Mount Kenya National Park Overview
Mount Kenya, which is an extinct volcano sitting on the Equator, is Africa's second highest mountain and stands at a height of 5199m (17,058ft). Opened as the Mount Kenya National Park in 1949, the mountain has been revered by local inhabitants for generations and is the official home of 'Ngai', the Kikuyu tribe's Supreme Being. The snowy peak of the volcano was first sighted by an outsider in 1849 - the missionary Johann Ludwig Krapf - although the idea that there could be snow on the Equator was not believed until the British geographer Halford John Mackinder reached the summit in 1899. The park itself, which covers an area of 600 sq km (232 sq miles), offers exotic mountain scenery, starting with upland forest near the bottom and progressing to mountain forest, bamboo forests and glacier peaks. A wide variety of wildlife inhabits the park, some unique to it, including Sykes and Colobus monkeys, buffalo, elephants, black rhinos, leopards, the elusive Bongo antelopes and giant forest hogs. It is also home to many species of birds such as the giant kingfisher, olive pigeons and red-fronted parrots.
Air: Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Wilson Airport. Rail: Train: Thika Station. Road: Bus: Services to Nanyuki (from Nairobi). Car: A2 heads northwest from Nairobi, by-passing Murunga, before heading west around the base of Mount Kenya to Nanyuki.
Contact Addresses
Senior Warden, Mount Kenya National Park, PO Box 69, Naru Moru, Kenya
Tel: (0171) 2383
Website: www.kws.org/mountkenya.html
Location
Kenya
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