June 25-26: Tsavo West National Park

After leaving Amboseli, we headed east a couple hours drive to Tsavo West National Park, located roughly 150 miles southwest of Nairobi.

The park is one of the oldest Parks in Kenya, having been established in 1948. It is the second largest Park in Kenya (after Tsavo East NP, our next stop), covering an area of 3,500 square miles, and is separated from Tsavo East National Park by the major Nairobi-Mombasa highway and railway. The Park was named after the magnificent Tsavo river, which is the main river that drains the park, as shown here:

Tsavo West is yet another “classic Africa” Park characterized by a vast savannah ecosystem with open grasslands, scrublands, and Acacia woodlands, belts of riverine riparian vegetation and striking rocky ridges. The park is known as “Land of Lava, Springs, Man-eaters and Magical Sunsets”. Its popularity is based on the man-eating lions that killed hundreds of people during the construction of the Railway line and the highway during the colonial era, which was the real life basis for movies such as “The Ghost and the Darkness”. Indeed, there are cases of lions getting a taste for human flesh and realizing how easy prey we are, but these are exceptions, not the rule, so don’t worry. The Park has a relatively low density of wildlife (although see the photo gallery below for a few photos), so we ended up doing a fair amount of driving without seeing many animals. However, the landscape was so striking that a respite from wildlive viewing was OK. Here are some photos of the striking landsape of Tsavo West:

We planned and paid for two nights camping at the Chyulu public campsite (one of only two in the Park), but we were informed that it was not usable (for unspecified reasons) or advisable due to the abundance of tsetse flies in that area. Fortunately, we had already decided to switch our booking to the Kudu special campsite situated along the Tsavo River, which we learned from blogs was a magical site. However, to our dismay, we were informed that a large party was already booked for the site our first night. Then we were informed that all the other designated special campsites were not accessible at this time because of damage from the wet-season flooding. Dilemma, what to do? We paid $35 USD per person per night for a special campsite, instead of the $20 for the public campsite.

The Park agent at the gate got on the phone and found out that another special site, not advertised, existed and was available. Great, send us there please! After getting directions from the other Park official on the phone, we marked a waypoint in the GPS and headed out. Did I already mention in this blog that most Park officials have absolutely no clue what goes on outside their own very narrow sphere of duties. Well, you guessed it. We got to the specified location after about an hour of driving and there was no sign that a campsite ever existed anywhere within several kilometers. So what to do? We travelled on a bit further to the second public campsite and briefly considered staying there, although there was nothing appealing about the site other than having facilities and water. We talked to the Park warden on the phone and he said that our special campsite and all the others are not open at this time. OK, but what about the expense we paid for a Special campsite? After some discussion, the Warden said our only option was to go to the Kudu campsite, and he assured us that there would be plenty of room for both our party and the other booked party. Great! We headed out and one hour later we arrived at what was indeed a magical site right along the Tsavo River. The only problem was that there was already a very large high-end mobile safari group (probably 10 guests and an equal number of staff) on site and they had it fully occupied. We’re talking huge tents, each with a separate toilet and shower, all strung out along the bank. Not only that, but they didn’t want us to crash their privacy when they had high-paying clients with them. Fortunately, the head man said he had seen a delightful riverside site a few kilometers upriver, but that we may have to maneuver the vehicles a bit to get into it from the road. So, with darkness approaching, we headed up river and found the spot. It involved about 100 yards or so of off-road maneuvering through the brush and trees and over some bumpy ground, but we ended up at a very nice riverside spot for our camp (watch the video if your want to see our winding track into the site). We settled in for the night and enjoyed a riverside campfire, flute music, and gourmet found from our resident chef – Caitlin. Here’s a photo of our site (but see the video for more complete coverage).

On our first full day in Tsavo West, we drove about 30 kilometers to Mzima Springs, where there is some 50 million gallons of crystal-clear water gushing out of parched lava rock that is the Mzima Springs. We took what looked to be the best route from our Kudu campite to the springs, but it went through pretty dense scrubland that was home to abundant tsetse flies. These flies are like horseflies or greenheads on steroids. They are attracted to movement and go after the vehicles and all persons inside with a determination that is actually impressive if I didn’t hate them so much. We had to keep the windows open due to the heat – no air conditioning in the Green Dragon – and so we pitched battle with them for about 30 minutes before getting to some nice tstse-free grassland savannah with buffalo, zebra, oryx and hartebeests, along with a few of the smaller antelope species such a impala and dik dik.

Eventualy, we made it to Mzima Springs. This site is a desert oasis extraordaire. Millions of gallons of crystal clear water gushing out of the ground to form pools and a river on its way to the Tsavo River. Apparently, water infiltrates the volanic Chyulu Mountains about 50-100 kilometers north of the Springs and flows underground through the porous basalt rock, getting filtered along the way, and then emerging in this and several other springs. The big coastal city of Mombasa, hundreds of kilometers away, pipes this spring water all the way to the city to supply a large portion of its potable water. Here’s a few photos of the Springs, but see the video for more action commentary:

For our last night in Tsavo West we intended to stay in an elevated tent platform overlooking a water hole in the Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary, dedicated to the recovery of the black rhino population. Historically, black rhinos were found in Tsavo at densities higher than anywhere else on the planet. In 1940 there were an estimated 20,000 black rhinos in the Tsavo Conservation Area (Tsavo East and West National Parks). By 1989 there were less than 20 individuals as a result of rampant poaching. Within Tsavo West NP, the Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary was established in 1986 as a fenced stronghold to enable the breeding and recovery of black rhino in Tsavo starting with just nine individuals. Today Sanctuary is 35 square miles and is home to over 120 rhino. An Intensive Protection Zone around the Sanctuary was established in 2008 as an unfenced, highly protected, free-ranging area and 19 founder rhinos were introduced there. This population has grown significantly over time, making the Tsavo rhino recovery one of the most successful and positive conservation stories in recent years.

Instead of the Rhino Sanctuary, we headed downstream to the Kudu special campsite, our intended campsite for our first night. We could have stayed where we were, but the Kudu site was too magical to pass up. This site is high on the bank on a bend in the Tsavo River with great views of the river and the mountains beyond. Here’s a photo of the site (the video also has coverage):

We didn’t see too much wildlife in Tsavo West, at least not at the densities found elsewhere, but we did manage to encounter some. Here are a few photos:

For you action lovers, here’s my composite video of Tsavo West National Park. Note, much of the footage is of driving through the striking landscape and visiting Mzima Springs, as the wildlife was scarce and hard to video:

Tsavo West National Park composite video (17 minutes)

Next stop, Tsavo East National Park. See you there!

New bird species:

• Nubian woodpecker
• Crowned eagle