Three years. 600 hours of flying time. 6,059 GPS waypoints. 60,000 square kilometres. That’s what it took to create a definitive map of Kenya’s largest national park and surrounding wilderness, the Greater Tsavo Conservation Area.
The last comprehensive map of Tsavo was produced in 1985. A current, highly detailed map is an essential tool for field-level conservation work — not to mention a useful asset for Tsavo tourists. Given that it had been nearly four decades since the last edition, we felt that the creation of an updated, exhaustive map of the Tsavo Conservation Area would be a worthy undertaking. While SWT funded and spearheaded the project, it entailed significant input from the Kenya Wildlife Service and all stakeholders in the landscape.
The Process:
Our fixed-wing pilots spearheaded the map project. To maximise airtime and field efficacy, mapping tasks were done concurrently with routine aerial patrols. As they monitored wildlife and scanned for illegal activities, pilots also recorded GPS waypoints and photographed landscape features.
Bongo Woodley played an integral role in the project. Tsavo is in his DNA: In 1948, his father, Bill Woodley, was appointed the assistant warden of the newly established Tsavo East National Park. he worked alongside founding warden David Sheldrick to combat poaching and develop infrastructure that is still used in the park today. Bongo has followed in his father’s capable footsteps as a pilot and conservationist. He devoted 170 days of flying to the Tsavo map task, simultaneously conducting routine patrols.
We engaged Mike Shand, a GIS cartographer at the University of Glasgow, to turn that data into a map. Shand had previously done the cartography for maps of the Selous and Serengeti.
What Went Into the Map:
- 1,526 photos from fieldwork flights and map screenshots
- 6,059 GPS waypoints
- 91 airstrips
- 188 road junction signposts
- 3,945 water features (waterholes, pans, boreholes, wells, springs, etc.)
- 1,134 terrain features (summits, hills, rock outcrops, kopjes, caves, volcanic cones, craters)
- 365 points of interest (towns/villages, SGR/rail lines, wildlife underpasses, phone masts, etc.)
- 336 tourism and management features (lodges, campsites, guard posts, outposts, KWS headquarters and national park gates, historical sites, viewpoints, facilities, etc.)
GIS database layers
- 51 shapefile layers comprising: terrain, contours, drainage, vegetation, lava flows, riverbeds/sandbars, GPS waypoints, roads/tracks, wildlife trails, railways, pipelines, power-lines, National Park, conservancy, and county boundaries
Map Versions
- 164 versions of the map created in Adobe Acrobat format
- 29 versions created in Avenza smartphone format
- 41 versions created in Garmin GPS Custom Map Kmz format
- Draft versions of Tsavo map cover including location map
The Result:
The Tsavo Map is a definitive, highly detailed map for field conservationists, tourists, and Trust enthusiasts alike. It encompasses three national parks — Tsavo East, Tsavo West, Chyulu Hills — and the vast conservation areas that border them.
Two versions of the map are available:
Digital Version, downloaded via Avenza app: Orient yourself as you safari in Tsavo and zoom in on all map’s intricate details with our digital version. First, download the Avenza app from Apple Store or Google Play. Once installed, open and search ‘Tsavo.’ Our Map of Tsavo will appear for you to purchase and download to your device.
Printed Version, available to purchase online: Whether you want to situate yourself on an upcoming trip to Tsavo, or get your bearings in relation to SWT news from the field, this map is all you need to have in hand. You could even have it framed and turn it into a focal point of your home! Purchase here.
The printed version is also available for sale in Kenya at our Nairobi Nursery and Galdessa Eco Lodge shops!