Tsavo National Park in Kenya is surrounded by semi-desert and is larger than Israel, or is twice the size of Belgium. It is well known for its red and black elephants – ordinary African elephants that roll in the dust thus taking the colour of the land, and the Tsavo maneless man-eater lions depicted in the movie The Ghost and the Darkness. I stayed at luxurious Satao lodge camp through Southern Cross Safaris, under a tent but with full amenities, while impalas and baboons were roaming freely in the camp.
Given the absence of tourists, I had a car and guide all to myself – my travel companions were a British family with young children who had paid for a private supplement so I ended up alone in a car! Clearly, by now, Kenya was safe as some more informed people were willing to travel with their families.
Tsavo red earth
The famous red elephants – this is an old bull, at least forty years old
Common zebras
Oryxes
Secretary bird – named at the time when secretaries stuck quills in their wigs, two centuries ago.
Giraffes – the Maasai subspecies
A lazy pride of lions lying in the sun – and a cute curious cub. No man-eating here!
The fastest animal on the planet – well, it was quite lazy, lying under a tree and behaving like the lazy cat that it is. Three cheetahs were hanging out at Aruba lodge and I got great footage of them stretching and yawning. Cheetahs can run up at a speed of up to 110 km/hr, but only for three minutes or so.
The fastest bird on the planet. Male ostriches are the pretty pink and black whereas the females are a dull brown.
Beautiful Tsavo scenery
Baboons climbing up the electric poles to spend the night on higher ground - the park has an electric line bringing hydroelectricity to Mombasa.
Eating BBQ - all alone :)
Overall, this safari was different from Kruger - more scenic, less animal density but different kinds of antelopes (one was called Dik-Dik, very funny!) and of course, cheetahs, which were great.
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