Covering 20,812 kms2, an area larger than Wales, the Tsavo East and West National Parks are divided by the Nairobi-Mombasa Railway. Together they form one of the world's biggest, and Kenya's largest game sanctuary. While Tsavo East has a more arid and hostile climate than its counterpart, it still harbours over 500 species of bird and a variety of plains' game, including Zebra, Antelope, Black Rhino, Cheetah and the African Wildcat.
Popular legend tells of the "Man Eaters of Tsavo" - two male Lions, said to be responsible for the deaths of over 100 locals and workers on the Kenya-Uganda railway in 1898. However, there's no need to be alarmed, as both Lions met their deaths in the very same year - shot by Colonel Patterson of the British Army. If you need absolute proof, you may have to wait until 2010 - both of the, now stuffed, Lions said to be making their way from the Chicago's Field Museum, to Nairobi. If you really can't wait, you can always read the Colonel's book "The Man Eaters of Tsavo" and devour his trials and tribulations in bringing the culprits to book; or for a modern day take, why not check out Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer in the 1996 blockbuster "The Ghost and the Darkness".
Less well visited than its western neighbour, safari goers can get away from the crowds and walk along the Mudunda Rock - the natural dam below providing a permanent watering hole for the large herds of Elephant that regularly stomp through the bush. Famous for their colour, the Elephants glow red after dust baths, blowing the vivid red earth over their bodies with their trunks. Budding ornithologists can also get in on the action, as the national park's inhabitants, include Ostrich, and migratory Kestrels and Buzzards, which stop at Tsavo East during their long flight south.
Last, but by no means least, a visit to the Galana River to view the atmospheric Lugards Falls is a must. Remarkable for its strangely shaped water-worn rocks - the location is also abundant with wildlife - the screech of a yellow Baboon often heard echoing through the wilderness.
You can catch up with Tsavo East's famous herds of red coated Elephant, now said to number around 15,000, on Acacia Adventure Holidays' NEW 6-day Safari to Mombasa adventure.
