We were up early Sunday morning to start the drive to Tsavo West National Park. We travelled in a similar vehicle to what we travelled in the Maasai Mara which would seat up to eight people but this trip iwe had the whole van for just the two of us!

We had a similar drive to Tsavo West as we had to the Maasi Mara - long and bumpy!! The nice thing was that the landscape was quite different and as we got closer to Tsavo West the red soil became more obvious. There was a lot more foiliage and trees as well as hills and mountains in Tsavo West. Our first stop was Sarova Taita Hills for lunch and then we headed to our game lodge – Sarova Salt Lick Game Lodge – to check in. This was definitely one of the coolest places we have stayed in. The entire lodge is raised on high stilts above watering holes and feeding pastures which gives an amazing view of wildlife. Before we even got to our lodge we could see an elephant, giraffes and zebras close to the watering hole. 

Our driver, Samir, asked if we had any chips left (a snack from the drive) so we could feed the birds. Luckily we had a few left so Samir asked me to put some in my hand to attract the birds. The first to land in my hand was the superb starling which is a beautiful and colourful bird we had seen throughout Kenya. Suddenly, a bird with a huge beak landed on my hand and I immediately brought my hand back into the van as I thought I would lose a finger. Samir encouraged me not to worry so I let this very intimidating bird land on my had and surprisingly my hand returneed with all five fingers! (Unfortunately we can’t seem to remember the name of this bird)

We headed into the lodge which had a beautiful open-concept lobby with an amazing view of the watering hole. We admired the wildlife that was all around the watering hole and then headed to our room. The rooms which kind of looked like bird houses were connected by suspended walkways and as we walked to our room we saw a few baboons underneath us.

I had just stepped into the bathroom when Wally called for me and said that there were elephants at the watering hole. I ran toward the window and sure enough there was about 10 elephants at the watering hole closest to the lobby. Then another 10 elephants came running in and filled in all the empty spaces. I couldn’t believe we were seeing so many elephants and we decided to head to the lobby for a closer look. Once we arrived, quite a few of the guests had come to watch and we were about 10 feet away from them!! They were an assortment of ages with the youngest probably being about 6 months. We stayed for a long time but could’ve watched them for hours. Some of the babies were nursing and others were fighting for the freshest water from the pipe that feeds the watering hole. An interesting fact about man-made watering holes is that the water source in the pond needs to be covered in cement otherwise the elephants will tear it out of the ground trying to get to the freshest water.

Our game lodge also has a very cool feature – a underground viewing area. You walk in an underground tunnel and then there is a small area with bars and windows very close to the watering hole where we could get a close look at some of the animals.

Every morning (@ 6:30) and every evening (@ 4:00) you go for a game drive at each of the game lodges. On our evening drive Samir took us to a great spot overlooking Salt Lick Lodge and even got out so he could take a picture of the two of us. On this game drive we saw: ostriches, grant gazelles, water buffalo, baby mongoose on a termite hill, a giraffe, monkeys, baboons, eagles and LOTS of elephants (probably at least 60). The neat thing about elephants in Tsavo West is they look different from those we saw in the Maasai Mara because they are reddish from the colour of the soil.

Our evening at the lodge was quiet – no tvs, radios, etc but we had lots of noise from all the animals at the watering hole. It was so cool to roll over, look out the window and see elephants. This place is amazing!!

The next morning we went on our morning drive and saw an ostrich, grant gazelles, water buffalo (who didn’t look too happy to see us) and of course elephants!! The interesting thing about Tsavo West is because it is a VERY large park that doesn’t have as much tourist traffic as the Maasi Mara the animals are not as used to people driving around in safari vans. This was demonstrated when we drove toward a group of elephants crossing the road. One of the mothers flared out her ears and starting walking toward us. Samir quickly put the van in reverse and then the elephant backed off. Samir explained that since they are not used to vehicles they are not sure if we are predators so once we back off then they know we are not a threat.

We never expected to see so much wildlife in Tsavo West but the visit was well worth it!!