mara is to Lions...the park with the largest and highest quantity of Elephants.  Elephants are everywhere and not just in small packs but groups of 100.  The park also has a few Lions and a fair share of other animals.  There is a Maasai village just North of the park and also, when the clouds clear, you can see views of Mt. Kilimanjaro.  That famous photo you see of the Elephants in the foreground and Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background?  It was shot in Amboseli - just don't expect the elephants or weather to cooperate when you arrive.
That's Mt. Kilimanjaro. Like I said, don't expect either the elephants or the weather to cooperate for the perfect photo.
To visit a Masai camp or not to visit a Masai camp? That is the question all Safari goers ask themselves. Is it touristy? I guess. Is it a bit for show? I guess. Maybe. But it's not like the Masai hop into Range Rovers and drive to a luxury condo in Nairobi. These guys are living pretty much like they've lived for the past thousand years. You can jump with them. You can buy some stuff they've made (presumably it doesn't come from China but who knows). I wouldn't let anyway who says don't go to dissuade you from going.
Elephants are the stars of Amboseli. We saw plenty of elephants earlier in the Masai Mara but the size of the memory (that's the technical term for a herd of elephants) was nowhere near the scale as Amboseli. There were memories of 100+ elephants.
However, these two cape buffalo stole the Amboseli show and may have been the top highlight of our trip. The next five photos all tell the story of the two chase lions. If you look carefully along the ridge in the photo to the bottom right you can see two lions lifting their heads above the grass. The lions were positioned between a line of zebra, buffalo, and other animals and a watering hole behind the lions. We thought lucky us. You knew what was going to play out. These lions were going to get a meal and we'd be able to watch the whole dining scene unfold in front of us. 

We were wrong. The two cape buffalo also spotted the lions on the horizon. And they were not intimidated. They paused. They restarted walking. And them boom. The cape buffalo went into a sprint. Heads down. Straight at the lions. And the lions? They booked. They hustled to where our van was located. It was a wild scene to watch unfold. 
We could hear the lions panting. They were out of breath and in need of a rest.

AMBOSELI  ELEPHANTS

I was ecstatic when I saw my first elephant in the distance at Maasai Mara...little did I know that an entire park awaited where Elephants congregate in herds up to a hundred strong.  Elephants engaged in all sorts of activities to playing with children to...attempting to make children.  After Amboseli it was clear that the Elephants were the King of the Jungle.  If an Elephant wanted water and a Lion was in the way, the Elephant just walked straight through to the water.

AMBOSELI   LIONS

We only saw two lions in Amboseli...however, these two lions were chased by cape buffalo while waiting for a zebra meal which made for a very memorable experience.  

AMBOSELI - OTHER ANIMALS

There is a bit more to Amboseli than just the Elephants. We spent a day here and had a very productive morning game drive see all sorts of animals.  There is a nice lodge in the center of the park where you can grab a good meal and take a rest.

MAASAI  VILLAGE

We heard a few negative reviews about the Maasai Village visit but with plenty of time left in the day decided to have our guide take us to a village nearby the Amboseli North Gate Entrance.  I think once the Maasai saw my parents they knew they'd have an easy sell of some trinkets.  It was long before my parents were dancing and making friends with the villagers although I doubt my Dad is winning any jumping competitions.
For additional photos see the Amboseli Flickr Album.