- Location: Coastal Province, Kenya (between Nairobi and Mombasa)
- Total area: 22 thousand square meters. km.
- Year of foundation: 1944.
- Cost of visiting: adult - 65 dollars, children's - 30
Tsavo National Park is one of the largest reserves in the world, which is located in the exotic country of Kenya . Its territory occupies 4% of the total area of the state and is 22 thousand square kilometers. The reserve is a large nature conservation area, which is located in the south-east of the country, and includes Western Tsavo and Eastern Tsavo. In 1948, both sites were protected.
Here there are rare specimens of animals that are listed in the Red Book. In the national park is also found a lot of large mammals that are included in the "Big Five". So, here lives the largest population of the African elephant, which totals up to seven thousand individuals. These animals love to pour themselves red clay, so they are often called "red elephants" (Red elephant). Even here there are nesting up to five hundred species of birds, including migratory birds. Most of the year, with the exception of October-November and April-May, is hot dry weather. Fortunately, through the reserve flows the river Galana, which is a place for watering various birds and animals.
Eastern Tsavo
The territory of Eastern Tsavo, in fact, is an arid savannah, which is strewn with bushes and a lot of marshes. For visiting only the southern part of the reserve, where the river flows, is open. Therefore, tourists do not like to drive in these parts, depriving themselves of the pleasure of enjoying unique types of terrain. Here is the largest plateau on the planet - the Yatta plateau, formed from a cooled lava.
In order for visitors to fully enjoy the wild nature, a special camp is nearby, where you can spend the night and watch African animals: buffalo, impala antelope, kudu, water goats and so on. And in the shadow of "feverish trees" tourists will hear the heartfelt shouts of green and crowned (blue) monkeys.
During the drought, the dam of Aruba, where the animals come to the watering hole, almost completely dries up. In this case, the animals go to the river Athi, which in full water (May, June, November) appears in all its splendor and ends with the boiling waterfall Lugarard. In the reservoirs lives a huge number of Nile crocodiles, who hunt inattentive mammals trying to quench their thirst.
In Eastern Tsavo you can see elephants, ostriches, hippos, cheetahs, lions, giraffes, a herd of zebras and antelopes. Near the waterfall is a reserve of black rhinoceroses. All the conditions for increasing the population of these animals are created here, because the number of poachers decreased to fifty individuals due to poachers. In this part of the park there is a nesting place for many migratory birds arriving here at the end of October from Europe. Here there are water-cutters, palm vultures, weavers and other birds.
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What is Western Tsavo?
The territory of Western Tsavo, in comparison with the Eastern one, is much smaller. They are separated by the main motorway A109 and the railway. The area of this part of the national park is seven thousand square kilometers. However, there is a rather diverse flora and fauna, in these parts there are about 70 species of mammals. On clear sunny days from here you can observe the amazing landscape of Mount Kilimanjaro . The landscape of Western Tsavo is more rocky and there are also more varieties of vegetation here than in the eastern part.
Here there are also Chulu - these are young mountains that were formed from compressed ash as a result of a volcanic eruption. They rise at a height of two thousand meters and absorb moisture, and then, recharging the underground sources, return it to the ground. According to researchers, the age of the youngest mountain is about five hundred years. This part of Tsavo Park and the underground springs of Mzima Springs are well-known, which translates as "alive". With the release of groundwater to the surface, the reserve formed a lot of water bodies, which provide mammals with vital moisture. Here you can often find bathers hippos, and in the green thickets surrounding the lake, wander white and black rhinoceroses. The latter can only be seen at night, during their activity, as these animals wait in the shade of the trees during the daytime heat.
Large mammals are constantly accompanied by so-called bird cleaners, which help the first to get rid of parasites and ticks that live on the surface of the skin. For these feathered insects are subsistence. And then the endless savannah with its numerous inhabitants opens. Here, besides the habitual African inhabitants, also more rare species, such as the antelope gerenuk and the giraffe gazelle, which extends its unusually long neck to reach the leaves of the highly growing plants, also live. Predators often feed on dead and weak animals, thus "natural selection" occurs - only healthy and strong individuals can live and reproduce. Also, local "nurses" cleanse the land of decaying carcasses and related infections.
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Lions-cannibals from Tsavo Park
In 1898 the construction of the railway reached the valley of the Tsavo River. The course of work violated the loss of several workers. People soon found out that they were hunted by two huge lions around the camp. The length of predators was about three meters, the animals were deprived of manes, although both were males. These animals specially tracked, and then killed their victims, not because they were hungry, but simply it gave them pleasure. For six months, according to various sources, from thirty to one hundred people were killed. The workers left everything and went home. Then the construction manager decided to set traps, which the lions skillfully avoided. After this, John Patterson began to hunt predators and first killed one, and after a while the second beast.
Lions from Tsavo for a long time entered the local tales and legends. About local killers, even several films were shot:
- In 1952, the "Bwana Devil";
- in 1996, "The Ghost and the Darkness";
- in 1959 the "Killers of Kilimanjaro".
How to get to the Tsavo National Reserve?
Moving along the highway from the city of Mombasa to Nairobi or back, you will pass by the main gate of the reserve. All congresses and intersections are marked by signs. You can get on the bus (the price is about five hundred shillings) or renting a car, as well as immediately with an organized excursion.
Tourists, who once visited this reserve, come here again and again. The time spent in the territory of Tsavo in Kenya is never enough to see all the local attractions. The ticket price is thirty and sixty-five dollars for children and adults respectively.
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