The long rains always bring with them renewed life. The road from Mtito Andei, the half way town between Nairobi and Mombasa, to Tsavo is resplendent in the annual regalia of white flowers - amidst the gigantic baobabs and the infamous Savannah of the old world.
Tsavo East is arguably one of the most exciting of Kenya's national parks. It is today a showcase of what good management can do to a land that in the 1970s to the 1990s was ravaged by gangs of poachers for elephant and rhino horns.
It's noon as we drive through the Manyani gate entrance. With the rains, the park is a vibrant green and red - that famous red of Tsavo which gives its colour to the famous red elephants found here. Our first glimpse of what's in store for us is the 'Big Tusker'. It's the name the kids give him for his tusk - and he only has one reaching the ground, such that he has to walk with his head held high. I never thought I would see this sight again, as many people believed the big tuskers were a thing of the past. The red 'Big Tusker' strolls through the plains to the water hole where a herd of elephants play and drink. He gambols in it and then chases a young male elephant out of his territory - he is in a no-nonsense mood for competition from younger males.
There are elephants everywhere. We don't have to look for them, especially since we're at Voi Safari Lodge. Opened in 1967 by the founding president of Kenya, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Tsavo east's only lodge, saw its fortunes fall as the park got swept in the tide of poaching. But with things on the upswing, the lodge, built on an escarpment overlooking the plains of Tsavo and the Yatta Plateau, is in the process of being modernized to suit today's clientèle.
The water hole teems with life. In the course of two days at the lodge, we're surrounded by elephants - you can see them from everywhere - at breakfast, lunch, dinner or in the floodlit plains in the middle of the night.
The rising sun spreads its sheen of colours in the sky and a lion's roar carries through the plains. Everyone clambers out of bed to catch the sound as a lone lioness sits at the water hole watching the rising sun. It's one of the most interesting wake-up calls, I have witnessed in years. An enormous elephant bull walks towards the waterhole, raising its trunk, sniffing the air. As it gets closer, the lioness thinks better of confronting the massive animal and walks away. Besides its animals, Tsavo East has stunning landscapes. We drive to Lugard's Falls, are a series of cascades through a chasm of granite rocks split open by the searing hot sun eons ago, which are currently flooded. Thick chocolate-coloured water from the Athi and Tsavo mixing together not far away into the Galana/Sabaki. We take a stroll to the water's edge when suddenly a massive elephant trumpets not far away, walking towards us. It's time to make a dash to safety. The park has around 11,000 elephants today and I think we actually get to see close to 10,000. They are simply everywhere.
Much of the park is still inaccessible by road. It's also the area where the black rhinos are. "The rhinos which survived are the ones who knew how to hide," comments Samual Muchina, pilot of the tiny two-seater Aviat Husky on an early morning flight to do the daily rhino survey. "The black rhinos in Tsavo East are the only free ranging rhinos in Kenya today," he explains. Of the 60 odd black rhinos in the park, we spot only two in the two hour flight.
It's good to see Tsavo coming back to life. Like I said, it's all about good management and awareness. Today, Tsavo east can take it's rightful place back on the map as one of Kenya's stunning wildlife parks.
No comments:
Post a Comment