Photo Credit: Ninara
Tsavo Conservation Area, Kenya
With more than 25,000 square kilometers of conservation land, Tsavo Conservation Area comprises almost half of Kenya‘s protected areas. The complex includes the neighboring Tsavo East and Tsavo West national parks, Chyulu Hills National Park, and South Kitui National Reserve.
This area is home to all of the Big 5, including 40 percent of Kenya’s elephants and about one-fifth of its black rhinos. Also found here is the rare hirola antelope, or Hunter’s hartebeest, with its lyre-shaped horns.
Game drives are the most popular way to view wildlife in the Tsavo Conservation Area, but more intimate experiences are also possible. Feel the soft breeze against your face and enjoy the scents of equatorial plants on a guided nature walk or even a camel safari. Whitewater rafting can be done on Tsavo’s Athi River.
Photo: Lenora Ellie Enking
Tsavo East National Park
Near Kenya’s coast, Tsavo East is one of Kenya’s oldest and largest national parks. Its beautiful landscape must be seen to be believed. Photographers flock to Tsavo East for its fabulous light and unbelievable views, especially of Mudanda Rock and the Yatta Plateau, the world’s longest lava flow. Lugard Falls, a series of whitewater rapids on the Galana River, is remarkable for the intricate, flowing shapes of its water-worn rocks.
The animal life is even more outstanding. Watch elephants give themselves dust baths by blowing vivid red dust through their trunks over their bodies. Other animals at Tsavo East include rhinos, lions, leopards, crocodiles, waterbucks, kudus, gerenuks and rare Grevy’s zebras. This diversity is enabled by an alternating landscape of savanna, semi-arid acacia scrub, woodlands, and lush green riverbanks.
More than 500 bird species have been recorded at Tsavo East, including ostrich and migratory kestrels and buzzards.
Photo: Ninara
Tsavo West National Park
Tsavo West is an excellent park for visitors who enjoy walking, offering nature trails, cave hikes, and the opportunity to explore the Chaimu Volcanic Crater. Boardwalks at Mzima Springs provide plenty of spots for watching bathing hippos. The scenery here is incredibly varied, ranging from mountains to river forests, plains, lakes, and wooded grasslands.
Animals of Tsavo West include leopards, cheetahs, buffalos, rhinos, elephants, giraffes, zebras, lions, crocodiles, and small mammals such as mongooses, hyraxes, tiny dik-dik antelopes, and porcupines.
Tsavo Conservation Area is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to everything Kenya has to offer.