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MattyK81
Visited:
January 2012
Reviewed: Jun 6, 2012
An Authentic, Accessible Experience
As a working professional, my vacation days are limited. I had booked a week at a beach resort in Mombasa, intending nothing more than to escape the New York winter for a tropical beach while putting another country under my well-traveled belt. Going on safari was almost an afterthought.
After two days of beach, beer and sun, I decided to check out the wildlife. I asked the reception at my youth hostel for a safari recommendation. After one phone call on a borrowed cell phone and one taxi ride into downtown Mombasa to pay the fee (they took American Express) I was booked for an overnight Safari at Tsavo National Park.
We left Mombasa early in the morning, arriving at our hotel for lunch. I stayed at the Voi Wildlife Lodge, which I highly recommend! It combines modern amenities (including air conditioning: a pleasant
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luxury for Europeans but an absolute must for Americans) with incredible scenery. There are several swimming pools and an observation deck that stretches approximately 50m into the park and overlooks a watering hole.The safari itself was very memorable. We saw elephants, giraffes, baboons, wildebeest, gazelles, dik diks, cheetahs, and we even saw a lioness in the morning! Our guide was a native Kenyan who spoke perfect English and what sounded to me like very good German. It rained, very briefly, as we were driving from Mombasa to Tsavo. Not a lot, but just enough for me to "Bless the rains down in Africa" as the song goes. Aside from that one drizzle the weather was invariably sunny and warm: 88 degrees for Americans, just under 30 for Europeans.
Tsavo was incredible, I can't emphasize that enough, but the biggest draw for me was the easy accessibility from both Mombasa and Nairobi. If I'd stayed longer, I would have included several other parks in addition to Tsavo. I would have liked to venture into Tanzania and perhaps checked out the island of Zanzibar. Sadly, I have a limited number of vacation days and a lot of world left to explore...
Narina Exelby
ZA
Visited:
September 2012
Reviewed: Dec 28, 2012
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great game viewing in a very accessible park
Straddling the highway between Nairobi and Mombasa, Tsavo East and West together form the biggest park in Kenya. At over 20,000 square kilometres, the Tsavos cover four percent of the country’s land, and together are larger than Israel.
Tsavo East is the busier of the two parks in terms of visitor numbers, and is especially popular with day visitors who’re staying in Mombasa or along the coast. Voi Gate is the best place to enter, and the areas around here offer fantastic game viewing. There is a plain around Aruba Dam that is teeming with wildlife; when I was there, I saw a herd of elephants, buffalo, zebra, impala and a troop of baboons – at the same time – as well as a very shy jackal.
Tsavo East is neatly divided into north and south by the Galana River. Two-thirds of the park lies north of the Galana, but this area is essentially off-limits to visitors. South of the Galana, however, there is plenty of wildlife and most animals seem to be used to vehicles, so you have some fantastic opportunities to get good wildlife photographs.
Kaylee Le C
GB
Visited:
September 2011
Reviewed: Jun 5, 2012
Email Kaylee Le C | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The most memorable wildlife experience of our lives!
We went to Tsavo when we were on our honeymoon, this is the first time we have done a safari and certainly will not be the last! We did two game drives a day, morning and afternoon, in between we were back at the lodges for our meals, all the food was beautiful, rooms to a high standard, staff very friendly and helpful, all the drives were very well organised, our driver was very knowledgeable about the wildlife and great fun to be with. I would recommend a safari for adults and grown up children only as the game drives are around 2-3 hours long with a lot of driving in between lodges etc. and young children perhaps wouldn't have the patience or be able to stay quiet around the animals. Overall it was the best holiday we have ever had, we saw all the big 5, made some wonderful friends and memories to last a lifetime and we will definately return one day!
MARK R
GB
Visited:
June 2014
Reviewed: Jan 17, 2016
Email MARK R | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Three Days to Remember.
Having visited Tsavo East National Park in 1992 I always vowed to bring my wife to the park and experience the wildlife, scenery and hospitality that the staff at the lodges offer. We were not disappointed all the lodges we stayed in were superb and our guide who we booked with JT Safaris was exceptional.
Dan
GB
Visited:
June 2016
Reviewed: Aug 30, 2016
Email Dan | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
A Tsavo East Epic Adventure!
Rounding the first corner, no more than 200 metres in, we saw our first elephants, a small family group grazing in the bush by the side of the track. Elephant would prove to be our ever present in the park. It was full of them all over the whole park.
Our first night was spent camping at Ndololo Camp. This is a public campsite, with a shower/toilet block. There was a very helpful caretaker who brought us wood for the fire! Camping was fantastic due to the fact that the campsite is unfenced and animals can wander in at leisure. The highlight was a bull elephant not 50 meters from where we sat reaching up into a tree with his trunk and using his body weight to pull a branch down. Exhilarating!
Game drives were constantly stopped to look at elephants
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and the plentiful game. Our guide found us lions lazing in the grass. You have to be pretty fortunate to see them moving around or hunting apparently! They were an amazing sight though!The bush is thick in places and the guide is crucial as they know where the game hangs out- we saw everything we wanted to!
We then moved up to the northern area to stay in a luxury tented camp called Galdessa on the Galana River. One word- spectacular! The river was full of hippos and crocodiles and just sitting there we saw elephants crossing- who can resist seeing a baby elephant swimming across with only it's trunk visible above the water?
Lions came down to drink nearby in the dark and the noises of the bush at night were sensational! The camp was awesome! Great food, helpful staff and the highlight was a bush walk with a guide and a ranger down the river from the mighty Lugards Falls. We saw a leopard! The elusive animal was on a rock waiting for us it seemed! It soon disappeared as we stopped to look at it, ranger on guard just in case!
We took a sundowner trip to a place called Mudanda Rocks. Perhaps on of the greatest views in the world! We climbed to the top and sat over looking a waterhole, watching giraffe, elephant, impala, warthog and gazelles drinking as we sipped a cold Tusker beer- heaven! The view from the rocks out across the vast expanse of Tsavo East was simply stunning and I never wanted to leave!
All in all our safari to Tsavo East was amazing, well worth the money! In fact, for the experience we had it was cheap!
Kenya is such a fascinating country and I would recommend visiting it to anyone. We took our two small children aged 8 and 6 with us and never ever felt unsafe. The guides and rangers were incredibly professional.
Kenya- visit it now!