Tsavo East National Park is one of the most visited protected conservation areas of Kenya, it is part of the Large Tsavo National Park located in the southern part of the country and is popular for its high concentration of lions that were sometimes known as “Man eaters” during the construction of the East African Railway. Tsavo East National Park is named after the river Tsavo underlining the national park, this part of the park is flatter compared to the western side with more of a scattered bush, it is divided from the rest of the conservation area by a main road A109 connecting Mombasa to Nairobi, the park was gazette in 1948 as a way of protecting animal species of the ecosystem and is being managed by the Kenya Wildlife Service.
Tsavo East National Park has had a bad history which greatly affected the whole of the park from the man-eating lions, this happened way back to the 1800s, when lions happened to feed on the workers of the railway one by one which affected the progress of construction, the park was featured in the movie “The Ghost and Darkness” which made it to gain more fame, animals are concentrated around the two main rivers draining the national park river Athi and Tsavo which together meet and form the larger river of Galana, along the banks of these river are several animal and birds that can be spotted.
The vegetation of Tsavo East National Park is dotted with huge baobab trees, acacia woodlands, riverine forest, and open savannah grassland, the varied vegetation types are habitat to wildlife species for example lions, leopards, elephants, giraffes, wildebeests, buffaloes, cheetahs, wild dogs, hippos, hyenas, to mention a few, and over 500 species of birds have been recorded in the conservation area to date, besides wildlife other attractions of the national park include the Mudanda rocks, these are inselbergs in the center of the Tsavo East National Park, this is a very old rock said to date back to the stone age era, these rocks are also a water catchment area in the national park. The Lugard Falls, are a beautiful place in the national park, they were named after the explorer Sir Fredrick Lugard who first discovered the falls.
Tsavo East National Park is where the Yatta Plateau is situated, between the rivers Athi and Tiva, the plateau was formed as a result of volcanic eruption, and the Aruba dam which was constructed by the park authorities to provides water for animals during the dry season.
The presence of several attractions in the national park presents the opportunity to do tourism activities including game drives, these are conducted in sessions in the morning, afternoon, and evening times in search of wildlife species, through the well-distributed trails, you will have close encounters of animals, the national park is a haven of birds, there are over 400 species of birds that have been recorded in the park to date.
Tsavo East National Park can be visited anytime of the year but best during the dry season between the months of December-February and June-September when the trails of the park are much drier and easier to access, there is available accommodation in the park beginning from the best budget to luxury.
In conclusion, Tsavo East National Park can be accessed by road it is about 325 kilometres from Nairobi, and it is possible to connect from other conservation areas, for example, the Lake Nakuru National Park, which takes approximately 450 kilometers, the park can be accessed by plane to the nearest airstrip to the conservation area.