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Mt.
/Mount
Kenya National Park
Mt. Kenya is the second-highest mountain in Africa after Tanzania's
Mount Kilimanjaro. The
Kikuyu used to call it Kirinyaga,
“a
mountain with a black and white peak like an ostrich’s tail”.
The mountain itself is an awe-inspiring sight with its ragged
peaks, and equatorial snow.
Mt
Kenya was revered among the surrounding communities as the dwelling
ground of their gods. The Kikuyu, the Kamba, Embu and Meru
communities believed that their god,"Ngai". dwelt on the mountain.
Mount
Kenya has three main peaks
- Batian (5199m), Nelion (5,189m) and Lenana
(4,985m).
While
any hike or excursionist can reach Lenana, Batian and Nelion can
only be reached by technical climbers.
Mount
Kenya is Kenya’s premier
water catchment area.
It
is the source of Kenya's main rivers like the Tana and Ewaso Ngiro.
The Eastern and southern slopes are
intensively cultivated by
Embu, Meru and Kikuyu
communities.
The main cash crops in the region include coffee, tea and pyrethrum.
Wheat farms, cattle ranches and horticulture farms dominates the
Northern and Western slopes
The western and northern
slopes are dominated by the Laikipia Plateau,
the meeting points of the farming communities and the
pastoral–
the Samburu, cousins of the Maasai.
Tourism Attractions in Mt Kenya Region:
Besides Mt Kenya
National Park, the region has a large number of attractions worth
your visit. Among these are:
-
Culture- Mt Kenya region
is the home to Kenya's Bantu communities-the Kikuyu, the Embu and
the Meru. Though the Western civilization has greatly
influenced the lifestyle of these people, they have deep routed
cultural practices that can be only be understood by staying with
them. Besides the Bantus, the nilotes of Northern Kenya-the
Samburu and the Boran occupy some portions of Laikipia and the whole
of Isiolo plains.
-
Private Game Ranches-
Northern Kenya has the largest number of wildlife in Private
ranches. Some of the ranches like Lewa and Sweet Waters have
distinguished themselves as breeding grounds of rare species like
the black Rhinos and Grevy's Zebra. Sweet Waters has the only
Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Kenya.
-
National Parks and
Reserves-the region also has a large number of game parks and
reserves-Samburu, Buffalo springs, Shaba reserves, Meru and Mt Kenya
and National parks. Marsabit Park, Bisinadi and Kora National
Parks are within the vicinity of this region.
Mt
Kenya Safaris,
Climbing,
hiking, trekking and tracking in
Mt. Kenya
Acclimatization:
Before embarking on climbing
or hiking Mt. Kenya,
acclimatization is very important.
A few
days at the base can be enough for that.
Climbing and hiking
takes 3-5 days and 2 days
for descent
and is led by a team of experienced mountaineers and naturalists.
In Mt Kenya
accommodation is in the form of ready-pitched camps or
bunk-houses.
If you have to bring your camping material, a high altitude tent is
recommended.
Climbing, Trekking, hiking and tracking trails on Mt Kenya:
Four ascent routes/
trails are available for those attempting to ascend Mt Kenya. These
are
Naro Moru trail, the Burguret,
Sirimon
trails and the Chogoria trail.
Besides
these, the Ngunia trail is available from Serena Mountain
Lodge.
We have two hiking
trekking safaris to Mt Kenya which allow climbers to ascend through
Chogoria and descend via Naro Moru/ climb through Sirimon and
descend via naro Moru etc. Below are some examples. Please
note that the Suggested safaris can be modified to suite your needs
Apart from
hiking and
climbing
, other activities that people can undertake within
Mt Kenya and the surrounding are:
Mt. Kenya Forest.
The
Mt
Kenya
is surrounded by a belt of
tropical mountain forest Reserve.
Unique montane vegetation including podocarpus and groundsel, and
finally one of the worlds rarest sights, equatorial snow.
Mammals
in
Mt Kenya
include, Black and White Colobus, Sykes Monkeys, bushbuck, rock
Hyrax, Greater galago, buffalo, elephant, Olive Baboon, waterbuck,
Black Rhino, black fronted duiker, leopard, giant forest hog, genet
cat, bush pig and hyena, the rare bongo.
Other
animals you will encounter in Mt Kenya are
Suni Antelope, Mt. Kenya Mole Rat, skinks (lizard), Montane Viper
and a variety of owls.
Albino Zebras have also been encountered.
Bird life
in
Mt. Kenya
include, Crowned hawk eagle, Jackson's francolin,
Abyssinian long-eared owl, Green ibis, African black duck,
Ayres' hawk eagle, Rufous-breasted, great sparrow hawks, Scaly
francolin, Silvery-cheeked hornbill, Hartlaub's turaco, red headed
parrot, bronze-napped pigeon, Mackinder's eagle owl, Rupell's robin
chat.
Accommodation:
Vegetation Succession
Part of the
Mt Kenya
attraction is the fascinating vegetation.
As you go up the mountain vegetation changes
-
Below 2,000m
- dry upland forest.
-
2,000m – 2,500m
True mountain
forest of mainly cedar and podocarpus.
-
2,500m –3,000m -
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 lichen.
-
3,000 - 3,5000m
open, dotted with shrubs: African Sage, protea and helichrysum.
-
above 3,500m)
moor land, with little game other than high altitude zebra and
eland, common in the northern moor land.
Giant Lobelias found in
Mt Kenya include Lobelia telekii
and Lobelia keniensis,
with the former having narrow leaves
and the later broad-leaved.
Otherunique plants are Romuela
keniensis, Disa,
Habenaria, and the orange flowered
gladiolus, Gladiolus Watsonioides
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