Mountain climbing
Climb the legendary Mt. Kenya, Africa's second highest mountain. A magnificent climb through varied ecosystems and awe-inspiring scenery. Taking the most popular Chogoria-Naromoru route or choose from several others.
With its volcanic ridges and glacial valleys radiating across the land like spokes from a wheel, the massive bulk of Mount Kenya straddles the Equator yet is permanently crowned with snow. The 588 square-kilometre National Park, surrounded by 2000 square kilometres of Forest Reserve, is dominated by the twin summits of Batian (5,199 m) and Nelion (5,188 m) whose jagged snow-capped peaks are all that remain of a gigantic volcanic lava plug that once thrust another 300 meters into the sky.
Traditionally venerated by the Kikuyu people as the dwelling place of their God, Ngai, and known by them as 'Kirinyaga' or 'the mountain of whiteness', all Kikuyu homes were once built to face the mountain and elderly Kikuyu are still regularly found wandering the high moorlands in search of their God. The 2000-square-kilometre Mount Kenya Forest Reserve, meanwhile, is the largest forest reserve and water-catchment area in Kenya and features magnificent stands of buttressed and lichen-draped juniper, podocarpus and African olive trees whose dense canopy provides the ideal habitat for vast herds of buffalo and elephant as well as a bright kaleidoscope of birds and other wildlife.
At higher altitudes, the forest gives way to lush bamboo groves where colobus monkeys leap and leopard prowl and, higher up, the stunted woodlands give way to tussock grass and alpine moorlands, jewel-studded by icy glacial tarns and moraines. As for the globally unique alpine flora, it features 13 species endemic to the mountain and displays such freakish montane mutations as giant lobelias, groundsel and water-holding cabbages.
Game highlights include: elephant, buffalo, black rhino, leopard, colobus and Sykes's monkey, duiker, buck, giant forest hog and the extremely rare Bongo antelope, as well as a wide range of birds, of which 57 types are endemic to Mt. Kenya. Your base for this climb will be Mountain Lodge, the only 'tree hotel' ever to be built on the slopes of Mt. Kenya. Mountain Lodge offers excellent game viewing and beautiful views of the mountain.
The 2 most popular routes for climbing Mount Kenya are Chogoria-Naromoru & Sirimon-Naromoru
