Tsavo - a special magic fascination found nowhere else - By Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick

I have often wondered why it is that Tsavo has a special magic fascination found nowhere else

I have often wondered why it is that Tsavo has a special magic fascination found nowhere else.  I think because it is truly ‘Animal Land’ affording wild creatures privacy and space to live their wild lives according to the dictates of Nature.  There, there is no need for wild animals to lead their lives viewed by human visitors on the road, so to encounter them just by chance is a much greater thrill, to come across wild dogs frolicking unafraid on a remote road or to see a leopard lying on the hillside rock overlooking its domain, and to sleep to the distant roar of lions and the eerie call of the hyenas imparts a sense that all is as it should be in a wilderness world. 

There the distant horizons are unsullied by so called civilisation, the air is clean and pure and the skies huge with cotton wool clouds passing peacefully overhead.  There the days merge into one another and one loses the sense and pressure of time, and derive joy from simply being a part of the natural world.  Tsavo is an addictive experience – Real Soul food. 

I have been lucky enough to know this land intimately for six decades, to be a part of the Park's creation and beginning, by David Sheldrick’s side as he, together with his assistant wardens, carved Kenya’s greatest and largest National Park from a vast and virgin wilderness.  Today through the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust we are still able to significantly impact this treasured conservation area.  We are able to help preserve and protect Tsavo’s denizens through the DSWT anti poaching teams and mobile veterinary units, who work in close partnership with the Kenya Wildlife Service.  Our Orphans Project has given second chances to so many orphaned elephants over the years, while guiding them into adult hood and a wild life once more in this special place.   Eyes in the sky thanks to the DSWT’s conservation air wing, comprising of 5 aircraft and a helicopter, with hundreds of flying hours flown each month help keep Tsavo safe.  We have looked to save additional habitats on the boundaries of the Park while they remain there to be saved, and we have built three beautiful eco lodges, where the revenue from these properties goes towards protecting this unique and delicate land, enabling supporters from around the world to share in the magic too.