Tsavo East and Tsavo West

Destination

Famous for being ‘The Big Five’ location, Tsavo East and Tsavo West together make up the Tsavo Conservation Area. Named for the Tsavo river, the two parks are divided into by road and railway tracks that run across the area. Tsavo East is one of the oldest and largest parks in Kenya, famous for the Tsavo lions, a population where the males are often seen lacking the distinguished manes. Even after having a large river passing through the landscape, Tsavo East has sparse and thinly spread foliage, which makes wildlife spotting much easier here.

This half of the park has many geographical attractions as well. The Mudanda Rock is an excellent vantage point to spot herds of elephants as this isolated rock hill acts as a water catchment and becomes a natural dam. Running a length of 290 km and made by the world’s longest lava flow, the Yatta plateau is another surreal landscape to visit. A series of white-water rapids, the Lugard Falls is also an area to explore.

The fauna of Tsavo East comprises of many interesting species. Apart from cheetahs, lions and hyenas, chief amongst them is the aardwolf, bush baby, African civet, dik dik, African hunting dog, different kinds of antelopes, zebras and a large variety of mongooses.

Tsavo West boasts of a rhino reserve, guided trails along the Tsavo river and rock-climbing opportunities. This part of the park has a rugged yet beautiful wilderness. Rocky ridges and belts of riverine vegetation are interspersed with open grasslands, Acacia woodlands, and sparse scrublands. The Mzima Springs gushes out from under the lava rocks and is one of the most breathtaking sceneries to witness in Africa. A diverse range of wildlife in these spectacular habitats makes Tsavo West one of the best places in Africa to view magnificent wildlife.

Apart from the Big Five, the Tsavo Conservation area also offers a wide range of species including the Masai giraffe, hippopotamus, Lesser kudu, along with a large variety of birds, including the ostrich. Dotted with baobab trees and hills, the landscape is largely flat. The Tsavo elephants are also known as red elephants as they tend to roll and spray themselves with the red earth of the area.