“What a fantastic trip. This really is an excellent way to see wildlife very close to you. From the first time you put your canoe in the water you start seeing all the African wildlife you’ve dreamt of…”
GALLERY
TSAVO WEST NATIONAL PARK.
Originally gazetted as Tsavo National Park in 1948 and covering an area of nearly 22,000km2, this huge expanse was split into two that same year forming the present day Tsavo West National Park and Tsavo East National Park. The two parks are distinct separate entities with different administrations and lie either side of the main Nairobi-Mombasa highway. Both parks are quite different in what they have to offer.
Tsavo West National Park, covering an area of 9,065km2, is the smaller of the two and is evocative of true African wilderness with a huge variety of landscapes from swamps, natural springs, rocky peaks and outcrops, extinct volcanoes and savanna plains. With dense vegetation and low visitor numbers, the park offers a wilder and more untrammelled safari experience. This park is famed for the “Man Eating Lions of Tsavo” where lions killed many workers during the construction of the railway line between Mombasa and Nairobi during the early 19th century. It is also notorious for the excessive poaching and decimation of wildlife in the 1980’s. However, wildlife numbers have made some recovery but not to former population numbers. Despite that there is still plenty of wildlife.
The Big Five are present with large herds of elephant and buffalo. Other mammals include giraffe, zebra, impala, gazelle and numerous antelope. Easily seen in the park at ‘Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary’ are some 50 highly endangered black rhinos who have been successfully bred and some individuals have been released back into the park. The Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary is an area of 62km2 with an electric fence to protect the rhinos and it has game drive tracks within the confines of the sanctuary thus affording easy spotting of the black rhinos. Amongst the predators lions are frequently encountered but cheetah, leopard and hyena are also present.
Birdlife consists of the usual suspects and is less exciting than in some of the other parks and reserves but nevertheless there is a lot of diversity. The park is also a major stopover for many European migratory birds.
Getting there:
By air charter.
By road – travel on the main, tarmacked highway from Nairobi to Mombasa. However, within the park one needs a 4wd.
What to do:
- Game Drives especially in Rhino Valley.
- Visit Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary.
- Visit Mazima Springs– In the west of the park these springs produce an astonishing 250 million litres of water every day. The water originates from the glaciers of Mount Kilimanjaro, travels underground and is filtered in the process before emerging at Mazima Springs.
Best Time:
All year round
Accommodation:
Top luxury- the world renowned Finch Hatton’s tented camp named after the famous hunter and lover of Karen Blixen (of “Out of Africa” fame) Denys Finch Hatton.
Numerous luxury, mid-range and budget lodges and campsites.
Accomodation
The accommodation is in large tents with deluxe beds, fully stocked mini bar, enuite toilets, wash basin and large slate walled shower room. There is mostly solar heated hot and cold running water and permanent electrical supply to all the tents. The bar is open all day and there is pool service to the swimming pool for relaxation between game drives.
Sarova taita game lodge is a unique safari lodge offering unforgettable Kenya holidays, with 60 standard rooms and 2 suites.all of the rooms are spacious and tastefully furnished with en-suite shower Rooms.
12 traditionally built en-suite bandas from whose verandahs you can literally overlook wildlife, going about their daily life, undisturbed views over the green savannah.
For more information please contact KOMPASS SAFARIS.