Tsavo West National Park

Altitude: 500 – 6,000 feet above sea level.

Area: 9,065 square kilometers

Airstrips: Ngulia, Rhino Sanctuary

Opened: April 1948

Activities: Game & bird viewing, Cave exploration, Underwater hippo observation.

Map

“Full of wild life beasts, such as rhinoceros, buffaloes and elephants” quotes from a missionary’s diary written in 1848.

Later in 1900 the notorious “Man Eaters of Tsavo”, man-eating lions preyed on the railway linesman building the great Uganda Railway in 1900. The carriage from which they pulled a traveler is on display in Nairobi Railway Museum. Tsavo-West has important historic connections as a major battleground in World War I where British and German troops battled for supremacy.

The park is easy to reach, located off the main Nairobi - Mombasa road. It offers tremendous views with diverse habitats ranging from mountains, river forest, plains, lakes and wooded grassland. Its plains border with the southern Serengeti plains in Tanzania. Game includes: leopard, cheetah, buffalo, rhino, elephant, giraffe, zebra, lion, plains game, crocodile and small mammals including mongoose, hyrax, dik dik and the nocturnal porcupine.

It is an excellent park for visitors who enjoy walking, offering a number of nature trails and the opportunity to explore the Chaimu volcanic crater and guides are available.

Mzima Springs is a star attraction, a pool of natural spring water with underwater viewing hides for observing hippos. Accommodation: three lodges inside the park, four tented lodges, three campsites and three self-help banda sites