Tsavo West National Park
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Overview
Tsavo West national park like its counterpart Tsavo east National park are the two national parks that form the great Tsavo National park. The park is known as “ Land of Lava, Springs, Man-eaters and Magical Sunsets”. Its popularity is based on the man eating lions that killed hundreds of people during the construction of the Railway line and the highway during the colonial era. Tsavo West national park is the second largest national park in Kenya covering an area of 9,065 square kilometres. Its separated from Tsavo East national by the A109 highway that connects Nairobi to Mombasa. The park is also a home of over fifty million gallons of crystal clear water that comes from under parched lava rock. The park is more scenic than Tsavo East national park with rouged mountainous areas. The Mazima springs and the Shetani lava flows are unique attractions found at the park. Tsavo West national park is wetter than Tsavo East national park.
Attractions
There are several attractions that are found in this large national park that travellers go and experience. It’s a true wildlife wilderness where guests get that feel of African wilderness. Below are the highlights of the parks attractions:
Mzima Springs: The Mazima Springs is the sight of fifty million gallons of crystal water that originates from underground of the parched lava rocks. This is the great place of sightseeing not only in Kenya but entire Africa. It’s a miracle place as you see white crystal water coming from underground. This is one of the unmissable attractions in Tsavo West national park. This is where the park got its nick name “ Land of Lava, Springs, Man-eaters and Magical Sunsets”.
Mammals: The park is regarded as true wilderness of Africa, a land of Man-eaters the lions. It’s a home of large herds of African big game like lions, leopards, black and white Rhinos, yellow baboons, giraffes, gazelles, hyenas, impala, jackals, foxes, wildebeest, cheetahs, Elephants, buffalo, African wild dogs and others.
Birds: The park has a record of over 400 bird species including the rare birds in the country. Birding is enjoyed along the Ngulia hills, the park is also a bird migratory route. The bird ringers always come to the park around October and January each year. The long list of the bird species is achieved with long holidays at the park like River warbler, Marsh warbler, red-backed Shrike, Eastern black-headed oriole, African finfoot, Corncrake, starlins, Golden pipit and many more.
Poachers lookout: The poacher’s lookout is a hill found at the centre of the park which gives you 360 degrees view of the park. It was named after its popular use by the poachers to view the wildlife at the park. From the time poaching was eradicated at the park, the hill has retained its name and popularity.
Ngulia Sanctuary: This is a unique sanctuary where the rare and endangered black rhinos are found in Tsavo west national park. This sanctuary hosts the overwhelming growing population of black rhinos in Kenya.
Tsavo river
The park is among the oldest national park in Kenya, it was established in April 1948 alongside Tsavo East National park. It was named after the magnificent Tsavo river which is the main river that drains the park. Its one of the strongholds of biodiversity across the world.
African Big Five
Tsavo West national park is more popular due to its scenic beauty that is characterised by the wide range of vegetation. The park is adjoining the great wildlife ranches where the Black and White Rhinos are found. The park is covered by the open savannah grassland dotted with Acacia woodlands, Scrublands, Rocky ridges and the Riverine vegetation. Its remotely located at the coastal province. It’s a home of all African big game especially the African big five which include: Lions, Elephants, Buffalo, Rhinos and the shy Leopards. The other big game found at the park are: Giraffes, Zebras, hyenas, cheetahs, hippos, crocodiles, Gerenuk, Lesser Kudu, Waterbucks, wildebeests and others. The parks also hosts a good number of bird species especially the rare birds like Corncrake, Basra reed warbler, secretary bird and many others.
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