Tsavo National Park covers more than 20,800square kilometers. It is Kenya’s largest national park and is split into Tsavo East and Tsavo West by the busy Mombasa/Nairobi Road and the railroad.

During the last century, Tsavo West has been through changes connected with the great elephant herds. Thick forests were gradually turned into grasslands by elephants grazing patterns. By 1960, the elephant’s population was up to at least 50,000. Because of poaching, they were reduced to only 5,000. Now the grasslands are changing again to new forest and scrub. Poaching has been a major problem in this park, and the black rhino population was reduced from about 7,000 in 1969 to less than 100 in 1981. Thank to today’s conservation efforts, poaching has largely been contained.

Tsavo West’s approximately 9000 square kilometers also include the Ngulia Mountains and the Ndawe Escarpment, all part of the same volcanic upheavals that created the rift valley, mt. Kilimanjaro and mt. Kenya. The volcanic ridges give rise to the underground river systems forming Mzima springs; an incredible outpouring of crystal clear water which forms a series of pools, the luxuriant growth at its edges is in marked contrast to the dry harshness of the surrounding terrain. There is an underwater viewing chamber from which you can often see hippo. Mzima springs are the source of much of Mombassa’s drinking water.

In Tsavo West, the combination of rocky hills, high viewpoints and dry scrublands creates a harsh beauty-a certain drama.

Tsavo East

Tsavo East National Park is far less visited than Tsavo West, is approximately 11,000 square kilometers of varied bush, arid flatland and desert. Most of the area north of Galana River has recently been opened to the public after a long period of insecurity in the region. Much of this part of the park is the Yatta Plateau, a lava flow 300 Kilometeres long. Oases along the Athi, Tiva, Tsavo and Voi Rivers relieve the dry scrublands.

A handful of tented camps-some permanent and some mobile have been established in Tsavo East, making this vast wilderness more accessible for the adventurous traveler. Some of these camps in Tsavo East National Park offer game walks-because of the past security issues, armed KWS (Kenya Wildlife Service) anti- poaching rangers accompany the walks. Tsavo west and East national parks combined have 2,000 kilometers of dirt tracks, some of which serve as firebreaks, all of which are important in the continuing fight against poaching. Despite this network of tracks, wildlife is not easy to see because of large distances, thick scrub and high grass. However, the stunning landscapes and the sense of isolation felt in this vastness can put you in touch with a part of the real Africa.

Tsavo east attractions include the daunting Mundanda rock, the more than 90 km yatta plateau and bluff, the thundering high energy Lugard falls, and the magnificent and huge galena river fraught with crocodiles.

The Aruba dam and other hills and inselbergs in Tsavo east are of particular interest here. The red-elephants of the park are famous-they get the red color from mud baths in the park’s red soils.