Tsavo National Park
With 20,700 square kilometers, this park, divided by the Mombasa-Nairobi highway into two blocks - East and West, is one of the world’s largest wildlife sanctuaries. While considerable portions of the park have been opened and developed for tourism, a great tract to the north is still inaccessible and closed to ordinary tourist traffic.
Tsavo is an interesting mixture of extensive plains, steep rocky hills rising abruptly, a few river valleys with their fringes of tall green acacia and palm trees. Altitudes range from 300 meters in the Eastern section to 1,800 meters in the highest peaks of the Ngulia Hills.
Mzima springs is an interesting feature in Tsavo west. Its crystal clear fresh waters are a sanctuary to crocodiles, hippo and fish. There is an underground glass observatory where visitors get up-close to the hippos without the dangers of an encounter. It is fed by numerous rivers, some underground, which flow out of the lava from different directions, forming an oasis in the middle of this otherwise dry scrubby landscape.
Practically most of Kenya’s wildlife is represented in the two blocks of Tsavo, but the dominant one is elephant. Over 20,000 of these giants roam the area, which also happens to be a black rhino stronghold. The park is famous for its lions, descendants of the dreaded Man eaters during the construction of the Mombasa-Kampala railway at the end of the last century.
Bird life is legion in this park and new species are often discovered. Sunbirds, hornbills, parrot, weavers, starlings, bustards and birds of prey are present in great numbers among the many species.
Tsavo National Park was established in 1948. The Waliangulu and Kamba tribes used it as a hunting ground prior to its gazettement.
Dr. Krapf – first European to see Mt. Kenya journeyed on foot through this area in 1848 crossing the Tsavo river on his way to Kitui. During the railway construction Lions (Man eaters of Tsavo) terrorized the workers, killing over 130 people before being killed by Col. Patterson.
Captain Lugards a European explorer passed through the area on his way to Uganda and had a drop over at the Lugards Falls area.
Tsavo is a very popular Park as is indicated by the high number of tourists. It is easily accessible by road, railway and (light) aircraft.
One of the attractive scenic features is the Yatta plateau in the eastern side which is about 290Km long and is one of the worlds longest lava flows. Others are Lugards Falls on the Galana river and Mudanda rock - a long rock outcrop that is about 1.6Km long and has a dam at the base where animals can be watched as they come to drink. Visitors can walk on the rock and enjoy a cool breeze as they view wildlife at the base.
In Tsavo west there is the Shaitani and Chaimu lava flows which are sights to behold. Mount Kilimanjaro - Africa's tallest is visible from most parts of the park. There are also some recent volcanoes and caves with potential for geological and cave exploration, and hiking.
In the Ngulia area, a range of craggy hills reaches around 1800m and is heavily wooded. The permanent tsavo river runs through the northern part of the park with a fringe of riverine Acacia elatior and Hyphaene compressa woodland. In the southern part there is the fresh-water Lake Jipe which is bordered by extensive beds to Typha and has large permanent swamps at its eastern and western ends.
There are six airstrips in Tsavo east, in the southern part and thirteen in the Northern part. There are eight in Tsavo west. There are no scheduled flights to the Park but chartered light planes are used.
The weather in Tsavo is pleasant most of the year. There are two rain seasons. The long rains generally come from March to May and the short rains from November to December.
In Tsavo, the following are some of the excursions Real Africa organizes for guests to make their safari more interesting:
Tsavo is an interesting mixture of extensive plains, steep rocky hills rising abruptly, a few river valleys with their fringes of tall green acacia and palm trees. Altitudes range from 300 meters in the Eastern section to 1,800 meters in the highest peaks of the Ngulia Hills.
Mzima springs is an interesting feature in Tsavo west. Its crystal clear fresh waters are a sanctuary to crocodiles, hippo and fish. There is an underground glass observatory where visitors get up-close to the hippos without the dangers of an encounter. It is fed by numerous rivers, some underground, which flow out of the lava from different directions, forming an oasis in the middle of this otherwise dry scrubby landscape.
Practically most of Kenya’s wildlife is represented in the two blocks of Tsavo, but the dominant one is elephant. Over 20,000 of these giants roam the area, which also happens to be a black rhino stronghold. The park is famous for its lions, descendants of the dreaded Man eaters during the construction of the Mombasa-Kampala railway at the end of the last century.
Bird life is legion in this park and new species are often discovered. Sunbirds, hornbills, parrot, weavers, starlings, bustards and birds of prey are present in great numbers among the many species.
Tsavo National Park was established in 1948. The Waliangulu and Kamba tribes used it as a hunting ground prior to its gazettement.
Dr. Krapf – first European to see Mt. Kenya journeyed on foot through this area in 1848 crossing the Tsavo river on his way to Kitui. During the railway construction Lions (Man eaters of Tsavo) terrorized the workers, killing over 130 people before being killed by Col. Patterson.
Captain Lugards a European explorer passed through the area on his way to Uganda and had a drop over at the Lugards Falls area.
Tsavo is a very popular Park as is indicated by the high number of tourists. It is easily accessible by road, railway and (light) aircraft.
One of the attractive scenic features is the Yatta plateau in the eastern side which is about 290Km long and is one of the worlds longest lava flows. Others are Lugards Falls on the Galana river and Mudanda rock - a long rock outcrop that is about 1.6Km long and has a dam at the base where animals can be watched as they come to drink. Visitors can walk on the rock and enjoy a cool breeze as they view wildlife at the base.
In Tsavo west there is the Shaitani and Chaimu lava flows which are sights to behold. Mount Kilimanjaro - Africa's tallest is visible from most parts of the park. There are also some recent volcanoes and caves with potential for geological and cave exploration, and hiking.
In the Ngulia area, a range of craggy hills reaches around 1800m and is heavily wooded. The permanent tsavo river runs through the northern part of the park with a fringe of riverine Acacia elatior and Hyphaene compressa woodland. In the southern part there is the fresh-water Lake Jipe which is bordered by extensive beds to Typha and has large permanent swamps at its eastern and western ends.
There are six airstrips in Tsavo east, in the southern part and thirteen in the Northern part. There are eight in Tsavo west. There are no scheduled flights to the Park but chartered light planes are used.
The weather in Tsavo is pleasant most of the year. There are two rain seasons. The long rains generally come from March to May and the short rains from November to December.
In Tsavo, the following are some of the excursions Real Africa organizes for guests to make their safari more interesting:
