Mount Kenya is the Kenya's highest mountain and Africa's second largest. Sitting astride the equator its icy summit reaches to 5199 meters (17,058 feet). The entire mountain above the 3200-meter contour forms a national park. Mount Kenya is an imposing extinct volcano dominating the landscape of the Kenyan Highlands, East of the Rift Valley.

Mount Kenya lies about 140 km North, North-East of Nairobi with its Northern flanks across the Equator. The mountain has two main peaks - Batian (5200m) and Nelion (5188m). The mountains slopes are cloaked in forest, bamboo, scrub and moorland giving way on the high central peaks to rock, ice and snow. Mt. Kenya is an important water catchment area, supplying the Tana and Northern Ewaso Ngiro systems.

The park includes a variety of habitats ranging from higher forest, bamboo, alpine moorlands, glaciers, tarns and glacial morains. The park, which was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1997 and is also a Biosphere Reserve, covers 715 km2, and includes the Peaks consisting of all the ground above 3200m with two small salients extending lower down to 2450m along the Sirimon and Naro Moru tracks. Surrounding the park is Mount Kenya National Reserve with an area of approximately 2095 km2

Wildlife

The animals that can be found at the Mount Kenya National Park include: Baboon, Olive Bat, Banana Bongo, Buffalo African, Bushbuck Cat, African Wild Civet, African Colobus, Black and White; Dog, Hunting Dormouse African; Duiker, Black-fronted Duiker, Bush Duiker, Red Elephant, African Genet, Large-spotted Hare, African Hog, Giant Forest Hyaena, Spotted Hyrax, Rock Hyrax, Tree Jackal, Black-backed Jackal, Side-striped Klipspringer; Leopard, Lion, Mongoose, Slender, Monkey, Sykes, Otter, Clawless Pig, Forest Bush; Porcupine, Crested Rat, Crested Rat, Mt Kenya Mole, Reedbuck, Chanler's, Rhinoceros, Black, Serval, Shrew, Mole, Suni; Zebra, Common. Birds commonly seen are: Owl, Mackinder's Eagle, Owl, Cape Grass Owl, African Wood Owl, African Marsh; Owl, Abyssinian Long-eared Oriole, Black-winged Nightjar, Abyssinian; Martin, African Sand Martin, African Rock, Lanner; Lammergeyer; Kite, European Black Kite, African Black Kingfisher, Grey-headed Kingfisher, Giant Kestrel, Lesser Kestrel, European Ibis, Green; Hornbill and Silvery-cheeked.


How to get there

• By road from Nairobi on the Nairobi - Nanyuki road or via Chogoria on Embu - Meru road.