Tsavo East and Tsavo West are one park on the map but feel like two different places. Tsavo East is flat, dry and open, known for its red-dust elephants. Tsavo West is hillier and greener, with natural springs and a rhino sanctuary. This safari gives you both sides in three days, without adding Amboseli or Taita Hills. We pick you up from your hotel in Malindi, Watamu, Diani or Mombasa and bring you back on day 3.
Pickup starts at 06:30 from your hotel. The drive to Tsavo East takes around three hours on tarmac road, and we enter through Sala Gate with a game drive on the way in, watching for elephants, giraffes, buffalo and lion. You reach your lodge around 13:00 for lunch and a short rest. At 16:00 you head out again for an evening game drive before dinner and an overnight stay in the park.
An early game drive at 06:30 gives you one more pass through Tsavo East before breakfast. Around 09:00 you cross into Tsavo West through Tsavo Gate near Manyani, with game viewing on the way. Your first stop is Mzima Springs, where clear spring water draws hippos and crocodiles close enough to watch from a viewing platform. You reach your lodge for lunch around 13:00. In the afternoon, from 16:00, you head to Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary, a fenced section of the park built to protect the black rhino, one of Africa’s most endangered animals. Dinner and overnight at your lodge.
A morning game drive from 06:30 covers more of Tsavo West’s hills and volcanic rock, before breakfast at the lodge. Around 09:30 you head back through Tsavo Gate into Tsavo East, with a final game drive on the way to Sala Gate. The drive back to the coast takes most of the day, with stops for lunch and rest. You arrive back at your hotel in the evening.
Safari rates change with the season, number of travellers and available accommodation.
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