About All Tours3 Days Safari Tours2 Days Safari ToursTsavo East & West ToursFrom Diani ToursFrom Mombasa Tours Directions Hours & Fees Guides
Find Tours 
These 2-day safaris pack multiple game drives and a night inside or near Tsavo East into roughly 48 hours, with pickup available from Mombasa, Diani, Watamu, Malindi, Kilifi, Nairobi, and nearby airports. Most tours include full-board accommodation, park fees, and an experienced guide.
2-day/1-night Tsavo East safari from Watamu hotels, with all meals and an English or Italian guide.
48-hour private Tsavo East safari with 3 game drives and guides averaging 20+ years in the park.
Free Cancellation 48-hour overnight safari from Mombasa or Diani to Tsavo East, with a night at Voi Wildlife Lodge.
48-hour private safari in Tsavo East with both day and night game drives, all meals and lodging included.
Free Cancellation 2-day Tsavo East safari from the coast with 4x4 van game drives and full-board lodge stay.
Two-day guided safari in Tsavo East with Nairobi-wide pickup and full-board lodging.
Free Cancellation Two-day private safari from Mombasa with three game drives, one night in a safari lodge, and all meals included.
Read what travelers share about their experience visiting Tsavo East National Park — from practical tips to personal highlights.
A 2-day Tsavo East safari gets you two full mornings and afternoons of game driving inside Kenya's largest national park, with one night at a lodge near or inside the reserve. Most tours pick you up from Mombasa, Diani, Watamu or Malindi — Bachuma Gate is only 110 km from Mombasa, so you're usually on dirt tracks and looking for elephants by lunchtime on day one.
Tsavo's elephants coat themselves in the park's fine red soil, so the herds look rust-orange against pale plains. Aruba Dam and the Galana River are where big family groups come to drink and bathe, often crossing in a line right in front of your vehicle.
Tsavo's male lions grow sparse or no manes — an adaptation to the hot, thorny bush. They're descendants of the region made infamous by the 1898 man-eaters, and a pride sprawled on open plains is the sighting most visitors want.
The Galana River squeezes through polished rock rapids at this named stop, with sculpted channels and crocodile pools below. It pairs with a slow river drive where hippos surface in the emerald water.
A 1.6 km inselberg that feeds a natural dam at its base. Climb it for a lookout over plains where elephants, zebra and antelope come to drink — one of the park's best vantage points.
The park covers 13,747 km² with very few camps, and you can drive three hours without passing another vehicle. If you're used to the Maasai Mara's traffic jams around a single lion, this is the opposite experience.
Kingfishers, herons, raptors and weavers line the Galana and Aruba Dam; drier scrub holds bustards, coursers and hornbills. Bring binoculars — the list here tops 500 recorded species.
All the 2-day Tsavo East tours on this page run the same shape — roughly 48 hours, one night, full board — but pickup points, lodge quality and inclusions vary enough to change the price by $500. Check these details before you pay.
Every tour here is guided; there's no audio or self-guided option. Most are private vehicle tours with a driver-guide (several offer English and Italian, one offers five languages including German, French and Spanish). One tour stands apart by adding a night game drive — aardvarks, porcupines and civets — which standard park rules otherwise prohibit.
Nearly all tours cover accommodation, all meals and bottled water. Park fees are included on some (the $765 night-drive tour, the $795 private tours, the $473 multi-coast-pickup tour) but not others — the $486 Mombasa/Diani overnight and the $299 budget option leave them out or charge by option. Read the inclusions list line by line.
If your tour excludes fees, budget USD 80 per adult and USD 40 per child (3–17) per 24 hours under the tariff effective 1 October 2025, paid electronically via KWSPay on eCitizen. Vehicle entry is extra: KES 600/day for cars under 6 seats. A 2-day stay needs two 24-hour tickets.
Coast-departure safaris run year-round and rarely sell out outside peak season, but book 2–4 weeks ahead for July–October, when dry weather concentrates animals at the Galana and Aruba Dam. The night-drive tour has only a handful of departures — book that one early.
They split into two camps: full refund if you cancel at least 24 hours out (the $486 and both $795 tours), or at least 3 full days out with zero refund after that (the $299 and $765 tours). The $515 Watamu tour is strictest — full refund needs 6 days' notice, 50% between 2 and 6 days, nothing inside 48 hours.
The Watamu tour lists wheelchair accessibility and stroller-friendly transport; several others note infants ride on laps, and two offer specialized infant seats. Since game viewing happens from the vehicle, travellers with limited mobility can skip the on-foot stops (Mudanda Rock, Lugard's Falls) and stay in the van.
Children 3–17 pay half the park entry fee and under-5s enter free. Drives are long, dusty and start at dawn, so most operators suit ages 6 and up. Malaria prophylaxis for kids needs paediatric advice before you travel — the coast lowlands are a transmission zone year-round.
A Tsavo East ticket doesn't cover Tsavo West, so don't book a 2-day East tour expecting Mzima Springs — that's roughly 2–4 hours' drive away in the sister park and needs its own fee. If you want both, look for a separate combination package purchased as one ticket for continuous dates.
Swipe to see more
| Budget Private Safari (2 Days, 1 Night) | Coast Overnight Safari from Mombasa/Diani | Day & Night Game Drive Safari | Multi-Coast Safari (Mombasa, Diani, Watamu, Malindi, Kilifi) | Nairobi-Departure Safari | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price From | $299 | $486 | $765 | $473 | $795 |
| Pickup | Any location — guide meets you at your hotel lobby | All Mombasa, Nyali and Bamburi hotels, plus Moi Airport, cruise terminal and Voi SGR station free | Any location, guide at hotel lobby 15 minutes early | Any hotel across five coastal towns, arranged after booking | Anywhere within Nairobi city |
| Includes | Guide, private transport, meals; park fee and lodging depend on option selected | Voi Wildlife Lodge stay, all meals, bottled water, hotel transfers | All fees and taxes, accommodation, all meals, private transport, guided night drive | Park fees, 4x4 van with popup roof, full board at Lion Hill Lodge or similar, water | Full-board accommodation, all meals, bottled mineral water |
| Cancellation | Full refund 3+ days before; no refund inside 3 days | Full refund up to 24 hours before | Full refund 3+ days before; no refund inside 3 days | Full refund up to 24 hours before | Full refund 3+ days before; no refund inside 3 days |
| Best For | Travellers watching their budget who don't mind picking a cheaper lodging option | Cruise passengers and same-day arrivals — the free airport and terminal pickup does the work | Wildlife obsessives — aardvarks, porcupines, civets and hunting cats after dark | Anyone based north of Mombasa — Watamu and Kilifi pickups are rare on other tours | Travellers already in Nairobi, though note the same price gets you a private coast tour with park fees included |
Swipe to see more
Gates open at 6:00 AM and close at 6:00 PM daily, year-round, unless you're staying overnight inside the park. Night driving is banned for ordinary visitors, so your tour's drives run dawn to dusk.
Your entry ticket is valid for 24 hours of continuous stay, not per calendar day — which matters on a 2-day tour, since you'll need coverage across two ticket periods. Tours handle this, but confirm whether park fees in your booking cover both days.
Plan on early starts. Wildlife is most active in the cool hours, and your guide will want you rolling shortly after 6:00 AM.
From the coast, tours enter off the Mombasa–Nairobi highway: Bachuma Gate is 110 km from Mombasa (2.5–3 hours' drive), Voi Gate 156 km, Manyani Gate 191 km. Most 2-day tours from Mombasa and Diani use Bachuma.
From Nairobi, the SGR Madaraka Express train runs to Voi or Miasenyi stations in about 4 hours — KES 1,050 economy, KES 3,200 first class. Book on the official metickets.krc.co.ke portal. Several tours (including the $486 Mombasa/Diani overnight) will collect you from Voi SGR station, then it's 30–60 minutes to your gate or lodge.
Self-driving from Nairobi: Mtito Andei Gate is 233 km south, about 4–5 hours, then rough track to camps. Charter flights land at Voi, Ithumba, Aruba and several smaller strips — about 50–60 minutes from Nairobi Wilson, with a USD 10 landing fee for aircraft under 1,500 kg.
Practically speaking, if you're on a package tour, the only decision left is where you get picked up — hotel lobby, airport or cruise terminal, depending on the operator.
June to October and January to February are the months to aim for. Rain is minimal, the vegetation thins, and animals concentrate around the Galana River and Aruba Dam, which makes sightings far easier across the park's 13,747 km².
July to October is the strongest window — and even then the park stays far quieter than the Maasai Mara.
Avoid April if you can. It's the wettest month (long rains run March–May) and tracks turn to mud. November, the short-rain peak, is nearly as awkward: fresh water and grass spread animals across a huge area, so you'll cover more ground for fewer sightings.
Daytime averages run about 31°C, dropping to 20°C at night. Pack a fleece for dawn drives even in the dry season — that 6:00 AM departure in an open vehicle is colder than people expect.
No formal wheelchair infrastructure exists in the park, and the terrain is rough, dusty 4WD track. But since the core experience is vehicle-based, wheelchair users who can transfer into a safari van can do the drives — the Watamu-area tour on this page specifically lists wheelchair-accessible transport and surfaces.
For older visitors, it's manageable: little walking, the main challenges being heat, dust, bumpy tracks and early starts. On-foot stops like Mudanda Rock and Lugard's Falls involve uneven rock, and anyone with limited mobility can simply stay in the vehicle.
Children 3–17 pay half fare and under-5s enter free. All wildlife is viewed from vehicles with a 20 m minimum-distance rule. Malaria is present in this coastal lowland zone, so get paediatric advice on prophylaxis before bringing kids.
One tour notes it's unsuitable for travellers with spinal injuries or poor cardiovascular health — the tracks genuinely jolt. Ask your operator about the roughest stretches if that's a concern.
Services inside the park are minimal — that's the honest summary. There's no shop network, no fuel station to rely on, and few places to buy anything. Your tour's lodge (Voi Wildlife Lodge, Lion Hill Lodge and similar on these itineraries) provides meals, water and the only real comfort stops.
KWS's own packing guidance for park visitors includes drinking water, food, camera, binoculars, sunscreen, insect repellent, sunglasses and a first-aid kit. Take more water than you think you need.
Lodge stays on the 2-day tours are full board: lunch, dinner and breakfast, with bottled water usually in the vehicle. Anything personal — drinks beyond what's provided, souvenirs, tips — is the cash you'll carry.
Airstrips at Voi, Ithumba, Aruba, Satao and Sala serve fly-in guests, but road or rail plus lodge transfer is how nearly everyone on these tours arrives.
Stay in your vehicle with doors closed, except in designated areas. Keep at least 20 m from wildlife, move slowly and quietly, and never feed animals. Camp guests can't walk unescorted at night.
The speed limit is 40 km/h, with penalties for exceeding it, and off-road driving is prohibited — your guide sticks to tracks.
Entry is electronic via KWSPay on eCitizen (card or M-Pesa). Foreign nationals also need the Kenya eTA approved before departure, with a passport valid at least six months.
Some do, some don't. The $765 day-and-night-drive tour and both $795 private tours include all park fees, as does the $473 multi-coast tour; the $486 Mombasa/Diani overnight and $299 budget option leave them out or charge them per booking option. If fees aren't included, budget USD 80 per adult and USD 40 per child (3–17) per 24 hours — a 2-day stay spans two ticket periods.
Most tours pick up from Mombasa, Diani, Nyali and Bamburi hotels; one covers Watamu, Malindi and Kilifi as well. The $486 Mombasa/Diani overnight also collects free from Moi International Airport, the cruise terminal and Voi SGR station, and one tour runs from Nairobi with citywide pickup. Expect your guide in the hotel lobby about 15 minutes before departure.
The reliable stars are the red-dust elephants (herds gather at Aruba Dam and along the Galana River), buffalo, zebra, giraffe and antelope including gerenuk and lesser kudu. Lions — famous here for their sparse manes — are seen regularly but not guaranteed, and leopard and rhino are honest possibilities rather than certainties. Densities are lower than the Maasai Mara; the trade-off is sharing sightings with almost nobody.
One tour on this page pairs daytime drives with a guided night drive for $765 — after dark you get a chance at aardvarks, porcupines, civets and hippos grazing on open ground. Night driving is otherwise banned for ordinary visitors, so if that interests you, this is the booking to make.
June to October, or January to February. It's dry, vegetation is thin, and animals concentrate at the Galana River and Aruba Dam. Skip April if you have any flexibility — it's the wettest month and tracks turn to mud — and treat November, the short-rain peak, as second-best at most.
Bachuma Gate, the usual entry point for coast tours, is 110 km from Mombasa — roughly 2.5 to 3 hours by road. Voi Gate is 156 km. That proximity is why Tsavo East works as a 2-day trip with a beach hotel: you're usually inside the park and game driving before lunch on day one.
It varies sharply by operator. Some offer a full refund up to 24 hours before departure; others need 3 full days' notice with zero refund after that. The strictest, the $515 Watamu tour, requires 6 days for a full refund, pays 50% between 2 and 6 days, and nothing within 48 hours. Check your specific tour before booking if your plans might shift.
Yes — nearly every tour here lists suitability for all fitness levels, and since all wildlife viewing happens from the vehicle, there's little walking involved. Children 3–17 pay half park entry and under-5s enter free; several tours offer infant seats, and infants can ride on laps. Older travellers should just expect 6:00 AM starts, midday heat around 31°C, and bumpy tracks.
Light, loose clothing in neutral colours — khaki, olive, brown — with long trousers and a fleece for cold dawn drives, plus a sun hat, sunglasses, sunscreen and closed shoes. Neutral colours are also said to deter tsetse flies, so skip dark blue and black. Binoculars matter more than most people expect, since animals spread out across the plains. Single-use plastics are banned in the park.
Not on these itineraries — they're Tsavo East only. A Tsavo East ticket doesn't cover Tsavo West; the two parks need separate or combination tickets bought as one package. If you want Mzima Springs and the Shetani Lava Flow (both in West, 2–4 hours' drive away), book a dedicated combination safari instead of extending this one.
Browse verified tours with free cancellation and instant confirmation.
Find Tours
Two days, one night, picked up at your hotel gate anywhere in the Watamu area. A guide leads the trip in English or Italian, and lunch, dinner, and breakfast are all covered — you eat on the road and at the lodge, so the only extra cash you need is for anything personal. The format suits travellers staying on the coast who want a park trip without arranging their own transport or food. Everything runs from Watamu, so if you're based in Malindi or Diani instead, check the operator's pickup coverage before booking. Cancellation is tiered: a full refund if you cancel at least 6 full days before departure, partial between 2 and 6 days out. Anything inside 2 days gets nothing back.
If you cancel at least 6 full day(s) before the scheduled departure time, you will receive a full refund.<br>If you cancel between 2 and 6 day(s) before the scheduled departure time, you will receive a 50% refund.<br>If you cancel within 2 day(s) of the scheduled departure, you will receive a 0% refund.
English, Italian
Two days and one night, structured around three game drives — morning, noon and afternoon — to spread your wildlife chances across the day. You travel with a private vehicle and a guide who has been working Tsavo East for over 20 years. Guides speak English and Italian. There are two booking options. The all-inclusive version covers accommodation, all meals and park fees; the transport-and-guiding version leaves accommodation and park fees for you to arrange yourself, which suits travelers who want to pick their own lodge. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus private transportation, are handled either way. Pickup is at your location — for hotels, your guide meets you in the lobby 15 minutes before departure. Cancel at least 3 full days ahead for a full refund; inside 3 days there's no refund.
If you cancel at least 3 full day(s) before the scheduled departure time, you will receive a full refund.<br>If you cancel within 3 day(s) of the scheduled departure, you will receive a 0% refund.
English, Italian
A 48-hour overnight safari running from Mombasa or Diani to Tsavo East, with the night spent at Voi Wildlife Lodge. Pickup covers all hotels in Mombasa, Nyali and Bamburi, plus Moi International Airport and the cruise ship terminal at no extra cost — useful if you're arriving the same day. Pickup from Voi SGR station is also possible for travelers coming down by train. Meals are covered from lunch on day one through breakfast on day two, with bottled water in the vehicle. The guide speaks English. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English
This 2-day, 1-night tour pairs a daytime game drive with a night drive — the part most Tsavo visitors never do. Once the sun sets, the plains change hands: aardvarks, porcupines and civet cats come out to forage, hippos leave the water to graze on open ground, and the big cats that doze through the afternoon start hunting. Lions and leopards chasing zebra and wildebeest are a real possibility on these drives. Transport is private, with an English- or Italian-speaking guide. Accommodation and all meals are covered — breakfast, lunch and dinner — along with park fees and taxes, so there's little to settle on the day. Pickup is from your location; for hotels, your guide meets you in the lobby 15 minutes before departure. Cancel at least 3 full days ahead for a full refund — inside that window, nothing comes back.
If you cancel at least 3 full day(s) before the scheduled departure time, you will receive a full refund.<br>If you cancel within 3 day(s) of the scheduled departure, you will receive a 0% refund.
English, Italian
Two days in Tsavo East, door to door: pickup from your hotel in Mombasa, Diani, Watamu, Malindi or Kilifi, then roughly 48 hours of game drives with a full-board night at Lion Hill Lodge (or similar). Tell the operator your exact pickup point after booking and they'll arrange collection. You travel in a customized 4x4 safari van with a pop-up roof, so you can stand and watch while the driver tracks lion, elephant, buffalo, giraffe and zebra across the park's open plains. The sparse vegetation makes spotting easier than in denser parks, and the watering holes along the Galana River pull in game throughout the day. Park fees, all meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and drinking water on safari are included. Guides work in English, German, French, Italian or Spanish. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
German, English, Italian, French, Spanish
A 48-hour safari built around game drives in Tsavo East, with pickup from anywhere in Nairobi — the operator collects all travelers within the city, so you don't need to arrange a meeting point. Guides run in English. The pace is simple: you travel out, spend the days driving the park tracking wildlife, and overnight on full board. All three meals are covered (breakfast, lunch, dinner), plus accommodation and bottled mineral water throughout. Anything beyond that — park fees aren't itemized in the inclusions, so confirm before booking. Cancellation is strict: a full refund only if you cancel at least three full days before departure. Inside three days, you get nothing back. Book accordingly.
If you cancel at least 3 full day(s) before the scheduled departure time, you will receive a full refund.<br>If you cancel within 3 day(s) of the scheduled departure, you will receive a 0% refund.
English
This is a private 2-day safari from Mombasa, built around three game drives across Tsavo East. You spend the night in a safari lodge inside the park, and you're back in Mombasa in time for lunch or afternoon sightseeing on day two — handy if you have a flight or plans that evening. A professional English-speaking guide drives you throughout. Park entry fees are covered, along with lunch, dinner, breakfast, and bottled water. Gratuities aren't included. Pickup is available anywhere within Mombasa. Cancel at least 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
English