TSAVO NATIONAL PARK

>Area: Tsavo East (11,747 km²) & Tsavo West (9,065 km²).
Location: 300km south-east of Nairobi, 200km north-east of Mombasa.
The Tsavo National Park is wild, diverse, and enormous and is divided into two; the Tsavo East National Park and the Tsavo West National Park. The Tsavo East National Park is the only place one can see the few remaining Hirola antelope among other wildlife including lions, leopards, cheetahs, zebras, giraffes, antelopes, kongonis, lesser kudus, oryxs, klipspringers, impalas, stripped hyenas, gazelles, buffalos, and elephants. Here you will find world's largest lava flow and the River Galana coursing its way to the Indian Ocean making it a perfect scene for the avid photographer.The dry and rugged park is located only 100 kilometres away from the white beaches of Malindi. Voi town, which is adjacent to this national park, is an ideal destination for those who want to combine a beach and bush holiday.

Tsavo West National Park is famous for the man-eating lions of Tsavo which preyed upon linesmen building the Great Uganda Railway at the turn of the century. From the non-fiction book The Man-Eaters of Tsavo by Lieutenant Colonel John Henry Patterson, the movie The Ghost and the Darkness starring Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer was shot in 1996 in Kenya. Tsavo also used to be a classic hunting ground for the renowned big game hunters such as the famous as Denys Finch Hatton. Tsavo is also the traditional home for the African elephant.

Wildlife rhythms: Large animal concentration is highest during the dry seasons, i.e., September to October and January to March. Each November and December Eurasian birds migrating south at night along the eastern flyway become disorientated in the rainy season mists. Both birds and birders descend on Ngulia Lodge, in Tsavo West, where bright game-viewing lights become Tsavo's bird beacon. All this takes place in misty conditions which tend to deaden sound, although the occasional hyena or lion is heard.

Wildlife highlights: Kenya's largest reserve supports the 'big five', and features the country's largest elephant population (which includes released orphans) and lions in good numbers.Two rhino sanctuaries make it Kenya's most important rhino conservation location, and other large mammals include buffaloes, hartebeests, lesser kudus, elands, waterbucks, Grant's gazelles, impalas and giraffes. Steinbucks, Kirk's dik-diks and klipspringers are common. The park has over 600 bird species; highlights include birds of the semiarid zone, such as Somali (Tsavo East) and common ostriches (Tsavo West), golden pipits and golden-breasted starlings. Bird banding at Ngulia Lodge is an annual major event.

What to do: Various observation and picnic points, nature trail and underwater viewing tank, Lugard Falls and the Rhino Sanctuary (open from 4 to 6 pm daily).

Watching tips: A succession of animals comes to drink in the mornings at Voi Lodge waterhole. Aruba Dam is a busy spot for animals and if lions are your thing, camp here - their roaring will probably keep you awake at night. A leopard is seen at bait at Ngulia Lodge just about every night. Hirolas (Hunter's hartebeests) translocated from Arawale NR in northern Kenya can sometimes be seen between Aruba Dam and Buchuma Gate in Tsavo East.