Where are the Mzima Springs?
Where are the Mzima Springs? Tsavo west National park, one of the top level Kenya safari destination for wildlife tours is home to four independent natural springs which make up the Mzima Springs system. They are 48 kilometres from Mtito Andei and situated in the western part of the Park. The springs’ natural reservoir is located beneath the Chyulu Hills in the north. The Chyulu range is made up of porous volcanic lava rock and ash, which prevents rivers from flowing over it. It believed that when it rains, the rainwater seeps through the rock and may spend up to 25 years underground before coming to the surface in Mzima, a distant of 50 kilometres. The famously pure stream of Mzima is the result of natural filtration and passes through a number of pools and rapids. Two km from the springs, a solidified lava flow blocks the stream, which then sinks back below the earth.
The springs are host to a number of hippos and Nile crocodiles in the area, Mzima is one of Tsavo’s most popular wildlife attractions and offers high chance of abundant wildlife sightings. This is because the animals cannot go overland to other sources due to Mzima’s seclusion, both species are dependent on its waters. Another food chain is supported by hippos. By day, they return to Mzima’s pools where their excrement fertilises the water while they prowl the nearby savannah at night. Fruit-bearing plants like date and raffia palms, water berries, and figs thrive next to water by absorbing nutrients through their submerged roots. Vervet monkeys and many different types of birds eat the fruits that they produce. Fish and cormorants graze on the submerged crustaceans that consume the hippo faeces.
Tsavo West National Park in Kenya
It is in Kenya former coast province is where you may find Tsavo West National Park. 9,065 square km make up the park’s area. It is separated from the nearby Tsavo East National Park by the busy A109 Nairobi-Mombasa road and a railway. The two parks together make up the Tsavo Conservation Area along with nearby farms and protected areas. Tsavo West is a more well-known destination for memorable Kenya game drives safaris because of its stunning scenery, Mzima Springs, diverse and abundant wildlife, good road system, rhino reserve, opportunity for rock climbing, and guided excursions along the Tsavo River. Kenya Wildlife Service is in charge of running the park.
Tsavo early inhabitants
In Tsavo, there are just a few Early Stone Age and Middle Stone Age archaeological sites that have been identified from surface findings, but there is a wealth of information pointing to a robust Late Stone Age economy between 6,000 and 1,300 years ago. Numerous Late Stone Age archaeological sites can be located adjacent to the Galana River, according to research. The people who lived in these locations engaged in fishing, hunting, and domestic animal keeping. Human settlement in Tsavo was mostly concentrated in riparian regions and in rock shelters as one moved west because to the limited availability of water away from the Galana River.
As early as 700 AD and even more earlier than that Swahili traders engaged in commerce with the people of Tsavo for ivory, cat skins, and probably slaves. There is no proof that the Swahili “colonisation” of Tsavo was direct. Instead, trade was presumably conducted by using extensive family networks to transport products to and from the Swahili Coast. Archaeological sites from the early Swahili period have yielded trade items including cowry shells and beads.
People who are today known as Orma and Waata were seen by 19th-century British and German explorers during their treks through the “Nyika,” and they were generally seen as being opposed to their interests. The British started colonising Kenya’s interior in the late 19th century, and in 1898 they built the Kenya – Uganda Railway through Tsavo National Park . When a bridge across the Tsavo River was being built in 1898 as part of the railway’s construction, several workmen were killed in the process. At least 28 Indian and African employees were stalked and killed by a pair of mane less male lions, however some stories have the death toll as high as 135 victims. The lions, known as “the Man-eaters of Tsavo,” were eventually shot and killed by Lt.-Col. John Henry Patterson, the bridge’s construction manager. The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago is presently housing the skins and skulls.
Until 1948, when it was designated a national park, Orma, Maasai, and Waata pastoralists continued to call Tsavo their home. The native residents were then transferred to Voi, Mtito Andei, and other areas in the close-by Taita Hills. Hunting was outlawed in the park when Kenya gained its independence in 1963, and the management of Tsavo was given to the organisation that would later become the Kenya Wildlife Service. Currently, Tsavo draws photo tourists from all over the world who want to see the amazing terrain and immensity of the nature.
Tsavo River
The former Coast Province in Kenya is home to the Tsavo River. From the westernmost point of Kenya’s Tsavo West National Park, close to the Tanzanian border, it flows east until it joins the Athi River to form the Galana River close to the park’s centre. The bottom part of the park region’s watershed is primarily contributed by this river, which is also a haven for a lot of fish. The Tsavo Man-eaters incident occurred on the Tsavo River in 1898.
Athi-Galana-Sabaki River
After the Tana River, the Athi-Galana-Sabaki River is the longest river in Kenya. It drains an area of 70,000 square kilometres (27,000 sq mi) and is 390 kilometres (240 mi) long overall. The river begins as the Athi River in the Gatamaiyo Forest and becomes the Galana River (sometimes called the Sabaki River) as it flows into the Indian Ocean.
The Athi River travels through the Kapote and Athi plains, via the settlement of Athi River, and then turns northeast to meet the Nairobi River. The river at Thika creates the popular tourist attraction Fourteen Falls before turning south-southeast under the forested Yatta hill, which seals off its basin on the east. The Tsavo River, which originates on the east side of Kilimanjaro and reaches the river at roughly 3° S, is essentially the only tributary, aside from the numerous tiny feeders of the upper river. It then makes an eastward turn and travels through the barren quartz-land of the outer plateau, where it is known as the Sabaki (or Galana) River in its lower reaches.
The valley is low and flat, covered with woodland and shrub, and during the wet season, it contains small lakes and backwaters that are connected to the river. The Lugard falls, which are actually a series of rapids, prevent navigation and cause the river to rise up to 10 metres (33 feet) in certain places during the rainy season. It flows eastward and makes its way into the Indian Ocean 6.2 miles (km) north of Malindi.
