Tsavo West National Park, a 9,000 square km game park in southern Kenya, is located about 200 km south-east of Nairobi.

Separated only by the Mombasa Nairobi road from Tsavo East, Tsavo West is part of the entire Tsavo eco-system.

Tsavo is a vast area where the relationship between wildlife and its environment has been allowed to take its own natural course.

The park offers diverse habitats including mountains, rivers, forests, plains, lakes and wooded grassland. Game includes: leopard, cheetah, buffalo, rhino, elephant, giraffe, zebra, lion, plains game, crocodile, and plenty of additional small mammals, birds and insects.

Famous for the Mzima Springs with its unique underwater hippo observatory, the Shaitani lava flows and the Chaimu volcanic crater, the park offers plenty of opportunity to explore on foot.

In addition, the park has recorded over 600 species of birds, holds an important rhino sanctuary and is famous for elephant. Prior to the park's establishment in 1948 with its sister park Tsavo East, the Waliangulu people roamed the park hunting elephant with bow and arrow.

Since that time, much has changed. Engineers built a railway through the bush, encountering man-eating lions. Over 1,000 miles of road now exist and over 300 personnel are now involved in protecting the wildlife, maintaining the Park and serving the visitors.

The park offers numerous accommodation options including Finch Hattons Camp, one of Kenya's best luxury tented camps, built around a series of hippo pools.

Copyright Melinda Rees of Eco-resorts