Tsavo Circuit

The Tsavo Circuit combines Tsavo East and Tsavo West into one of Kenya's largest wildlife areas, a vast red-earth wilderness. It is known for its red elephants, Mzima Springs, and the legendary man-eating lions of Tsavo.

Tsavo's elephants take on a reddish-brown colour because they wallow and dust-bathe in the park's iron-rich red volcanic soil. It is a natural coating, not a separate species or a different colour of elephant.

Mzima Springs is a cluster of crystal-clear pools in Tsavo West fed by underground water filtered through the Chyulu Hills, and it is one of the circuit's signature stops. Visitors can watch hippos and fish through an underwater observation chamber, with crocodiles and birdlife around the pools.

Yes. In 1898, during construction of the Uganda Railway across the Tsavo River, two lions killed dozens of railway workers before being shot by engineer John Henry Patterson. Their remains are held in the Field Museum in Chicago and the story is what gave Tsavo its legendary reputation.

Tsavo lies in southeastern Kenya roughly midway between Nairobi and Mombasa, with Tsavo East sitting close to the Nairobi-Mombasa highway near Voi and Tsavo West to the west toward Amboseli. Because of that position it is commonly visited en route between Nairobi and the coast, and Ecological Wilderness Adventure can arrange the road or air logistics for your itinerary.

Yes. Ecological Wilderness Adventure is a TATO-licensed East Africa safari operator and can tailor a Tsavo Circuit itinerary that covers both Tsavo East and Tsavo West. Contact them with your travel dates and interests and they will quote a trip on request.