To the world, it is Amboseli National Park, one of Kenya’s most iconic wildlife sanctuaries, home to vast elephant herds and breathtaking views of Mount Kilimanjaro. But to the Maasai people who have lived within it for centuries, the land carries a deeper, more intimate name: Empusel.
Amboseli means “salty dust” or “place of dust” in the Maasai language, aptly describing the park’s arid plains and its dry, alkaline lakebed that turns into a white salt pan during the dry season. Yet, for locals, Empusel captures the same meaning, rooted in the Maasai’s cultural and ecological connection to the land.
“Empusel is a Maasai name that means ‘a place with salt.’ Amboseli and Empusel are the same name. It’s like one person saying ‘President William’ and another saying ‘Ruto’, both refer to the same person,” says Joshua Barnet, a resident of Amboseli and Member of Kitenden Community Conservancy, a wildlife corridor adjacent to Amboseli National Park.
Another resident, Margret Stoni, who hails from the heart of Amboseli, says when visitors ask what the name Amboseli really means, she is all too eager to explain to them her history.
“I hear people asking about the meaning of the name Amboseli, and I explain that it simply means that this white soil looks like salt,” she says.
Stoni recalls how, long before the community had access to salt for their livestock, the Maasai would travel long distances to Amboseli so their cattle could lick the salty soil.
“Long ago, before we started getting salt for our cattle, we used to move them from far away to come here and lick this salty soil, and then all the problems caused by salt deficiency would go away,” she explains.
Over time, she adds, the name evolved.
“The name later changed from Empusel to become known as Amboseli because it grew bigger and more significant to us, unlike Empusel, which was only known as a place for cattle,” she says.
Located 240 kilometers southeast of Nairobi at the northern foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, Amboseli covers 390 square kilometers and lies just five kilometers from the Tanzania border.
Its sweeping grasslands, dotted with acacia woodlands and swamps, have made it one of Kenya’s most celebrated safari destinations, attracting visitors with a revenue of over Ksh 1.5 billion.
The park is also famed as one of Africa’s strongholds of elephant conservation, hosting some of the continent’s most studied elephant herds.
Within the surrounding ecosystem, community-based conservation remains key.
Maasai landowners now benefit from eco-tourism ventures and wildlife leases, ensuring that conservation brings tangible benefits to the people who share their land with wildlife.
Amboseli’s journey has been long and often fraught.
It was first part of the Southern Game Reserve in 1906, then gazetted as a National Park in 1973.
Over the decades, it became a symbol of Kenya’s evolving approach to wildlife conservation and of the delicate balance between protecting biodiversity and respecting community rights.
That balance finally tipped toward justice in October 2025, when Amboseli officially returned to local hands.
The Deed of Transfer, signed on October 14, 2025, formally handed over management of the park from the National Government to the County Government of Kajiado.
Under the agreement, park revenues will be shared between the two governments over a three-year transition period with Kajiado County taking 50 per cent in 2026/2027, 70 per cent in 2027/2028 and full control by 2028/2029.
This year’s Maa Cultural and Tourism Festival, held at Amboseli National Park, comes at a historic moment, the first celebration since the park’s handover.
The festival is a vibrant week-long event being held from the 4th to the 9th that brings together Maasai communities from across Kenya to honour their traditions, customs and way of life.
Through song, dance, storytelling and food, the festival celebrates a living culture that has shaped Amboseli’s identity, long before it was a park and long before it became a global tourist magnet.
