Exploring Tsavo West National Park, Kenya

Our view from the room

For Deedee Miller: One of my most avid  readers of the blog and an absolutely amazing woman. I'll keep writing just in case you are still reading somewhere.

Today we spent the full day exploring the different environments and animals of Tsavo West National Park. Our base was the Kilaguni Serena Lodge which is situated in the heart of Tsavo overlooking a very popular water hole. You never know what you will see as you sip your coffee in the morning. We had elephants, zebra, buffalo, warthogs, hyena, giraffes and elands come down to the water hole during our meals, and I hear that lions and leopards often make nighttime appearances there as well. 

Dining Room table with a view: Kilaguni Lodge, Tsavo

Leopard and a wary dik-dik

Gold Hour Zebra

  During our full day we did a morning and an afternoon game drive with a pool/lunch break in between. It gets pretty hot in the middle of the day so while the animals rest we rest as well. But as nice as the lodge is the game drives are what inspire the day. We were on the hunt for a leopard and we quickly got word that one vehicle had spotted one. We managed to get some quick glimpses of the cat as it walked, tail up, through the bushes. I snagged a couple of pictures that were good enough to document the encounter but nothing magazine quality yet. The leopard was number 4 on our Big 5 list.

  The rest of the morning drive delighted us with lots of animals, but it wasn’t until our way back for lunch that an animal sighting shocked everyone back to attention. We were traveling at a pretty good speed to get over the washboard dick track when my dad shouted ‘snake’ from the back seat point forward. We had to slam on the break, skidding almost over the snake, which turned out to be an 8ft black mamba! Luckily we didn’t hit it and were able to capture a photo of the incredible poisonous snake before it raced off of the road. 

  The afternoon game drive was one for the lions. We had an amazing encounter with a big, beautiful male lion at the waterhole. When we first drove up the lion was lapping up the water like he hadn’t had a drink for weeks. Finally he stopped, got up, and slowly sauntered off into the shade. That is when we realized that he had a kill in the nearby bushes, which did explain the red tainting around his mouth. We were able to get very close to the wild lion giving me an opportunity for some amazingly detailed shots. Take a look and I hope you enjoy!

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