Tsavo West National Park
Tsavo West and Tsavo East National Parks were previously one game park, however as years went by the concerned Kenyan authority decided to separate them. Today’s Tsavo West National Park is located west of Tsavo East National Park, about 188 kilometers west of the port of Mombasa. Currently this is regarded as the best park to see wild animals and birds along with its amazing landscape that includes: hills,rivers, acacia woodland,mountains, savanna bushes, Lake Jipe, palm thickets as well as semi-dry desert scrub.
The park which is currently being managed by the Kenya Wildlife Service has several tourist activities among which are elephants watching, bird watching, boat rides, nature walks, hikes, visits to the caves as well as game drives to see the different animals
ThePark covers an area of 7,065 square kilometersat an altitude range of 200 to 1000meters with its northern sector dominated with baobab trees and bushes.
The legendary railway separatesTsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks runs along their border. During its construction back in the late 1890’s approximately 135 railway construction workers were killed by the man-eating lions which were two (2) male maneless lions. These fearless lions would evade traps; hunt down animals as well as people not until they were shot dead by Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson.
What to see / do inTsavo West National park
Tsavo West National Park offers many activities and tourist attractions, as well as wildlife safaris.
Game Watching: this park is home to Africa’s big Fiveanimals among which are buffaloes, black rhinoceros, African lionsas well as leopards in addition to giraffes, gazelles, Grevy’s zebras, Cosen’s gerbil, wild dogs, hartebeest, several rats and shrews among many others.
Boat Rides: enjoy the very exciting boat rides on Lake Jipe during which you will see the various animals that normally converge along the lake shores to drink water. You will also be stunned by the amazing birdlife living around the lake and even explore the adjacent swamps.
Elephants Watching:Tsavo West National Park is home to a very large population of the red-skinned Elephants so those interested in watching these African forest giants, this park offers a very good opportunity to do so.
Visit the Mzima Springs:these beautiful springs are found in the far northern part of Tsavo West National Park. The water coming from the Chyulu Hills flows from below the lava ridge;forming a number of beautiful natural pools. These pools which are surrounded with palm treesserve as watering holes for animals and birds and are actually among the most popular here in this park.
Visit the Hippo Pool: one of the best and authentic wildlife views you will ever enjoy while on an African safari is coming face to face with a group of hippos playing in a pool of water and they normally do so to cool off the extra heat of the African sun.
Guide Nature Walks: you may opt to explore thisbeautiful park while on foot during which you which you will explore a number of places of interest including the caves
Bird watching:The park has more than 500 birds species and the best time to see birds is fromOctober, November, December and January, during which you will see several migratory birds such as thebuffalo weavers, African skimmers, red bishops, yellow bishops, palm nut vultures as well as the goshawksother types of birds seen here include: ostriches, kingfishers, herons, kestrels, secretary birds, buzzards, hornbills, starlingsas well as weavers.
Climate / weather in Tsavo West National Park
The park is only a couple of degrees south of the equator-crossing and experiences an average temperature range of (27 to 31)°C / (81 to 88)°F in the day and (22 to 24)°C / (72 to 75)°F in the night. It experiences the highest humidity from December up to April.
The long rains begin in March to May, while the short rains start in October to December.
How to get to Tsavo West National park
The park can be accessed by road or air transport.
By air: you can land at any of the airstrips found at the various gates such as (Ziwani, Chyulu, Kasigau, MtitoAndei, Maktau, Tsavo as well as Jipe gates) which can be accessed by chartered aircrafts.
By Road:Its 52km from Amboseliand enter through the Chyulu Gate, 272kmfrom Nairobi through the MtitoAndei Gate,188km from through the Tsavo Gate or MtitoAndei Gate. Other entrances include: Jipe, Maktau as well as Ziwani.
Accommodation / Where to Stay
There are various accommodation options for visitors in this park ranging from budget, mid-range and luxury facilities among which are: Finch Hattons Camp, Voyager Ziwani Safari Camp,Kilaguni Serena lodge, Ngulia Lodge as well as Severin Safari Camp.There are also a number of campsites within this park.
Best time to visit Tsavo West National park
The best months to visit this park are January, February and also from June to September`. We advise that you avoid the visiting during the rainy monthsof March, April and May as well as from October, November and December when the roads are slippery and impassable.
For birdwatchers, the best time to see the migratory birds is from October up to January.