Tsavo National Park, which covers nearly 22,000 km2, is the largest National Park in Kenya, in fact, it is one of the largest in the world.  

Due to its sheer size, the Park has been split into 2 separate regions – Tsavo West and Tsavo East, and the dividing boundary between the two is the Nairobi to Mombasa highway.

As Tsavo is so close to Mombasa (less than 100 km), it is an ideal destination for anyone wanting to combine the thrill of a safari with some relaxing beach time.  It is also very easy to combine Tsavo with a stay in the Amboseli National Park, for those wanting a 2 centre safari holiday. 

Aside from being a very popular holiday destination, Tsavo is probably most famous for its man-eating lions and its red elephants. 

The man-eating lions came to fame in 1898, when 2 male lions chewed their way through 135 railway workers over a period of 9 months while the Kenyan-Uganda railway was being constructed. 

The lions were eventually shot and killed by Colonel John Patterson, and are still on display today at the Chicago Natural History Museum in the USA, but their descendents can still be found in large numbers in the Park, although thankfully they now prefer zebra and gazelles as their staple food. 

The red elephants of Tsavo are the ONLY red elephants in the world.  Actually, they are really the same colour as every other elephant in the world, but they just appear red due to constantly dust-bathing with the Park’s fine red volcanic soil.  Over 11,500 of them inhabit the Park, so the chances of seeing one are pretty high. 

As well as lions and elephants, Tsavo is also home to the other members of Africa’s Big 5 – buffalo, leopard and rhino, including the endangered black rhino, who now live without fear of poaching in the 90 km2  Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary, located in Tsavo East. 

Tsavo is also home to zebra, giraffe, antelope, spotted and striped hyena, baboons, a large population of hippo, and many crocodiles.  Over 500 species of bird have also been recorded.    

The scenery in the Park is just as impressive as the wildlife.  As well as glimpsing in the distance the snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro, Tsavo West has a volcanic landscape, complete with lava flows and rocky outcrops mingling with the long grass and African bushveld.   

One of the most visited areas of Tsavo West is the  Mzima Springs, which consists of 2 large pools of fresh water connected by rapids.  The underwater viewing hides here are perfect for observing hippos, or just generally the game viewing is excellent, as the fresh water acts as a magnet for a wide range of wildlife who come to drink. 

Just west of the springs is the Chaimu Crater, a volcanic crater formed less than 200 years ago which can be climbed on foot.

Tsavo East is home to open savannah plains, broken by the Galana River and dotted with baobab trees.  Although less visited than its popular neighbour, this section of the Park does have its own scenery highlights, including the Yatta Plateau, which is one of the world’s largest and longest lava flow (300 km long), and the Lugard Falls, which are actually a series of fast flowing rapids along the Galana River.