Mount Kenya National Park

Mount Kenya National Park

Mt. Kenya National Park was gazzeted in 1949 and has an area of 715 square kilometers. It is located in the Great Rift Valley, about 175 kilometers north-east of Nairobi. Initially it was a forest reserve before being announced as a national park, the two combined, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. Mount Kenya straddles the equator about 193 km north-east of Nairobi and about 480 km from the Kenyan coast. At 5,199m the mountain is the second highest peak in Africa. It was built up by irregular volcanic eruptions, many years ago. It is an ancient extinct volcano, during whose period of activity millions of years ago is thought to have risen to 6,500. The park has rich and varied vegetation varying with altitude and rainfall changes from thick rainforests to bamboos, alpine moorlands, glaciers and tarns. Wildlife includes many rare and endangered species such as the Black Leopard, Sykes and Colobus monkeys, Suni Antelope, Mole Rat, Montane Vipers and Albino Zebra. Other common wild animals include the elusive Bongo Antelopes, Cape Buffaloes, and Black-tipped Mongoose, Elephants, Monkeys, Spotted Hyenas, Black Backed Jackals, Olive Baboon, Porcupine, Elands, Bushbucks, Rock Hyrax, giant Forest Hogs and black rhinos. The birdlife around the mountain is also prolific including huge eagles, giant kingfisher, red-fronted parrots and multicolored sunbirds. Others are White-backed Vultures, Crowned-hawk Eagles, Long-Crested Eagles, Green Ibis, African Black Duck, Great Sparrow Hawks, Hornbill, Bronze-napped Pigeons, and Mountain and Auger Buzza. Cuckoo Falcons are also commonly spotted in the park. Major attractions include Pristine wilderness, lakes, tarns, glaciers and peaks of great beauty, geological variety, forest, mineral springs, rare and endangered species of animals, High altitude adapted plains game, Unique montane and alpine vegetation with 11 species of endemic plants.