TSAVO EAST NATIONAL PARK

Geography

Inside Tsavo East National Park, the Athi and Tsavo rivers converge to form the Galana River. Most of the park consists of semi-arid grasslands and savanna. It is considered one of the world’s biodiversity strongholds, and its popularity is mostly due to the vast amounts of diverse wildlife that can be seen, including the famous ‘big five’ consisting of lion, black rhino, cape buffalo, elephant and leopard. The park is also home to a great variety of bird life such as the black kite, crowned crane, lovebird and the sacred ibis. Tsavo East National Park is generally flat, with dry plains across which the Galana River flows. Other features include the Yatta Plateau and Lugard Falls.

How to get there

Roads: the park Mtito Andei Gates is 233 km South of Nairobi and 250 km North of Mombasa on the main Nairobi- Mombasa Road. Distance Nairobi-Mtito Andei: 233 km – Mtito Andei-Voi: 96 km – Voi-Mombasa: 153 km. From Malindi, take the western road (C103) and enter in the park via Sala gate.
Airstrips: Voi, Aruba, Satao, Sala, Ithumba, Sangayaya, Mopeo, Bachuma, Cottars,

Tsavo West National Park is more mountainous and wetter, with swamps, Lake Jipe and the Mzima Springs. It is known for birdlife and for its large mammals. It is also home to a black rhino sanctuary.

Park Entry Fee

Tsavo East National Park	Citizen	Resident	Non-Resident
AdultsKSH	ChildKSH	AdultsKSH	ChildKSH	AdultsUSD	ChildUSD
500	200	500	200	30	20

* Kindly refer to the document KWS Tarrifs 2016 below for other services and charges

* Moded of Payment; MPESA, VISA Card, Direct Deposits to KWS Bank Accounts at any gate

Park Resources

KENYA WILDLIFE SERVICE 2020-2021 CONSERVATION FEES.pdf

Archaeology and history

Although a few Early Stone Age and Middle Stone Age archaeological sites are recorded from ground surface finds in Tsavo, there is much evidence for thriving Late Stone Age economy from 6,000 to 1,300 years ago. Research has shown that Late Stone Age archaeological sites are found close to the Galana River in high numbers. The inhabitants of these sites hunted wild animals, fished and kept domesticated animals. Because of the sparse availability of water away from the Galana River, human settlement in Tsavo focused on the riparian areas and in rock shelters as one moves west.^[5]^[6]

Swahili merchants traded with the inhabitants of Tsavo for ivory, catskins, and probably slaves as early as 700 AD (and probably earlier). There is no evidence for direct Swahili “colonization” of Tsavo. Instead, trade was probably accomplished by moving goods to and from the Swahili Coast via extended kin-networks. Trade goods such as cowry shells and beads have been recovered from archaeological sites dating to the early Swahili period.^[7]

19th century British and German explorers document people we now refer to as Orma and Watha during their travels through the “nyika” (“bush” or “hinterland”) and generally viewed them as hostile toward their interests. Beginning in the late 19th/early 20th century, the British began a concerted effort to colonise the interior of Kenya and built a railway through Tsavo in 1898. Two “man-eating lions” terrorised the construction crews led by Lt. Col Patterson who eventually shot the pair not before they had killed one hundred and thirty five Indians and local workers. The railway was eventually completed through to Kisumu on Lake Victoria.

Tsavo remained the homeland for Orma pastoralists and Watha hunter-gatherers until 1948, when it was gazetted a national park. At that time, the Orma with their livestock were driven off and the aboriginal population of the Watha people was forcefully relocated to Voi and Mtito Andei as well as other locations within the nearby Taita Hills. Following Kenyan independence in 1963, hunting was banned in the park and management of Tsavo was turned over to the authority that eventually became the Kenya Wildlife Service. Tsavo currently attracts photo-tourists from all over the world interested in experiencing the vastness of the wilderness and incredible terrain.

Major attractions

Mudanda Rock

Viewpoint from the top of Mudanda Rock

The Mudanda Rock is a 1.6 km inselberg of stratified rock that acts as a water catchment that supplies a natural dam below. It offers an excellent vantage point for the hundreds of elephants and other wildlife that come to drink during the dry season.

Yatta Plateau

The Yatta Plateau, the world’s longest lava flow, runs along the western boundary of the park above the Athi River. Its 290 km length was formed by lava from Ol Doinyo Sabuk Mountain.

Lugard Falls

Lugard Falls, named after Frederick Lugard, is a series of white water rapids on the Galana River.

Aruba Dam

Aruba Dam was built in 1952 across the Voi River. The reservoir created by the dam attracts many animals and water birds.

Mammals

Tsavo East National Park is one of the world’s largest game reserves, providing undeveloped wilderness homes to vast numbers of animals. Famous are the Tsavo lions, a population whose adult males often lack manes entirely. In total there are about 675 lions in the Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem.

A comprehensive list of the animal types found in Tsavo East Park includes the aardwolf, yellow baboon, bat, Cape buffalo, Senegal bushbaby, bushbuck, caracal, African wildcat, southeast African cheetah, African civet, Kirk’s dik-dik, African wild dog, African dormouse, blue duiker, bush duiker, Harvey’s red duiker, common eland, African bush elephant, bat-eared fox, northern greater galago, Grant’s gazelle, rusty-spotted genet, common genet, gerenuk, giraffe, African savanna hare, springhare, Coke’s hartebeest, Hunter’s hartebeest, East African hedgehog, spotted hyena, striped hyena, yellow-spotted rock hyrax, southern tree hyrax, impala, black-backed jackal, side-striped jackal, klipspringer, lesser kudu, leopard, lion, banded mongoose, dwarf mongoose, Egyptian mongoose, marsh mongoose, slender mongoose, white-tailed mongoose, vervet monkey, Sykes’ monkey, fringe-eared oryx, clawless otter, ground pangolin, crested porcupine, cane rat, giant rat, naked mole rat, honey badger, bohor reedbuck, black rhinoceros, serval, elephant shrew, bush squirrel, East African red squirrel, striped ground squirrel, unstriped ground squirrel, suni, common warthog, ellipsen waterbuck, plains zebra and Grevy’s zebra.

Birds

Over 500 bird species have been recorded in the area, including ostriches, kestrels, buzzards, starlings, weaver birds, kingfishers, hornbills, secretary birds and herons.

Poaching

Between 2001 and 2006 more than 100 lions have been killed in the Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem. Most of them have been speared by young men. The poachers usually do not face serious consequences. In contrast, the game scouts who arrested offenders have been punished by the community.^[9]

References

^ “Tsavo East & West – Africa and Beyond”. www.africaandbeyond.co.uk. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
^ “Tsavo National Parks”. Tsavo Park.
^ “Visit Africa: Tsavo East National Park”. visitafrica.site. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
^ “Wildlife Parks”. spsafaritours.com. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
^ Wright, David (2005) Environment, Chronology and Resource Exploitation of the Pastoral Neolithic in Tsavo, Kenya. PhD Dissertation. Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Chicago.
^ Wright, David K. (1 April 2007). “Tethered mobility and riparian resource exploitation among Neolithic hunters and herders in the Galana River basin, Kenyan coastal lowlands”. Environmental Archaeology. 12 (1): 25–47. doi:10.1179/174963107×172732. ISSN 1461-4103. S2CID 140626061.
^ Wright, David (2005). New perspectives on early regional interaction networks in East Africa: A view from Tsavo National Park, Kenya. African Archaeological Review 22(3): DOI: 10.1007/s10437-005-8041-7
^ British Museum Natural History (2001). Alkaline rocks and carbonatites of the world. London: The Geological Society. p. 135. ISBN 9781862390836.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Frank, L., Maclennan, S., Hazzah, L., Hill, T., & Bonham, R. (2006). Lion Killing in the Amboseli-Tsavo Ecosystem, 2001–2006, and its Implications for Kenya’s Lion Population. PDF Living with Lions, Nairobi, Kenya, 9.

Kusimba, Chapurukha M.; Kusimba, Sibel B.; Wright, David K. (2005) The development and collapse of precolonial ethnic mosaics in Tsavo, Kenya. Journal of African Archaeology 3(2):345–365. JAfrArch
Thorbahn, P. F., (1979) The Precolonial Ivory Trade of East Africa: Reconstruction of a Human-Elephant Ecosystem. Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Wijngaarden, W. v., and V. W. P. v. Engelen (1985) Soils and Vegetation of the Tsavo Area. Geological Survey of Kenya, Nairobi.
Wright, David K. (2005) Environment, Chronology and Resource Exploitation of the Pastoral Neolithic in Tsavo, Kenya. PhD Dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Chicago. Wright Diss
Wright, David K. (2005) New perspectives on early regional interaction networks in East Africa: A view from Tsavo National Park, Kenya. African Archaeological Review 15(3):111–141. AAR
Wright, David K. (2007) Tethered mobility and riparian resource exploitation among Neolithic hunters and herders in the Galana River Basin, Kenyan Coastal Lowlands. Environmental Archaeology 12(1):25–47. Env. Archaeology
Wright, David K.; Forman, Steven L.; Kusimba, Chapurukha M.; Pierson, James; Gomez, Jeanette; Tattersfield, Peter (2007) Stratigraphic and geochronological context of human habitation along the Galana River, Kenya. Geoarchaeology 22(7):709–730. Geoarch
Patterson, John Henry. (1907) Man-Eaters of Tsavo. P 41 – 114.