What is the Largest Park in Kenya
WHAT IS THE LARGEST PARK IN KENYA
What is the Largest Park in Kenya : Tsavo is the largest national park in Kenya at 22000km2, making it one of the largest in the world the park was established in 1948.Through the creation of a railway going from Mombasa to the interior of Kenya, the park was splited into two that is the Tsavo West and Tsavo East national parks, the Chyulu Hills national park, the south Kitui national reserve and all the lands in between, the Tsavo national park also stretches south and across the border into Tanzania. The Tsavo East and Tsavo West covers 13,747 and 7065 square kilometres respectively, making up half of Kenya’s protected area. The remote location of the park in the South Eastern part of Kenya nearing the coastal province, it’s found near the town of Voi in Taita-Taveta county which was once the coast province, the park strategic location makes it easy for the traveller to start Tsavo national park safari from either Nairobi city or Mombasa region.
The Western side which is the Tsavo West national park is more dramatic with diversity in landscapes ranging from swamps and springs to mountainous terrain with it being known for its birdlife and large mammals as well as smaller plain game. The Shetani lava flow and the Mzima springs are points of interest within the park amongst many natural landmarks and look-out points for maximum game viewing. The park covers an area of 9,065 square kilometres.
Tsavo East national park is the largest of the two parks, wild in nature and character with the easier game viewing due to the flat, dry grassy plains. One of the Kenya’s largest rivers, the Galana River flows and meanders through the park. This is another haven for the nature photographers with over 500 bird species and predators such as lions, leopards and cheetah sprawling and traversing the vast and diverse land. It’s on (8,036) square kilometres (20,812 sq.km) of the Kenya’s national parks.
Tsavo national park covers an area of 16,000 square miles (42,000 square kilometres) on both the Tsavo East and Tsavo West national parks and adverse range of ethnic communities and tribes. Tsavo national park has coordinates of 2046’43 South and 38046’18 East, the Tsavo national park covers an area of 13,747km2 (5,308 sq. mi) and the park is governed by the Kenya Wildlife service.
Tsavo covers the wider conservation area in that it harbours Kenya’s largest elephant population, at 40% of Kenya’s total population, as well as 18% of the Kenya’s black rhino population, much of which live in the Ngulia Rhino sanctuary inside Tsavo national park. In Tsavo national park there are indicators that the elephant population is expanding at rate of 4-5%per annum, however there is concern that poaching remains a significant threat to the Tsavo national park. Tsavo national park is one of the most visited protected areas in Kenya thought the majority of the visitors remain in the southern parts of the Tsavo East and the northern parts of the Tsavo West. The Tsavo national park size has given it an added advantage to the large population of wildlife in the park that is the park habits all the African big five (Lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo and Rhinos) and the park is amongst the few national parks in Kenya where you can see both Black and White rhinos, the park is the oldest in Kenya which was gazetted in April 1948.The park was named after the Tsavo river that runs across the park from West to East, the river is a sole source of water at the park for the wildlife.
Other animal species in Tsavo national park includes the Gazelles, Kobs, Wildebeest, zebras, Hyenas, Cheetahs and among others, the park also has a vast of bird species of which are found in various places inside the park and bird species are over 400, for example the secretary bird, crowned birds, vultures, Black kite, Bulbul, Sacred Ibis, little egret and many more, the Tsavo West is the best spotting area for the birds in the Tsavo national park, the Tsavo west is wetter than the Tsavo east. The Tsavo West is also known for Lake Jipe where some of the bird species can be found, also the rare black rhinos in the park can be see in the West part of the park.
The Tsavo national park size is cleared marked by the Tsavo national park map that shows all the boundaries of the park, the park borders Mkomazi game reserve of Tanzania and Chyulu hills national park, its remote location in the coastal province has made it occupy the vast savannah grassland. The park is dominated by the former semi-desert of Taru. The Tsavo national park also borders the community conservancies like the Taita Hills game sanctuary and the Lumo Community Wildlife sanctuary and among others.
Best time to visit Tsavo national park.
Tsavo national park is one of the parks in Kenya where the visitors have to do the plan well on the parking list before visiting the park, thought any time in the year is the best to visit the park for various activities like the game driving, bird watching and other many activities, Tsavo national park is the best with the true African wilderness. Though it is encouraged to visit the park during the dry season if you are a game viewer as this is the best time to visit the Tsavo National park as during the dry season you can explore all the corners and wildlife in the park, but still if you are a birder, the best time for you to visit the Tsavo national park is during the wet or rainy season as that’s the breeding period and again that’s the period the park receives the migratory birds across in the park.
