At 5,199 m. high, Mount Kenya is Africa's second highest mountain. It offers easy or challenging ascents with superb scenic beauty.
To the Kikuyu tribes people it is the home of the Supreme Being: Ngai (meaning God), a name also used by the Maasai and Kamba tribes. In traditional prayers and sacrifices, Ngai is addressed by the Kikuyu as Mwene Nyaga: the Professor of Brightness. The name comes from Kere Nyaga, the Kikuyu name for Mount Kenya, meaning Mountain of Brightness - Ngai's official home.
Part of the mountain's fascination is the variation in flora and fauna as the altitude changes. The lower slopes are covered with dry upland forest, the true montane forest begins at 2,000 m. is mainly cedar and podo. At 2,500 m. begins a dense belt of bamboo forest which merges into the upper forest of smaller trees, interspersed with glades. In this area the trees are festooned with high altitude moss.
These forest belts are host to many different animals and plants with at least 11 unique species. Game to view includes: Black and White Colobus and Sykes monkeys, bushbuck, buffalo, elephant and lower down Olive Baboon, waterbuck, black rhino, black fronted duiker, leopard, giant forest hog, genet cat, bush pig and hyena. More elusive is the bongo, a rare type of forest antelope.
A number of other rare or endangered species can be found here: Sunni Buck, Mt Kenya Mole Shrew, skinks (lizard), and a variety of owls. Occasional sightings have been recorded of albino zebra.
The high altitude heath at the top (3,000 - 3,500 m.) is generally open, dotted with shrubs: African Sage, protea and helicrysum. The peak (above 3,500 m.) is moorland, with little game other than high altitude zebra and eland common in the northern moorland.
There is only one lodge inside the Park, seven climbers huts and three self-help banda sites. Just outside the Park there are three lodges and another self-help banda site.
Mount Kenya is a two hour drive from Nairobi, 175 kms and there are scheduled daily flights to Nanyuki, Naro Moru airstrip.
For all you need to know about climbing Mount Kenya please visit our friends at Summit Ventures.
