Abi's Kenya Safari

In 2012, I spent 4 months volunteering in Diani, which is a coastal town just outside of Mombasa, Kenya. I knew I couldn’t leave Africa without going on safari, so to mark the end of my time in Kenya I booked a 3 day safari trip.

Kenya is home to many National Parks, so it was difficult to choose which ones to visit in the time I had. I decided on Tsavo National Park, which is one of the oldest and largest national parks in Kenya. As the park is so vast, it has been split into Tsavo East which is 207 miles south-east of Nairobi, and Tsavo West which is 107 miles north-west of Mombasa.

The first day of my safari was spent in a jeep with the tour guide, George, who drove the 4 hour journey from Mombasa to Tsavo East.

Within the first 10 minutes of arriving at Tsavo East National Park I spotted a herd of elephants, which made me very happy indeed! This was soon followed by zebra, buffalo and different species of antelope. An hour into the drive, and minutes away from the lodge, we spotted a leopard  taking refuge in a tree- this even surprised the driver, as leopards are usually hard to spot (excuse the pun).

Arriving at the lodge in time for lunch after an incredible morning of wildlife spotting, I was already looking forward to the evening drive as I was told that the chance of seeing lions was high! Unfortunately I didn’t see any that evening, but I did see a large group of vultures feeding on an antelope’s carcass…

The second day of the safari was spent driving through Tsavo East in the direction of Tsavo West. On route I witnessed a pride of lions, skulking off to the shade. The driver did point out that one lion and lioness were “making honeymoon”, so we drove on to give them some privacy. Next I spotted cheetah; a tired looking mother with her two sprightly juvenile cubs, running circles around her. I felt extremely lucky to see two species of big cat within the space of an hour!

As we exited Tsavo East, the driver pointed out a large herd of elephants drinking by a waterhole. We pulled over, turned off the engine and stopped to watch which is when we noticed that the far end of the waterhole was also occupied by buffalo, zebra and a family of warthogs- it was like a scene from The Lion King!

Arriving in Tsavo West in the midday heat, I noticed how different the landscape was to Tsavo East. The terrain is much more varied, and the northern section of the park is bush land, scattered with native baobab trees, which makes spotting wildlife a bit more of a challenge!

Day three, and the last day of my Safari was spent visiting Mzima Springs, which is a short drive from Tsavo West National Park. Mzima Springs is home to hippos and Nile crocodiles- both of which I saw from a safe distance! 

Going on safari in Kenya was an incredible experience, and one that I will never forget. It is definitely one of those life experiences that you have to add to your bucket list!

written by Abi Walker

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