Tsavo East National Park is located 333 km from Nairobi and approximately 160 Km from Mombasa, it is one of the largest national parks in Kenya.
The park contains some fantastic terrain, including rivers, lakes, tarns, glaciers, and peaks with a wide variety of vegetation, including grasslands, acacia vegetation, open plains and savanna. It is therefore recognized as one of the world’s leading bio-diversity strongholds. Some of the popular destinations within the park include the Mudanda Rock.
The joint mass of Tsavo East and Tsavo West forms one of the Largest National parks in the world. Tsavo East covers an area of 13,747 square kilometers. It is a vast and untouched area of arid bush and it is drained by the Galana river which meanders across the park. It is guarded by the never ending lava reaches of the Yatta plateau, the longest lava flow in the world, and its wilderness is roamed by some of the biggest herds of ‘red’ elephants in Kenya. Also present in the park are lions, buffalo, leopard, cheetah, hippo, crocodile, lots of other plains game and 500 recorded species of birds.
Kenya’s oldest and largest National Parks, Tsavo East National Park is a famous and home to some of the largest herds of elephant in Kenya, the elephants glow red after dust baths, blowing the vivid red dust through their trunks over their bodies, large prides of lion are sighted regularly and another great sight is the spectacular herds of up to 1000 buffalo.
Tsavo East National Park covers an area of about 11,747 sq and is located 333km south-east of Nairobi, and 173km north-west of Mombasa .Tsavo East National Parks consists mostly of miles and miles of dry flat thorn-bush, semi-arid acacia scrub and narrow woodland dominated by acacia.
There is a wide variety of animals to be seen in Tsavo East National Park: lion, leopard, cheetah, zebras, giraffes, serval cats, antelopes, kongoni, lesser kudu, oryx, klipspringer, impala, stripped hyena, gazelles, buffalos and elephants. Some 500 bird species have been recorded in the area, including ostrich and some migratory kestrels, while buzzards stop at Tsavo-East during their long flight South.
Safari Attractions in Tsavo East National Park
- Lugard’s Falls is a series of rapids on the Galana River where crocodiles love to bathe.
- Yatta Plateau is the world’s longest lava flow at 290km long.
- Mudanda Rock is a 1.6km outcrop of rock, with a dam at its base. This is a popular drinking place for animals.
- Aruba Dam also attracts animals and birds looking for a place to drink.
Tsavo East and the mane-less man-eating lions
In 1898, long before Tsavo National Park was created, a pair of mane less male lions terrorized the area. They reputedly killed 135 railway workers who were building the Kenya-Uganda railway. These man-eating lions dragged men from their tents, despite the thorn fences (bomas) built to keep them out. The mane less lions evaded traps and ambushes and were finally shot by Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson.
