At nearly 22,000km2, Tsavo is the largest national park in Kenya and one of the largest in the world.

Tsavo is made up of two separate parks, Tsavo East National Park and Tsavo West National Park. Located 263 kilometers from Nairobi, a Tsavo safari is often part of a Mombasa itinerary.

Due to its size the park was split into two – Tsavo West and Tsavo East – for easier administration. Tsavo is the ideal destination for people who seek solitude and privacy as well as the chance to explore the wilderness.

Tsavo Safari

With its proximity to Mombasa (less than 100 km away) a Tsavo Safari is a great option for those staying on the Kenyan coast or those planning to relax on Kenya’s beaches after a dusty safari. Tsavo also combines well with the nearby Amboseli National Park.

Tsavo West

The Tsavo West National Park is covered in volcanic cones, rocky outcrops and lava flows. The northern part of Tsavo West is the most developed in terms of lodges and infrastructure and has spectacular scenery with a rolling volcanic landscape carpeted in long grass and dense bush.

Tall vegetation makes game spotting here a little trickier than in some of the other parks. The Big Five can be found in the park along with a fine range of antelope species. The main attractions of the park are the two waterholes, built by the lodges to more or less guarantee that their guests will be treated to fabulous game viewing.

Places to visit include the Chaimu Crater and the Roaring Rocks viewpoint. These are located just southeast of Kilaguni Safari Lodge; they can be climbed in roughly 15 minutes and offer sensational views over the plains.

Accommodation Tsavo West

Finch Hattons is located in Tsavo West National Park, between Mount Kilimanjaro to the west and the Chyulu Hills to the northeast. The camp is open all year round and is named after Denys Finch Hatton, one of the early British explorers, conservationists and safari pioneers.

Tsavo East

Across the highway from Tsavo West is Tsavo East. Famous for its large numbers of elephant, spectacular herds of up to 1000 buffalo and man-eating lions. Tsavo East has more open savannah than its western sibling.

Accommodation Tsavo East

There are numerous camps and safari lodges in Tsavo East and one of our favorite is Galdessa Camp.

The camp is placed along the banks of the Galana River amidst doum palm trees and indigenous flora. Natural elements, such as stone, branches and raw, reclaimed trees, bring the incredible beauty of the wilderness indoors. Also the camp isn’t enclosed by a fence, wildlife roams freely, giving you a front row seat to spectacular game viewing without leaving the property.

Wildlife

There are also a variety of other animals such as antelop, giraffe and zebra.

The scrub-covered hills of the southern park have a very remote feel and the park, despite its great game, does not attract large numbers of tourists. The best game viewing is along the watercourses and at the Kanderi swamp, which is not far from the main Voi gate. Thirty kilometres from the gate is the Aruba Dam and lion are commonly spotted around here.

For a number of years only the southern third of the park was open to the public because of the danger posed by poachers, and visitors were likely to encounter carcasses of tuskless elephants. In the past the park was hard hit by poachers who slaughtered horrifying numbers of rhino, elephant and other species.

Long at the epicentre of a poaching war which decimated rhino numbers from approximately 8000 in 1970 to less than 50 two decades later, elephant numbers plummeted from 50,000 in the 1960s to 5,000 twenty years later.

Today, however, the corner has well and truly been turned and you can be treated to the sight of large herds of 50 or more elephants, which have instinctively retreated to the vicinity of the lodges where they are assured of protection.

Places of interest

There are some interesting geographical features in Tsavo, including the Lugard Falls (this is actually a misnomer as the ‘falls’ are in fact a series of rapids on the Galana River), and the Mzima Springs (the source of much of the fresh water in Mombasa).

At Mzima you can walk down to a large pool, a favourite hang out for hippos and crocodiles. There is an underwater viewing chamber where you can observe thousands of primordial looking fish.

In the rivers crocodiles and hippos lurk, while 600 bird species – many of which are waterfowls, decorate the trees, grasslands and sky above.

Birding Safaris

For bird watchers Tsavo is a perfect birding safari destination.

The best time for birding safaris is during the rainy season when the birds are nesting and breeding. Bird species found here include Eastern chanting goshawk, vulturine Guinea fowl, black-headed lapwing, Red-winged lark, Rosy-patched bush shrike, Red-bellied parrot, Martial eagle, Golden pipit, Somali bee-eater, Somali ostrich, Taita falcon, Taita fiscal, rufous chatterer, Somali Bunting, Nightjar to maention but a few.

Tsavo East national park hosts almost half of the bird species found in Kenya. The park hosts rare and migratory birds that come only for breeding.

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