Tsavo West provides a unique step back in time, to the days when tens of thousands of giant beasts roamed this forest land. Today the forests are gone, the result of too many elephants and too little rain, but thanks to the abundant snowmelt from Kilimanjaro, the land continues to water a huge variety of wildlife. From elephant to buffalo, to lion, leopard, oryx, lesser kudu and klipspringer. Even the dangerously depleted black rhino are making a minor comeback on a small, fiercely guarded 70 square kilometer sanctuary.

The parks undisputed show piece is the crystal clear beauty of Mzima Springs, where in an oasis of palms, and fig trees, the melting snows of the Kilimanjaro pump over 50 million gallons of water out of the ground each day. An underwater observation post here offers a novel close encounter with the large crocodile and pods of hippo that flourish in the cold waters.