Tsavo is a region of Kenya located at the crossing of the Uganda Railway over the Tsavo River, close to where it meets the AthiRiver. Tsavo means "slaughter" in the language of the Kambapeople. Until the British put an end to the slave trade in the late 19th century, Tsavo was continually crossed by caravans of Arab slavers and their captives. Two national parks, Tsavo East and Tsavo West, are nearby.
Tsavo East National Park is one of the oldest and largest parks in Kenya at 13,747 square kilometers. Situated in a semi-arid area previously known as the Taru Desert it opened in April 1948, and is located near the town of Voi in the Taita-Taveta County. The park is divided into east and west sections by the A109 road and a railway. Named for the Tsavo River, which flows west to east through the national park, it borders the Chyulu Hills National Park, and the Mkomazi Game Reserve in Tanzania.
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.
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.
Tsavo achieved fame in The Man-eaters of Tsavo by John Henry Patterson (author), a 1907 book about the eponymous pair of lions who attacked workers building the railroad bridge. The book has been made into several films; mostly famously The Ghost and the Darkness, starring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas, which won an Academy Award for editing in 1997.
MAJOR ATTRACTIONS
➢ Mudanda Rock, Viewpoint from the top. 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 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 DoinyoSambuki Mountain.
➢ Lugard Falls, named after Fredrick Lugard is a series of white water rapids on the Galana River.
➢ Aruba Dam was built in 1952 across the Voi River. The reservoir created by the dam attracts many animals and water birds.
➢ Mammals in 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, bush baby, bushbuck, caracal, African wildcat, cheetah, civet, dik-dik, African hunting dog, African dormouse, blue duiker, bush duiker, red duiker, eland, African bush elephant, bat-eared fox, greater galago, gazelle, large-spotted genet, small-spotted genet, gerenuk, giraffe, African hare, springhare, Coke's hartebeest, East African hedgehog, spotted hyena, striped hyena, rock hyrax, 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, velvet monkey, Sykes' monkey, fringe-eared Oryx, clawless otter, ground pangolin, crested porcupine, black rhinoceros, spectacled elephant shrew, bush squirrel, East African red squirrel, striped ground squirrel, unstriped ground squirrel, warthog, waterbuck, plains zebra and Grevy's zebra.
➢ Over 500 bird species have been recorded in the area, including ostriches, kestrels, buzzards, starlings, weaver birds, kingfishers, hornbills, secretary birds and herons.
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