September 25, 2025 | Bujo Safaris
Aruba Dam is an artificial or man-made dam that was purposely built by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) such that the wild animals in the park can have access to reliable water, mostly during the long dry seasons. Aruba Dam was constructed during the colonial era in the year 1952, and since then it has been acting as a water reserve and a source of water to a variety of wild animals like elephants, buffalo, hippos, since this spot in East Tsavo National Park is always having several animals that happen to be prey for the predators. So, when you visit Aruba Dam, you should expect to spot some predators like leopards, cheetahs, crocodiles, hyenas, and lions. Are you planning a Kenya safari and looking forward to visiting Aruba Dam, or do you have a dream of visiting there one day? As you continue reading this article, you will get to know more about the Aruba Dam and what to expect when you get there.
Aruba Dam is located along the Vio River in the southern end of East Tsavo National Park, which makes it approximately an hour drive away from the Mombasa-Nairobi highway and railway. Covering approximately 85 hectares, making it the third largest man-made conservation dam in the world, and gets its water from the Vio River.
Aruba Dam, being a travel destination, also offers various attractions that tourists and visitors look forward to seeing when they visit. Some of these attractions include,
Aruba Dam is home to several different bird species, making it one of the best places for bird-spotting in East Tsavo National Park. Some of the birds found in Aruba Dam include African fish eagle, herons, kingfishers, Somali ostrich, woodpeckers, sunbirds, starling, pigeons, herons, storks, to mention a few.
Since an Aruba Dam is a water source, where animals and birds drink water from, mostly during the dry season of the year. Different animals gather here for water daily, which makes Aruba Dam a perfect place for spotting wildlife in East Tsavo National Park. Some of the animals that you should look forward to spotting include buffaloes, elephants, rhinos, zebras, and antelopes, to mention a few. You should also expect to spot some predators like lions, cheetahs, leopards, and hyenas since this area happens to be a prey spot for the predators in West Tsavo National Park.
The tourist activities done around the Aruba Dam are very much determined by the different tourism attractions that are found in this area. Some of the travel activities that are done or carried out by tourists who visit East Tsavo National Park include,
Game drives during different times of the day are conducted or done by tourists near or around Aruba Dam, and they get to spot different wild animals that gather at Aruba Dam mostly during the dry season of the year to drink water. Some of the animals that tourists happen to spot include buffalo, elephants, zebras, and rhinos, to mention a few. Since the Aruba Dam is always visited by different wild animals, this makes a hot spot for predators like lions, leopards, cheetahs, and hyenas, since there is a lot of prey to eat.
Aruba Dam was constructed in way that birds are attracted and forced to stay there which makes it a hot or perfect place for birding since it is filled with different sounds of different bird species. Approximately 170 to 200 different bird species have been recorded and can be spotted in Aruba Dam and the surrounding areas, some of these birds include migratory birds, sunbirds, Somali ostrich, starling, pigeon, herons, kingfishers, to mention a few. This makes Aruba Dam one of the perfect birding destinations for tourist who are interested to do birding in Tsavo National Park.
Guided nature walks are one of the tourist activities that are done or carried out by tourists when they visit Aruba Dam located in the East Tsavo National Park. Guided Nature walks in and around Aruba Dam are conducted by well experienced tour guides who guide or lead tourists interested in this activity through different walking trials on foot to connect with nature and also spot different attractions which include landscapes, birds, plants, animals, to mention a few.
With permission from the authorities, tourists who are interested can carry out the fishing activity in Aruba Dam. With the help of an experienced tour guide who will help you identify a perfect fishing spot and with different fishing methods like spin casting, bait fishing or fly fishing. You will be able to catch different fish species like cat fish, mud fish, tilapia fish, to mention a few.
For tourists who very much love staying out at night in the wild or outside, you can as well camp in the nearby camping sites near Aruba Dam which is well protected and strategically located to help you blend well with nature and have an amazing experience during your stay.
Aruba Dam is always open to tourists or visitors through out the whole year but since there is always a best timing for everything, the best time to visit Aruba Dam is during the dry season of the year. The dry season is the best time to visit Aruba Dam because during this time of the year a lot of wild animals and different birds happen to visit Aruba Dam to drink water since most water spots in the park by this time would have dried up due to shortage of rainfall. Also, during this time of the year Aruba Dam is more accessible since the trails leading you to it are dry than during the wet or rainy season where the trails tend to be slippery and muddy hence limiting access to the dam.
Having read to this far means you have made up your mind to visiting Aruba Dam or carrying out a certain tourist activity around or in Aruba Dam or you either have a burning question which you can go a head and ask me because I am willing to help you get the best experience in all ways possible.
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