Mount. Kenya

Mount. Kenya

Kenya’s magnificent Mount Kenya is located in Mount Kenya National Park about 4 hours from Nairobi.  It is a stratovolcano standing at about 5181.6 meters and is the second tallest mountain on the African continent after the mighty Mount. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

The Great Hill is dominated by rugged and hilly steep slopes and is considered more challenging for hiking than Mount. Kilimanjaro. It is one of Kenya’s most popular attractions and one of the most visited tourist destinations. Its proximity to the country’s largest business center and capital city allows easy accessibility to the destination. Hence attracting a big number of both local and continental visitors from across the globe. Though tiring and stressful, reaching Mount. Kenya’s summit is one of the most rewarding and remarkable moments while on Kenya Safaris. It offers visitors clear views of Nairobi city and the neighboring national parks and other tourist destinations.

There are about 3 peaks of Mount Kenya including Nelion, Lenana, and Batian. One of the trails to the summit is Naromoru the easiest accessible trail to Mount Kenya’s peak. Naromoru is popular and one of the most used trails to reach the summit.

The route is quick, convenient, and less challenging yet offers spectacular wildlife views and other plant species. Other popular trails used to reach the summit include the Sirimon route, the Burget route, and more. The hardest and most challenging peak to reach is the Nelion peak albeit, the Batian peak is the tallest of all. Hiking Mountain Kenya to the final summit may take about 4-5 days depending on the hiker’s level of fitness and health.

However, seasonal and inexperienced hikers find reaching Mount Kenya’s summit challenging given its hilly and rugged nature. The less fit inexperienced hikers may find reaching the summit very challenging. This is why many are seen giving up just in the middle of the hiking process.

What to see while visiting Mount Kenya?

There are several surrounding forests around mountain Kenya where several wildlife and animal species find a home. The magnificent mountain is dominated by forests, waterfalls, pristine wilderness, glaciers, peaks, tarns, mineral springs, alpine vegetation, montane vegetation, lakes, and more eye-catching attractions that visitors observe and explore. The mountain also harbors about 11 endemic plant species.

Over 130 bird species including starlings, red-fronted parrots, Olive pigeons, giant kingfishers, sunbirds, and more recorded on Mount Kenya. Some of the wildlife species that can be seen while visiting Mount Kenya include white-tailed mongoose, olive baboons, giant forest hogs, waterbucks, duikers, mole rats, elephants, buffaloes, and black and white colobus monkeys.

What to do at Mount Kenya?

Game watching and birding. Game drives around Mount Kenya National Park are thrilling tourism activities that can be enjoyed while visiting the hilly mountain. Game drives can be organized in sessions from morning to afternoon in the different park sections accompanied by professional tour guides and park rangers.

Wildlife species including elephants, duikers, bushbucks, waterbucks, impalas, buffaloes, zebras and more can be seen while enjoying thrilling game drives in Mount Kenya. While wildlife watching, visitors can see several bird species, especially around the slopes of Mount Kenya.

Best time to visit Mount Kenya. 

The best and most rewarding time to visit, explore, and hike Mount Kenya is undoubtedly the dry season even though the destination is open for tourism throughout the year. The mighty hill’s nature is hilly, rugged, and tricky and can be challenging and stressful during the wet season. This is when the trails to the summit turn muddy and slippery making the whole hiking process a bad one to experience.

During the dry season of December to February and June to October, the hiking trails are dry and the lush vegetation is cleared out making the trails accessible. Hence hikers have easy access to the summit. Wildlife on Mount Kenya can also be easily sighted during the dry season given most of the lush vegetation is dried out hence offering clear views to the visitors.