This morning, we packed up and headed out of Tsavo East to Tsavo West on our way to Amboseli. Tsavo West has a lot more vegetation, which does make animal-spotting more difficult, but we did have number of exciting finds. Located within Tsavo West are also a couple of unique geological areas that our guide Aaron took us to.
Mzima Springs is a natural year-round shallow spring, an upwelling from the very porous underlying porous volcanic rock. Water seeps in from both rainfall on the upper hills, and also from snow-melt at Kilamanjaro into what essentially becomes an underground river (the filtration also makes the water very pure and clear). The Mzima Springs is home to hippos and crocs and bright-blue catfish, as well as lush vegetation, including the yellow acacia (also known as fever trees; folks used to associate malaria/yellow-fever with the presence of the tree, that only grows in marshy areas). It is also used by local communities as a source of fresh water. Our sightings did include a lone crocodile and fish, but no hippos today.
A bit to the northeast is the Shetani Lava Flow, an area of black cinders that is part of the volcanic network that brings water to Mzima Springs. There is very little vegetation here, and not many animals. However, we had the special treat of seeing a rare Clip Springer, that is well adapted to the sharp/rocky terrain.
Some highlight pictures of Tsavo West:
Ostrich (hind is red from the soil; would normally be white):
Silverback Jackal
Iguana
Lesser Kudu
Mzima Springs
View at lunch
Clip Springer at Shetani Lava Flow
Jana and Christopher at Shetani Lava Flow
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