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Kenya Holiday Safaris Tour Packages Tsavo West National Park

The combined area of Tsavo West & Tsavo East national parks makes this by far the biggest wildlife reserve in Kenya and one of the largest in the world, sprawling across 19,000 square kilometers of dry bush country, and area almost the size of Wales and more than twice the size of Yellowstone National Park in the USA.

Of the two Tsavos,Tsavo West, encircled by roads and encroaching human populations ,is the most visited and the most developed .Yet within  its vast 7000 square kilometer extent, the popular part that receives nearly all visitors is a "mere" 1000 square kilometers known as the developed area, located between the Tsavo River and the Mombasa highway. Here, a combination of magnificent landscapes and good access and facilities (Kilaguni and Severin both welcome casual visitors, and Kilaguni has fuel supplies) ,attracts visitors in large numbers, while the well-watered, volcanic soils support wooded grasslands and a great quantity and diversity of animals life-though its not always easily observed.

Access

As with all the parks, there's no public transport into Tsavo by road, so if you're not on an organized safari, you need to drive or fly.Nairobis Wilson Airport has daily flights or you can fly from Mombasa/Ukunda/Malindi.

If you're coming by road, the small service town of Mtito Andei is mid-way between Mombasa and Nairobi and is itself easily reached by bus or matatu. If you are hoping for a lift into the park, however, you could be in for a very long wait: while Mtito Andei Gate West is relatively busy, you won't see a stream of vehicles passing through. From the gate, it's around an hour's drive to any of the four main lodge/camp focuses. The information centre at the gate has interesting background about Tsavo West, as well as a small shop selling cold drinks.

Once you're in the park, if you're driving yourself,youll soon come to appreciate your dependency  on the accuracy of the marker cairns at the numbered junctions: unfortunately, at the time of writing, the signage in the park is woefully inadequate ,with many numbers illegible and distances underestimated . A handheld GPS is very useful.

Accommodation, Hotels, Lodges & Camping Bookings

A lack of modesty priced accommodation is less of an obstacle in Tsavo West than in most of the other main parks. For a start there are two campsites in developed area. The first is Chulu Campsite just outside Chyulu Gate, 600m north of junction, with basic European-style toilets, running water for the showers and shacks for camping under (assuming a smallish dome tent).The second, and sometimes the busiest, in Kamboyo Campsite, just north of junction, near the park HQ not far from Mtito Andei Gate, which is nice enough, with plenty of easy pitches under shady trees, and a promising –looking shower and squat toilet block. But unfortunately it has no water, so you'd need to bring your own. There are also several KWS-designated "special campsites" along the north bank of Tsavo River.

If you're not equipped to camp, there are mid-priced, self-catering options in the shape of the bandas at Rhino Valley Lodge and Kitani Safari Lodge and the house rental at Kamboyo House, near the park HQ.

Finch Hatton's Tented Lodge 9km south of junction, 65km from Mtito Andei Gate. With 31 tents (1 to 7are best) planted around springs and lakes full of hippos and crocodiles ,this is named after the aristocrat who introduced royalty to the bush.Owner-anaged ,with flair,youre served multi-course dinners, on good china and linen by befezzed waiters, as Mozart tinkles above the evening frog chorus. But it's not everybody's porcelain cup of tea-too big and fancy to call boutique, and not comfy enough, with no nets. The dated snob, appeal, and food that veers wildly from sublime to second rate, are solidly offset by large and well-built tents, and the sites truly remarkable natural environment, similar to Mzima Springs .There's free Wi-Fi around the bar and a good pool. Their own airstrip is 3km away, which you can use a private air charter flight or scheduled to visit the lodge.

Kamboyo Guest House2km northeast of junction, by the park HQ and research centre. Well located, above a small waterhole, with views to the south from the large upstairs balcony and ground floor veranda, this spacious, clean and decently furnished house has seven beds, firewood on demand, gas and electricity. The generator is usually on from 8.30 -11.30 am, 2.30 -5.30pm and 6.30 -10.30 pm.The accommodation cost depends with the season.

Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge off junction8, about 30km from Mtito Andei Gate. Dating from 1962, the oldest park lodge in Kenya is a perennial favourite with many repeat visitors, as much as anything for its prime site and terrific wildlife ambience, with a spectacular panoramic overlook of two, floodlit waterholes. There's a busy atmosphere and it's very often full but standards are high. The rooms, in thatched cottages (most facing the wildlife action, with views towards the Chyulu Hills and Kilimanjaro from balconies) aren't big, but are well laid out, with nets, fans and power points.Theres a modest pool, and a petrol station open 7am-4pm & 6-7pm, with prices about 10% above the pump price in Mtito Andei.

Kitani Safari Lodge Next to Severin Safari Camp. The former Kitani Bandas, now competently managed by Severin, comprises eight, very comfortable, twin or double bandas, with nets, free firewood, bathrooms, good kitchens with gas cookers, and electric sockets. Banda has the best views but all share the intimate connection with the Tsavo environment .Guest can go to the main camp to eat or swim (you'll need to drive or call them to arrange transport).Banda only.

Ngulia Safari Lodge 48km west of Tsavo Gate, 6.5km south of junction. Somewhat isolated in the more hilly, eastern side of the park, this dated,1970s-apartment-block-style hotel offers small rooms, with nets and floor fans but no other frills, but tremendous views over the plains far below. The two small waterholes by the terrace attract buffalo, but the immediate area has less wildlife appeal than the other lodges, for which compensation comes in the form of controversial, nightly leopard-baiting. Usually busy with minibus tours from Mombasa, its well-maintained, with a small pool, and casual visitors are welcome .They also do night game drives.

Rhino Valley Lodge 3.5km from junction. The location, nestled on the steep north slopes of Ngulia Hill, offers sweeping vistas from the terrace bar-restaurant and there's a waterhole opposite bandas #4, 5 and 6, sometimes visited by translocated black rhinos. But like Ngulia,you don't get the concentrations of wildlife you find  around Kilaguni or Severin.There are six bandas and a family a family room with fully equipped kitchens and eighteen more basic bandas with no kitchen.Electricity,powering sockets and fridges,is supplied from 6-11am and 5-8.30pm.The rate for full board meal plan is negotiable. Self-catering per banda.

Severin Safari Camp off junction #36,8km from Mzima Springs. Enthusiastic, hands-on, German management is responsible for the distinctive flavor of this very cool, thoughtfully conceived camp of tents and luxury bandas, sprawled on a flat, bushy plain, teeming with wildlife. Casual visitors are welcome for meals that are well out of the ordinary(try the cook-your-own hot stone grill with dipping sauces) ,the superb pool and the rejuvenating massage spa, all witnessed by a ceaseless parade of giraffe,antelope,warthogs and birdlife attracted by the camps five waterholes. Free Wi-Fi throughout. Tent 16 and bandas 3 have the best views.

Voyager Ziwani Camp Just outside Ziwani Gate, about 40km south of the developed area, but most easily reached from the Taveta-Voi road .On a glorious site on the Sainte Stream, dammed to create a hippo and crocodile pool, Ziwani has 25 fairly basic tents on plinths under thatched roofs. Long overdue a complete refurb, it was undergoing one at the time of writing ,so should be much improved .Although a good hours drive south of the parks main attractions (from which it is sometimes cut off when  river floods wash away the crossing points over the Tsavo River),the local bonuses such as early-morning walks and night game drives-both possible because its outside the park boundaries-more than compensate.

The Developed Area

The developed area is hilly, and there's an unending succession of fantastic views across the plains, dotted with volcanic cones and streaked with forest at the water margins. When the animals are abundant, every turn in the track seems to bring you face to face with zebra,giraffe,huge herds of buffalo, casual prides of lions, or methodical, strolling elephants, almost orange from the dust .An unusual species to look for is the beautiful and shy lesser kudu antelope –always, it seems running away.

On large mammal you're less likely to see is the black rhino. In the 1960s Tsavo had as many as nine thousand black rhinos –the biggest population in Africa .By 1981, they had been poached to barely one hundred individuals across Tsavo West and East .The situation today has improved ,and about 65 of Tsavo West's eighty rhinos are now in the safety of the Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary (daily 4-6pm; free) where you're almost bound to see one if you drive around for a while .You can always visit the holding pen in the middle of the sanctuary to inspect the latest arrivals. In addition, another fifteen rhinos live free in the park itself, under constant surveillance.

The little circuit that takes you around the foot of Rhodesian Hill is recommended too, and Poachers Lookout, near Severin,is very promising place for a quiet scan with binoculars.Theres a thatched shelter on this prominent hilltop, where you can sit in the breeze. Note that the summit is 4.5km from junction #32, not 2km as marked.

Mzima Springs

The biggest attraction in Tsavo West is Mzima Springs, 500m south of junction #11,48km from Mtito Andei and close to both Kilaguni Lodge and Severin Safari Camp. This stream of crystal-clear water was made famous by Alan Roots 1983 film Mzima.Portrait of a spring, which followed crocodiles and hippos in their underwater lives. It's a delightful, and popular, spot, so you're advised to arrive very early to avoid a possible tour-bus atmosphere. With luck, some of the night's animal visitors may still be around, while the luxuriant growth around the water reverberates nosily with birds and monkeys. You can walk around freely, as elephants and predators rarely visit, but there are KWS rangers posted by the car park to look after you, just in case.

There are two large pools, connected by a rush of rapids and shaded by stands of date and raffia palms. The upper (or long) pool is the favoured hippo wallow, while the crocodiles tend to retreat to the broader expanse of water lower down. Its worth walking around this lower pool to the right where, if you're stealthy, you have a good chance of seeing a crocodile-just make sure there's not one on the bank behind you. This word of caution applies equally to hippos, but they seem settled in their routine, content to snort and flounder en masse.At the side of the top pool,a circular underwater viewing chamber has been built at the end of a short pier. With luck(and it doesn't happen on every visit),you'll see the unforgettably comic tip-toeing of an underwater hippo, or the sinuous, streamlined stealth of a crocodile in motion, as well as the blue swirl of large fish.

Mzima Springs' water is filtered to aquarium transparency by the lava of the Chyulu range, just to the north of here: the porous rock absorbs the water like a sponge and gravity squeezes it out into the springs. A direct pipeline from Mzima to Mombasa, completed in 1966, is the source of most of the citys drinking water.Engineers, summoned by the National Parks trustees, devised away of taking water from beneath the lava, but above the spring, preserving the areas integrity. There are one or two signs of the pipeline, but most are unobtrusive.

You don't have to be botanist to enjoy Mzimas two tree trails, with examples of various trees labeled with their common uses and their English, local and botanical names. Its easy to spend a couple of hours in the area: try to sit for a while completely alone on the bank and you'll begin to piece together the ecological miracle of the place, as the mammals ,birds and other creatures forget about your presence. And look out for sycamore figs, the spectacular tree that features in the extraordinary nature documentary The Queen of Trees (Mark Deeble & Victoria Stone, 2006; widely available on DVD) about the symbolic relationship between the sycamore fig and the tiny fig wasp.

Ngulia Safari Lodge

Ngulia Safari Lodge is a stopover on the annual southern migration of hundreds of thousands of European birds, but the reasons for its attraction for the birds-apart from its isolated lights-aren't really known. Kenyan and overseas ornithologists and amateur birders gather at the end of November for a fortnight to identify and ring the birds that are trapped in mist nets (20,000 in 208) to build up a picture of their migration routes. If you'd like to participate, contact the lodge or your national bird-watching organization for information.

Lava Flows and Caves

The lava that purifies Mzimas water can be seen in black outcrops all around this part of Tsavo. The main park road from Amboseli to Chyulu Gate runs right across the spectacular Shetani lava flow (it starts about 10km east of junction #29 and continues east for more than a kilometer). Only 200 years old, the eruption that spewed it out was evidently a cataclysmic event for local people, and is still the focus of stories about fire and evil spirits (shetani means "devil" in Swahili). People are said to have been buried under the hot lava, and legend has it that their plaintive cries can be heard on certain nights. The local people appease the ghosts with offerings of food which, of course, are gone by daybreak.

At several places you're allowed out of your vehicle to explore the lava, which is brittle, honeycombed and unstable. After only two centuries, very few plants have yet taken hold. It is also possible to climb up to the volcanos crater rim but this can be surprisingly hard work on the scree and shouldn't be attempted in the heat of the day. Less strenuously, there are some caves that are worthy of investigation, though you'll need a powerful torch to get very far. They are 5.5m up the high-clearance-only track that climbs the flank of the volcano, north of junction #26B. After 5km, start looking out on the right side of the track for a uselessly unmarked cairn, an oil drum, and a fig tree that covers the entrance.

About the Author

Anthony Mmeri is the Editor and Senior Aviation Director at Wings Over Africa Safaris. 
This is a Tour & Travel  Company that specializes on Kenya Holiday Safaris |African Holiday Safaris |Kenya Wildlife Safaris  Tsavo West National Park ,Hotel Accommodation & Booking. The website has guided thousands of travelers to achieve their dream holiday. For more information and guidance, visit the site at http:// / www.wingsoverafrica-aviation.com/index.php/services/tourist-flights.html

 

 

 

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