Tsavo National Park is the largest Game sanctuary in the world
comprising
Tsavo East,
Tsavo West and Chyulu hills. It is well over
twenty one thousands square kilometers and is located halfway between
Nairobi and Mombasa. Its fascinating, awe inspiring landscape and
proximity to Kenya’s coast makes the park a popular safari destination.
The game sanctuary is one of the world’s leading biodiversity areas. It
is ideal for photography on account of its unlimited sunlight and the
expanse of the Yatta plateau – the world’s largest lava flow. One of the
out standing features of this sanctuary is its huge population of large
red elephants which derive their red coloring from the rich red earth
of the park. Other
wildlife to be seen include, buffalos, rhinos, lions,
hippos, leopards, crocodiles, water
bucks, kudus, gerenuks, zebras,
hartebeests and the hirola antelope that has been translocated to Tsavo
East. Tsavo occupies its place in the frontier folklore as a place
where two lions killed and ate close to forty engineers and their crew
who constructing the Kenya-Uganda railway during the turn of the
century.
The man eaters of Tsavo nearly brought the construction
work to a halt. The marauding lions of Tsavo have been immortalized in a
book entitled, “Man Eaters of Tsavo” written by Colonel J.J Patterson.
The park has well over five hundred species of birds which include
ostrich, buzzards and migratory kestrel. Some specific areas of the park
are ideal for walking safaris as there are many nature trails and it is
possible to explore the famous Chaimu volcanic craters. Chyullu hills
and the great Kilimanjaro can be viewed clearly from this park. Other
outstanding feature worth seeing include and geological formations,
Shetani lava flow and Mzima springs underwater observatory.