If you're on the search for a safari tour in Kenya, you've come to the right place. I will be telling you everything you need to know about this 3 day safari tour through the Tsavo East and West national parks.
I visited Kenya during my study abroad program, Semester at Sea. This program offered tours that you could book through them, however they were very expensive. They also did not offer any tours that went to both Tsavo East and West. These two factors is why I decided to book an independent safari tour in Kenya!
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Eastern Vacations- Kenya Safaris
After lots of researching with limited wifi... I was able to find a tour company that offered lots of safari destinations with great prices. This company had everything we were looking for and they definitely did not disappoint.
One of our main priorities was finding a tour company that would pick us up and drop off in the city of Mombasa. We were arriving by ship in Mombasa which is not common as tourism in this area in recent years has been low. Eastern Vacations was one of the few companies we found that offered pick up and drop off in lots of locations.
Whether you are wanting a safari in Nairobi, Salt Lick, Tsavo East, Tsavo West, Amboseli, Masai Mara, and more... they have it all! The combinations on their website are endless which made our travel planning super easy.
Be sure to check out all of the tours offered by visiting the Safari Tours tab on their website!
3 Day Tsavo East & West Safari Exploration
This road tour combined both national parks which is exactly what we were looking for. We only had three days allotted for a safari and this was the perfect amount of time, but be prepared for lots of driving. I cannot recommend this tour enough!
Day 1: Tsavo West
The tour company picked us up right at our ship bright and early at 6am. We were then driven to meet our actual driver for the duration of the tour outside of the port. He gave us some information about our upcoming tour and then we headed out for Tsavo West.
It took about 5 hours to get to the Tsavo West National Park entrance. From there we made our way through the park to the Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge. During the ride we were able to see a couple of elephants and giraffes before we made it to the lodge for lunch.
The view from the outdoor dining area- Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge
Game Drives in Tsavo West:
We had a total of three game drives here and all of them were filled with tons of animals.
We saw lots of elephants...
Lots of giraffes...
Some zebras...
annddd lots of other random animals!
We were even lucky enough to see this rainbow off in the distance.
The mountains in the background made for such a great scenery in addition to the vibrant green grass. The weather was perfect here (in late November) compared to Tsavo East (it was much more humid in East).
There is a rhino sanctuary in the park that we visited but it was raining when we got there. It is only open for a few hours in the afternoon which is when the rhinos typically come to the waterhole to drink. Since it was raining they didn't have to come so we did not get to see any.
Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge
We had a great time at this lodge as the views here were incredible.
The meals here were good and the wait staff was friendly. There is also a bar area if you want to order drinks as well.
Here is a picture of the room as well as the view from the balcony (above). The beds had the bug nets which was great because we had a few in the room (which was expected). The cups on the ground was our solution to handling the bugs.
Day 2: Tsavo West & East
We woke up bright and early for a morning game drive. This is when lots of animals are supposed to be out and about and a good time to do your drive. After the game drive we stopped at Mzima Springs and we got to see tons of hippos!
Then we checked out of the lodge and headed to Tsavo East. We had another game drive in West since you have to drive a good ways to get out of the park. We were able to get SUPER close to these two elephants.
Once we made it out of the park it was a quick drive (30 minutes?) to Tsavo East.
Game drives in Tsavo East:
We made it into the park and about 30 minutes into our game drive we noticed it felt MUCH hotter here. Our schedule was the same as we had a game drive while making our way to the lodge for lunch.
As you can see the scenery here is much different than Tsavo West! And that is why I recommend taking a trip to visit both parks as they are different. We did see more animals in Tsavo East as there was a pack of lions sleeping in the same spot all day.
We were also able to see a pack of about 15 elephants crossing the road which was very cool!
Ashnil Aruba Lodge:
This lodge had more food options versus our lodge in Tsavo West. All of the food was amazing (you have to get the mango). You could even order custom pasta from the chef.
We were able to get connecting rooms that overlooked the property. The rooms were also equipped with the bug nets and a patio.
Day 3: Tsavo East & Back to Mombasa
The last day of the tour consisted of one last game drive through the Tsavo East park. On the way back you are able to visit the Masai Village if you would like (we opted out of this) for 15 usd per person.
You will also stop at a big souvenir shop on the way back as well as on the first day of your trip. I bought several things here for friends and family but be prepared to bargain! They also have nice restrooms so be sure to use them here as it will be your only stop. We then made it back to our ship in Mombasa and said goodbye to our driver. We made sure to have cash for a tip as well.
How much did this tour cost?
One of the main reasons we decided to go with this company was because of their price transparency on the website. When you are browsing their tours on the site each one has a price breakdown based off of the tour, season you are going, amount of people and different levels of accommodation.
Here is the price breakdown for the 3 Day Tsavo East and West Exploration
We decided to book the high level accommodations, but their website has prices for standard and mid level accommodations as well. I loved that they had the hotels listed for each accommodation level as I was able to check them out and choose the best option based off of my research.
We were able to pay for our tour through their online payment portal. This was very nice as we did not have to worry about taking out money at an atm and paying fees to do so. I have done several other all inclusive tours where they require you to pay in cash which is much more inconvenient.
In total we paid 510 USD per person. This price is inclusive of almost all costs for the entire trip. See below for exact inclusions.
We did decide to go with the land cruiser which made the price a little bit higher, but I would say it was worth it!
Our driver was super nice and very accommodating. He was also a pro at spotting the animals. We had a great time visiting both parks and it is hard to say which one I enjoyed more! I would highly HIGHLY recommend booking your safari in Kenya through EasternVacations. They made our trip easy and better than we could have expected.
Asante, Kenya!
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