[citation needed][2] The Yatta Plateau, the world's longest lava flow, runs along the western boundary of the park above the Athi-Galana-Sabaki River.

[citation needed] Tsavo West National Park is more mountainous and wetter, with swamps, Lake Jipe and the Mzima Springs.

Because of the sparse availability of water away from the Galana River, human settlement in Tsavo focused on the riparian areas and in rock shelters as one moves west.

[5] 19th century British and German explorers document people we now refer to as Orma and Watha during their travels through the "nyika" ("bush" or "hinterland") and generally viewed them as hostile toward their interests.

Two Tsavo Man-Eaters terrorised the construction crews led by John Henry Patterson who eventually shot the pair but not before they had killed one hundred and thirty five Indians and local workers.

At that time, the Orma with their livestock were driven off and the aboriginal population of the Watha people was forcefully relocated to Voi and Mtito Andei as well as other locations within the nearby Taita Hills.

Following Kenyan independence in 1963, hunting was banned in the park and management of Tsavo was turned over to the authority that eventually became the Kenya Wildlife Service.

Tsavo East National Park is considered one of the world's biodiversity strongholds, providing undeveloped homes to vast numbers of animals.