Today is devoted to birding and game viewing with your guide in the northern sector of Tsavo West National Park.
At over 5,000 square miles (9000 square km), this vast national park is the second largest in Kenya and is named after the Tsavo River that flows through it. On a clear day you can enjoy wonderful views of snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro, which is usually surrounded by clouds.
Early this morning we visit Mzima Springs, where water flows underground from the Chyulu Hills and surfaces to create a lake and river. Birds you can hope to meet here include the Darter, Greater cormorant, Reed cormorant, Giant kingfisher, Grey-headed kingfisher, Malachite kingfisher, Pygmy kingfisher and many more. The surrounding area is also home to the Bateleur, Brown snake-eagle, Eastern chanting goshawk and many hornbills, guineafowls, francolins and ostriches.
After returning to the lodge for lunch, from the open terrace look out for the Pearl-spotted owlet, Grey-headed bushshrike, Orange-bellied parrot, Blue-naped mousebird, African silverbill, Grey hornbill, Northern Red-billed hornbill, Von der Deckens hornbill, Superb starling, Kori bustard, Woolly-necked stork, Verreaux’s eagle-owl, Rufous-crowned roller, Pygmy falcon and various weaver birds.
In the late afternoon enjoy another game drive in this particularly scenic park with its mountain landscapes, thorn-bush savanna and volcanic lava from the Chyulu Hills. Wildlife is plentiful and diverse with particularly good elephant sightings, as large herds roam freely between Tsavo and Amboseli. Lion, buffalo, leopard and wild dog are present and plains game is plentiful - including Maasai giraffe, zebra, the small dik-dik, Grant's gazelle, lesser kudu, waterbuck, bushbuck, eland, Fringed-ear oryx, wildebeest, vervet monkey and yellow baboon. Hippo and crocodile can be seen in the rivers and also keep an eye out for smaller animals such as the hyrax, mongoose, monitor lizard, chameleon and tortoise.