Tsavo National Park

About Tsavo National Park

Tsavo is the largest national park in Kenya (just under 21000 sq km). It lies on either side of the Mombasa to Nairobi highway, which effectively splits the park into two sections.

Tsavo West

The western section between the Tsavo River and the highway, consisting of tall grass and woodland, is the most popular. It's simply more accessible, has good facilities and offers beautiful scenery as well as lots of wildlife. Visitors are usually rewarded with sightings of elephant, buffalo, lion, leopard, cheetah, zebra, giraffe as well as antelope. Don't miss a visit to Mzima Springs (where hippo and crocodile lurk), Shetani lava flow and caves (where legends abound), Ngulia Rhino sanctuary (to see the black rhinos), Chaimu Crater (to see the volcanoes crater rim) and Kilaguni Lodge (pop in for a drink or meal to watch the antics at the water hole elephant, buffalo, giraffe, zebra and baboon are regulars here as are mongooses, marabou storks and hyraxes to the terrace in front of the restaurant).

Tsavo East

This is the larger section but, owing to a history of poaching, not all of it is open to the public. You will, however, be able to see many animals in the open section around the Aruba Dam, south of the Galana River. You'll also see lots of wildlife at the Kanderi Swamp, near the main gate. Sightings of large elephant herds are common (especially at Mudanda Rocks a scenic spot in its own right). Also visit the ornithological wonder of the Yatta Plateau, one of largest lava flows in the world where you'll find migrant birds from as far as Iran and Russia.