Roads, rail and flights
How to get to Tsavo East and Tsavo West
Tsavo sits astride the Nairobi to Mombasa highway, which makes it the most accessible great park in Kenya. You can even take the train. Just make sure you take the right one.
If you only want the answer
Tsavo is the most reachable big park in Kenya: the Nairobi-Mombasa highway and the SGR railway both run straight past the gates, with Voi as the hub. Drive it, take the train, or fly to an airstrip if a lodge package includes it. No 4x4 needed on the main circuits in the dry.
The train, and the one that actually works
The Madaraka Express runs three times a day between Nairobi and Mombasa, and this is where it gets confusing. Only the 08:00 Inter-County service stops at both Mtito Andei and Voi. The 15:00 and 22:00 Express trains stop at Voi only, and the afternoon one from Nairobi does not reach Voi until 18:48, by which time the park gates have shut.
So there is effectively one usable train a day in each direction. The best of them is Mombasa 08:00, arriving Voi at 09:49, which leaves you most of a day in the park. From Nairobi the same train reaches Mtito Andei at 10:50 for Tsavo West, or Voi at 12:02 for Tsavo East.
Fares are remarkably cheap and, unlike park fees, foreigners pay the same as Kenyans: Mombasa to Voi costs KSh 440 in economy, Nairobi to Voi KSh 1,050. Book at metickets.krc.co.ke, bring your original passport, and ignore the fares on the railway's own website, which are stuck two-thirds below the current ones.
Nairobi and Mombasa to Tsavo: distances and times by road
Voi is the strategic base for anyone doing both parks. It is the only town with the Nairobi highway, the Taveta road and the railway together: fourteen minutes from Tsavo East's Voi gate, forty-five from Tsavo West's Maktau gate, with fuel, ATMs, supermarkets and car hire.
| Route | Distance | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nairobi to Mtito Andei (both parks) | 233 km | 3 to 3.5 h | A109, heavy truck traffic |
| Nairobi to Voi gate (Tsavo East) | 334 km | 4.5 to 5.5 h | A109 |
| Mombasa to Bachuma gate (Tsavo East) | 110 km | 1.5 h | The coast day-trip gate |
| Mombasa to Voi gate | 156 km | 2 to 2.75 h | A109 |
| Malindi to Sala gate | 107 km | 2.5 to 3 h | Deteriorates to murram, 4x4 advised |
| Amboseli to Chyulu gate (Tsavo West) | 94 km | 2 to 2.5 h | Corrugated murram, 4x4 recommended |
| Voi town to Maktau gate (Tsavo West) | 59 km | 45 min | Tarmac on the A23 |
Flying in
Safarilink flies daily from Nairobi Wilson to Tsavo West, leaving at 07:30 and landing at 08:20, with a second afternoon service in high season. It puts down at Kilaguni and Finch Hattons. Morning flights connect onward to the Mara, Samburu and Laikipia, which makes Tsavo easy to slot into a longer circuit.
From the coast, Mombasa Air Safari calls at Tsavo West on its Amboseli and Mara circuit, though it requires a minimum of four passengers for the Tsavo leg, which rules out couples. Baggage on any of these is fifteen kilos in a soft bag, hand luggage included.
One thing fly-in visitors underestimate: you still need a vehicle. Kenya Wildlife Service requires you to stay in your car, so without a lodge vehicle you have no legal way to move around the park. Airstrip transfers and drives are normally bundled into fly-in rates.
Self-driving
- Self-driving is normal here and no guide is required. Tsavo East's main circuits are graded murram, passable to a high-clearance 2WD in the dry season.
- Tsavo West is a different matter: volcanic terrain and lava rock mean a 4x4 is effectively essential.
- Fuel reliably at Voi and Mtito Andei on the highway. Assume there is none inside either park.
- The park charges KSh 10,500 to recover a stuck vehicle, which tells you how often it happens. Carry two spares and basic recovery gear.
- The parks are separated by the A109 highway and the railway. Crossing between them means exiting, driving, and paying a second entry fee unless you hold a combination ticket.
Something this page does not answer?
Routes and road conditions change faster than any page can. If yours does not fit what is written here, ask.
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