Mount Kenya National Park

Short Overview

Mount Kenya at Mount Kenya National Park is Kenya’s biggest mountain ranging between 1600m – 5199m above sea level and second after Mt Kilimanjaro and is an extinct volcano at the equator located in Central province.

Details of Mount Kenya National Park

It is a national icon and nations namesake. Mountain Rivers, forest, moorland rock and ice and crowned by glittering twin peaks of Batian and Nelion. Mount Kenya National Park is covering 2800 sq km and is 175 km north east of Nairobi. It offers a landscape of Mountain Rivers, forest, moorland rock and ice and crowned by glittering twin peaks of Batian and Nelion and for the Kikuyu people.

Sacred home of the God Ngai

Kikuyu people is one of the communities living around the mountain, which is the sacred home for their God referred to as Ngai. Other communities living around the mountain are the Embu and Masai and gave different names to the mountain. The Kambas too also gave a name to the Mountain that was finally adopted as the countries name. There are several legendary stories associated with the mountains. The mountain peaks Batian, Nelion and Point Lenana are named after three Masai brave men and medicine men.

Freezing cold, misty and windy

Since Mount Kenya has mountain geography, the climate and weather varies with altitude. At high altitudes it is freezing cold, misty and windy. The vegetation is mainly alpine and sub-alpine flora, bamboo forests, moorland and tundra. The vegetation changes notably as you ascend because of the variations in temperatures.

Permanently crowned with a glacier

An attraction at the extinct volcanic Mountain is the massive circular volcanic cone estimated at 70 km in diameter. The mountain is permanently crowned with a glacier at the peak known as Lewis Glacier. This is amazing because the line of the equator crosses Kenya and is assumed hottest area with Mt Kenya only 16km south of the equator.

Major attractions

• Pristine wilderness, lakes, tarns, glaciers and peaks of great beauty and mineral springs.
• There is also the unique montane and alpine vegetation.
• Wildlife such as elephants, tree hyrax, mole rats, bushbucks, water bucks, elands, suni and white-tailed mongoose. You will rarely see leopards, bongos, giant forest hogs and rhinos.
• Over 130 species of birds.