At 110 square kilometres, Taita Hills Wildlife Sanctuary is a relatively small park on the edge of Tsavo West National Park where you can enjoy the green hills of the Eastern Arc mountain range.

Part of the beautiful Eastern Arc mountain range, the Taita Hills stretch from Kenya into neighbouring Tanzania and are among the oldest mountain ranges in Africa.

About thirty million years ago, this entire area was a rainforest, and about ten million years ago, the lowland forests slowly converted to savannah. This transformed the mountain ranges into “islands” where tropical forests continued to thrive.

As a result, each has its own variety of endemic animals and plants.
Today, the Eastern Arc is one of the world’s top twenty biodiversity hotspots.

In addition to the usual wildlife, many endemic species inhabit the 110 km2 Taita Hills. Kenya’s rarest (and most endangered) birds live here: the Taita apalis and the Taita thrush. But the Taita Hills glossy purple snake, the blade-horned chameleon, the Taita falcon, the white-eyed snake and the southern banded serpent eagle also call the area home. Lovers of larger wildlife can look for African elephants, lions, cheetahs, buffaloes, leopards, hyenas, hippos, giraffes and zebras. The Taita Hills also has areas of cloud forests, forests that usually have a layer of clouds hanging above.

These forests are home to very ancient native trees, which can reach the diameter of ten people holding hands.