Tsavo East National Park

Tsavo East National Park – Located app. 333 km from Nairobi, this savannah National Park lies in the low, semi-arid country at the eastern edge of the inland plateau, north of the main Mombasa– Nairobi road and railway. This has made it a trendy safari destination world over. 

Tsavo East National Park is one of the oldest National Parks in Kenya after being established in April 1948 and yet together with Tsavo West, make the most significant game reserves in the world with 40% of the total area of all Kenyan National Parks.

Much of the park is level, open country, with scattered rocky outcrops. The Yatta Plateau (world’s most substantial lava flow), a long, flat-topped lava ridge, runs along the western boundary, and beneath it flows the Athi river; this joins the Tsavo river to become the Galana river, a permanent stream that cuts right across the park. The seasonal Tiva and Voi rivers are essential features of the northern and southern sectors, respectively. Along the rivers is a narrow fringe of woodland and thicket, dominated by Acacia elatior, the Doum palm Hyphaene compressa and the shrub Suaeda monoica. 

The northern part of the park is predominantly more-or-less dense Acacia–Commiphora woodland. South of the Galana, common shrubs includes species of Premna, Bauhinia and Sericocomopsis, and scattered trees such as Delonix elata and Melia volkensii. The Yatta Plateau has a cover of dense bushland, with stands of baobab Adansonia digitata. There are scattered seasonal pools, swamps and dams, but relatively few sources of permanent water.

Tsavo East National Park holds substantial populations of a diversity of other wildlife, from large and small mammals to amphibians, reptiles, abundant flora, to insects and much more.

Tsavo East National Park Birding

Tsavo East National Park has a prolific bird with an astounding checklist of up 500 species record. The park lies within the migratory routes of Palearctic migrants which qualifies it an essential spot for these species especially the rarely seen Sooty and Eleonora’s Falcons.

The park is home to 61 of the 94 species of the Somali-Masai biome that occur in Kenya. Four globally threatened species namely; Taita Thrush, Friedmann’s Lark, Lesser Kestrel and Basra Reed Warbler along with seven regionally threatened species namely; African Finfoot, African Darter, Great egret, Saddle-billed Stork, White-headed Vulture, Martial Eagle, and Violet Wood Hoopoe have been recorded at this site.

Please contact us to plan for you a trip to this Tsavo East National Park.