Tsavo National Park: A land of man eating lions and now a land of red elephants

Tsavo park is by far the largest national park in Kenya being divided into two; west and east. The national park is rich in game with elephants being the majority of animals present also a sanctuary for bird life with over 500 species being recorded. 

Lions of Tsavo

Tsavo park has a captivating history when it comes to lions. The park first gained fame in 1898 on account of the man eaters of Tsavo.These 2 maneless lions disrupted the construction of the Kenya-Uganda Railway because they devoured about 135 of the workers. Their reign of terror only came to an end when they were shot by John Patterson. He subsequently sold their skins and skulls to the Chicago Field Museum where the reconstructed lions are now on display. But Kenya wants them back and has started negotiations to have these repatriated.

Today, the ferocious descendants of these infamous lions of Tsavo that rained terror on the railway workers for 9 months can be seen hunting, feeding and generally dominating the park!


Red Elephants 

I am pretty sure you are thinking...Kenya has red elephants?!! Although the statements suggests that indeed we do have red elephants, they are not born red.The elephants rub themselves on the fine red volcanic soil in the park which permanently coats their hides -Red! If you visit the park, you will encounter scores of these baffling creatures wandering by. Not just the odd one but upwards of 11,600 red elephants...

Lodges

Finch Hattons

Tsavo is home to some of the best lodges in Kenya, including Finch Hattons which i did a feature story for the theme letter- F in the A-Z challenge. Other lodges include; Severine camp, Ngulia lodge, Voyager Ziwani, Kilaguni Serena lodge etc.