A pair of bull elephants takes refuge in the water hole in Tsavo West. The colours are vivid – red elephants in the red-earth water, the thick green scrub on red soil with the acacias and baobabs offering precious shade to the wildlife.
The two red giants are in no hurry to move away from the waterhole. It’s hot and they have to cool themselves, entertaining us with a mock fight by pushing each other around, hosing themselves with their trunks and trumpeting. Done with cooling their large bodies, they step out, their wet bodies glistening in the midday sun.
Tsavo is special. It is one of the last spaces left on earth for the mega-herbivores and other wildlife. Together with Mkomazi across the border in Tanzania (like the Mara-Serengeti) it boasts Kenya’s largest population of elephants of 15,000 today. Compare that to the late 1960s when there were almost 35,000. As children one of the highlights driving between Mtito Andei and Mombasa was to watch out for the red elephants crossing the road!
It was the same with our black rhinos (different from the rarer South African black rhino) that were common until the 1970s. A visitor to the park remembers seeing many along the Tsavo River, which was a magnet for them. Hopefully the return of the rhino will be soon with the rhino sanctuary in Tsavo West offering round-the-clock security with a rhino platform for visitors to spend the night on to watch the rhinos come to the waterhole including other nocturnal creatures.
The rest of the savannah is quiet, a lull in the air till we reach the next water hole framed by the Chyulu Hills from which the lava poured out from 500 years ago, a red burning river that left its mark on the plains as a black volcanic stretch of solid magma where creatures adapted to it survive like the dainty klipspringer.
A lone buffalo sits in the middle of the waterhole while the rest stay in the shade. Scanning the savannah, there’s eland, zebras, warthogs and more buffaloes in the shaded distance waiting for their turn at the waterhole. Marabou storks stand sentinel while a mother Egyptian goose and her chicks arrive and waddle into the water, ignoring the buffalo as we cool ourselves with cold drinks from the bar at Kilaguni Serena, one of the oldest lodge in Tsavo West National Park gazetted in 1948. At the time, Tsavo was seen as ‘useless’ for human habitation because of the adjoining waterless Taru Desert and better left for the wildlife.
The afternoon heat robs all of energy and it grows quieter as we drive further into the vastness to arrive at the Kitani bandas for the night.
It’s surreal to know that Kilimanjaro is in front of us yet Africa’s tallest mountain stays invisible. Scanning the skies for raptors thousands of feet above us, the dots could be anything unless you have a strong pair of binoculars. Again, Tsavo’s vast open skies and perching trees are home to many of Africa’s big raptors like the Martial and African crowned eagles who talons are as long as an adult human’s hand. It’s no secret that Africa’s raptors are on a steady decline – most species by as much as 90 per cent in the last five decades.
Reading through raptor-guru and co-founder of Kenya Bird of Prey Trust, Simon Thomsett’s blog on Tsavo’s raptors is fascinating. He writes that Tsavo is home to nine resident falcons and a very important stopover for six other migrants which in total are more than what Europe, Australia or America has. I’m looking out for the Taita falcon which is only found in this part of the world and named after the Taita Hills bordering the Tsavo. Instead we see the goshawks perched statuesque on the trees.
The night sky appears with the Milky Way holding us in awe. We indulge in dinner at the Severin Safari Camp with the novel ‘hot stone’ cooking on the table.
Useful reading:
tsavotrust.org and Kenya Bird of Prey Trust
Stay at the self-catering Kitani bandas if you are on a budget. A stay there allows you to dine at Severin Safari Camp and enjoy its luxurious spa.
Rupi the African Trotter 