Land of Lava, Springs & Man-Eaters

Tsavo West National Park covers approximately 30 per cent of Kenya’s park area, and contains a diversity of habitats, wildlife and a mountainous scenic landscape. The park is a vast expanse of savanna stretching from Mtito Andei, along the Mombasa-Nairobi road and south to the Tanzanian border. The north-eastern boundary along the highway adjoins Tsavo East National Park, but Tsavo West has a more diverse array of habitats than its neighbor.

The park’s habitats include open plains alternating with savannah bush and semi dessert scrub, acacia woodlands; rocky ridges and isolated hills; belts of riverine vegetation; palm thickets and on the Chuylu hills, mountain forest. There are numerous rocky outcrops and ridges and part of the park, towards the Chyulu Hills, is of recent volcanic origin with lava flows and ash cones including the Shetani lava flow, an example of recent volcano.

In the far south-western corner on the Kenya, Tanzania border is lake Jipe, part of which is in the park. This very attractive lake is fed by runoff from Mount Kilimanjaro and the North Pare mountains. At Mzima Springs, in the North of the park, water that has filtered underground from the Chyulu Hills gushes from below a lava ridge into a series of clear pools.

Visitors have an opportunity to view animals under water through a glass house, man eaters-caves where 2 lions were shot in Tsavo West by Col. Patterson, railway bridge forms boundary. The wildlife here includes Leopard, cheetah, wild dogs, buffalo, rhino, elephant, giraffe, zebra, lion, plains game, crocodile, mongoose, hyrax, dik-dik, lesser kudu and porcupine. Prolific birdlife features 600 recorded species.