Mzima Springs, Tsavo West, Kenya

   Mzima Springs is a series of four natural springs in Tsavo West National Park in Kenya. The water originates from the Chyulu Hills off to the North. The volcanic nature of the Chyulu makes it were no river can form. Instead the water percolates through the porous volcanic rocks into an underground reservoir, reemerging at Mzima Springs. It can take 25 years for water to complete this trip and when it emerges it has been scrubbed clean by the rocks and appears crystal clear in the pools. The ranger told us that water from the underground aquifer is piped to Mombasa at the rate of about 4million gallons per day.

Drinking from the spring

Nile Crocodile

   With the aid of a park ranger we were able to walk around the springs. The big predators and other dangerous animals like elephants and buffalo do not frequently visit the springs. But that does not mean that other wildlife might not be lurking nearby. We saw Nile crocodiles and our first hippos of the trip here at the springs.

An almost hidden hippo

  We heard lots of bird and frog noises from the surrounding forest, but it was the monkeys that really caught everyone's attention. We first had an encounter with the rarely seen blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis), followed by a wonderful encounter with a family of vervet monkeys. The monkey played in the trees and on the ground all around us towards the end of the trail.

Checking out the underwater blind

The upper pool of Mzima Springs

   The Mzima Springs are one of the most popular destinations for visitor to Tsavo West park. It was made famous by the 1983 film by Alan Root called, 'Mzima: Portrait of a Spring'. The film followed the underwater lives of crocodiles and hippos thanks to an underwater hide built for that purpose. We were lucky enough to go down into the hide, although we didn't get to see any of the wildlife other than fish from the underwater vantage.  

In the mouth of a hippo

  The area suffered a major drought back in 2009, which has affected the numbers of hippos at the springs. Mzima was the only source of water in the area, so all the animals moved in and the grass which the hippos rely on disappeared and turned into a dustbowl. Many hippos didn't make it. Some of the massive skulls from this time were displayed about the trail and now used as learning tools for the rangers.

  The springs gave us a nice reason to alight from the vehicle, which we don't often get to do on safari. The forest cover kept the area somewhat cool and the sound of running water made us all want to jump in for a refreshing dip. The monkeys really turned out to be the star of the show with both species giving us very good looks.

  As we drove back towards our lodge we enjoyed a beautiful sunset behind the massive Mount Kilimanjaro. We made it back in time for a wonderful dinner overlooking one of the best waterholes in Kenya. More to come on that later...