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At nearly 22,000km², Tsavo is the largest national park in Kenya and one of the largest in the world. Due to its size the park was split into two - Tsavo West and Tsavo East - for easier administration. Unfortunately my visit was restricted to the eastern part of the park. It would have taken weeks to explore the many different areas of this huge wilderness. The west was even hit harder by the severe drought in 2009. So I concentrated on the east and spent a couple of days at amazing Tarhi Camp (now renamed as Sentrim Tsavo) which was my base to explore the park's different areas.
 

Famous for its maneless lions and spectacular herds of up to 1000 buffalos, Tsavo East has more open savannah than its western sibling. The scrub-covered hills of the southern park have a very remote feel. The best game viewing is along the watercourses (Voi or Galana River) and at Kanderi swamp, which is not far from the main Voi gate. Thirty kilometres from the gate is Aruba Dam which is famous for cheetah sightings.
 

The main draw of the park is definitely its large herds of 50 or more elephants, which have instinctively retreated to the vicinity of the lodges where they are assured of protection. The waterhole at Tarhi offered fantastic elephant sightings as it had one of the very few remaining water sources during the severe drought. Due to its bushy vegetation game viewing isn’t as easy as in the Mara or Amboseli. But if you take your time you’ll definitely see a lot!