Tsavo West National Park

It was an OK experience, but not more.

In the summer of 2011 I visited Tsavo West National Park in Kenya. I was there for two days and I had for some reasons my own driver with no other tourists in the same vehicle. I spent the night at Kiliguni Serena Safari Lodge, which is located in the park.

As I went to the park I imagined the park of consisting of a big savannah with a dense of population of animals. This picture was totally spoiled as I came there, because instead of a savannah there were only some roads through a landscape characterized by a lot of trees and bushes. This had two consequences. Firstly, it was not to easy to discover the animals and when we have found them, the threes and the bushes covered them so that I could not see them clearly and after a while they could be hidden again. Secondly, there were no opportunities to drive close to the animals and really encounter them. It was only possible to drive on the roads and the animals were hardly close to the road.

Concerning animals I observed many of the animals I had expected, but I could never observe the series of the big five. Rhino and leopard lacked. I could only see lions once and they were then quite far away. If the lack of rhinos and leopards and the only single encounter of lions were just bad luck or an indication of not so many interesting animals in the park, I do not know for sure. However, I think that the case was the later and that is also what I heard, when I spoke to locals. I also had the opportunity to leave the vehicle and take a walk with an armed ranger along a water source connected to a river. It was a little bit exciting to walk in the park, because I never knew what would happen. At the same time, I felt safe and I felt that I could trust the ranger. By the river we saw one small crocodile and a hippo.

Concerning accommodation, I really liked the Kiliguni Serena Safari Lodge. The hotel has high standards and I had buffet for breakfast, lunch and supper. The food is good and I really liked the supper with its rich supply of different kinds of foods and desserts. One side of the dining room consisted of a big balcony, from which I could observe animals from my table as the same time having my dinner. Quite close to the balcony there is a little water source and animals came there to drink. My best experience of the trip was at supper, when approximately ten elephants of different sizes came to drink. At one side of the source there is a spotlight, so that it was possible to the see the elephants in action. This is a memory that I never will forget.

To summarize, the trip had some highlights, but I also visited another National Park in Kenya, namely Masai Mara and Tsavo West does not due to its landscape offer the what I expected in terms of encountering of animals and my purpose of going there was of course to do that. If the choice was between Tsavo West and Masai Mara I would definitely chose Masai Mara. So, if somebody planning to go to Tsavo West I would recommend to evaluate the options of parks.

Tsavo West is quite vast. And wildlife is scattered making it not easy to spot. Shetani Lavaflows and the nearby extinct volcanoes make the trip there worth it.

Tsavo West is very scenic and typically dry African bush with the characteristic red Tsavo soil. However wildlife is harder to see here so anyone expecting a Maasai Mara wildlife experience will disappointed. The plus side is you can get an authentic African bush feel here.

great animal viewing from the hotel, but disappointing game drives

Sitting at the restaurant/bar at our lodge, we could spend all day watching animals come and go from the watering hole. This was the highlight of our visit in this park. Our drives were very disappointing with brush so dense, that animal sightings were rare. We booked Tsavo west in hopes of seeing Mount Kilimanjaro and seeing Rhinos. We didn't see either. I would plan extra time in the Masai Mara instead of Tsavo West.

Thick brush made it difficult to see wildlife, but the views of the mountains and Mt Kili at sunset were incredible!

Tsavo West was huge but didn't seem to have as much wildlife as Tsavo East. We did a lot of driving and probably only saw a third as much wildlife. Still a beautiful place though.

Saw very little wildlife varitey.

Because of its terrain makes it difficult to find that many animals, unlike some other parks. They are there and you will see them but not in the quantity like The Mara. Mzima springs worth a visit

Vast but sparely populated

Visited both Tsavo East and Tsavo West. They are quite vast, but sadly not a wide variety of animals are present. You see plenty of elephants and zebras, some giraffes, and that's almost it! We spent 2 days and only saw 2 lions in Tsavo East on our very last hour after a very frantic search for them (our guide had been told where to go and look for them!). There was the occasional monkey and one buffalo. This is all over 2 days! If you really want to see animals go to Maasai Mara, Amboselli, etc.

Did not have time to see much