Quick Stats
- Length: 2 nights in lodges, 3 full days of game drives
- Month: September 2023
- Cost: $400 per person, for 7 sharing a safari vehicle
- Highlights: LEOPARDS, all the Big 5 in a single game drive, absolutely massive park, views of Kilimanjaro, the morning drive was just perfection
This was my second safari, and was a major leap into just how awe inspiring a safari can be. I somehow was lucky enough to see 2 leopards within a few hours, all of the Big 5 in a day, and Mount Kilimanjaro soaring in the background. I was truly shaken up.
Planning
The logistics of this safari worked out because we had a group of 7 people and could (almost) fill an entire vehicle. We were staying in Kilifi, and for the insanely low (in my opinion) price of 400 usd each, the tour included: our safari guide picking us up from our lodge (and driving us all 6 hours to Tsavo East and back at the end from Tsavo West), national park entry fees, all of our game drives for 3 days, 2 nights of lodge accommodation, and all of our food. Maybe you can find a cheaper deal but good luck getting better value.
The Tsavo Special
The game drive basically starts from the moment you enter the park, though you won’t see much in the middle of the day because it is too hot for all of the animals to be out and about. The water holes, sunrise, and sunset are really where it’s at. We saw hippos almost immediately though, elephants, and a couple other prey animals along the way.
The roof of our vehicle could pop up, so I spent most of the time standing with my head stuck out the top. That made the entire experience that much more exciting.
At the first lodge, they had a water hole that was completely surrounded by elephants and baboons. It was so refreshing and magical to get to sip on a bev, relax on a comfy chair, and watch the animals have a drink as well. You can sit there for hours and not get bored. They also would leave out meat for a leopard every night, but I don’t count that as one of my leopard sightings.
The first sunset safari was one for the record books imho. The weather was perfect, and within literally minutes we saw the most gorgeous leopard right by the side of the path. At that moment, leopards became my favorite animal. I can’t explain just how impressive they are until you see one in person.
After that, we continued driving down some crazy paths until we got to a special reserve. Rhino populations are so severely threatened by poaching that the parks put tons of protection around these zones. This park had a huge population of rhinos, and you could see the armed rangers there ready to shoot any poachers on the spot (that is true, we asked).
We sat at a watering hole for a long while, 2 rhinos sleeping nearby, giraffes drinking up, the sun setting behind. That is a picture I will never get out of my head. On the way back to camp we saw yet another incredible leopard, who slowly walked along beside our car when we started to drive away. That night we got to watch the perfectly clear stars and hear the elephants stomp around outside. Wow.
The next morning was something out of a movie. More zebra than you can count, crisp cool wind in your hair, water buffalo galore, springboks bouncing by, wilderness stretched out as far as you can see in every direction. Nature really at its finest.
At lunch we checked into our new lodge, ate, and chilled at the pool. It was freezing bc it was on the top of a cliff, but it was on top of a cliff, so the views were fucking spectacular too. You could look out binoculars and see tons of teeny wildlife in the distance.
And then finally, on our evening game drive, when nearly all hope was lost, we saw them. LIONS! Two of them, chilling, very hard to see from the road haha but we saw them. Sadly, they were some of the only lions anyone could find, so it felt like there were a billion vehicles on the road queuing up to see them. I won’t bother with my blurry pics, read my overland article if you wanna see the lions. So the leopards remained the absolute highlight of this safari.
En Fin
In conclusion, this park was 10/10. If you don’t care about brand names as much as you care about saving money, skip Masai Mara, or should I say Ma$$$$$$$$ai Mara, and go to both Tsavos. You will not regret it.