Tsavo West National Park
- Details
- Category: Sample Data-Articles
- Published on Thursday, 05 December 2013 13:00
- Written by Super User
- Hits: 78962
Tsavo West National Park covers 8,290 km2, and contains a diversity of habitats, wildlife and a mountainous scenic landscape. The park is a vast expanse of savanna stretching south to the Tanzanian border. The North Eastern boundary adjoins Tsavo East National Park, but Tsavo West has a more varied topography and a more diverse array of habitats than its neighbour. The park's habitats include open plains alternating with Savannah bush and semi desert scrub, acacia woodlands; rocky ridges and outcrops and more extensive ranges and isolated hills; belts of riverine vegetation; palm thickets and on the Chyulu hills, mountain forest.
There are numerous rocky outcrops and ridges and part of the park, towards the Chyulu Hills, is of recent volcanic origin with lava flows and ash cones including the Shetani lava flow, an example of a recent volacano. In the far south western corner on the Kenya Tanzania border is Lake Jipe, part of which is in the park. This very attractive lake is fed by runoff from Mt. Kilimanjaro and the North Pare mountains. At Mzima Springs, in the North of the park, water that has filtered underground from the Chyulu Hills gushes from below a lava ridge into a series of clear pools.
MAJOR ATTRACTIONS: A variety of wildlife is present in Tsavo, and most dominant is the elephant. In the early '60's, there were tens of thousands but drought and poaching have reduced their population drastically though there is still plenty left today.
The Mzima Springs & underwater hippo watching, Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary, Lake Jipe, Mt. Kilimanjaro, elephant, lions, cheetah, leopard, rhino, diverse bird and plant species are special reasons to visit this Park during your trip to Kenya. The staff at Circle K Safaris are very conversant with all corners of this Park and will delight you with their intimate knowledge of habitats and behaviors of animals found in Tsavo West.
Birdlife is profuse especially around the rivers and dams, with more than 400 different species noted. This park also lies on the migration corridor from the coast and migrations from the north fly over the park in November and December. Several species of starlings and weaverbirds abound, in addition to hornbills, lilac-breasted rollers and the secretary bird. Water birds such as herons and yellow-billed storks are common sights in Tsavo.
