Mount Kenya National Park Things to Do

At 17,058 feet, it is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second highest in Africa, Mount Kenya is home to the Kikuyu god ngai. An extinct volcano, the mountain was formed a couple of million years ago.

Climbing the mountain is best left to experienced mountaineers.

We put in a request to be woken if many different animals showed, but this hyena was the only one of them which turned up after we'd gone to bed. Worth getting up for though.

The water hole was flood lit, so we could still see the animals in the dark.

Later on a large herd of buffalo arrived. They are quite aggressive animals and can be very dangerous. The noise they make while drinking and wallowing in the mud surrounding the water hole cannot be described.

At dusk a lone elephant arrived at the watering hole. He was hanging around for quite some time, so we were able to go down to the viewing hide and watch him at eye level. It was absolutely amazing to be so near to such a big animal.

Not that there's much to see, the main caves where destroyed by the English, so all you can see are the remains.

But I do recommend it : you'll see beautiful parts of the flank of Mt Kenya (expect to get dirty when climbing up and down at hands and knees) and you'll hear the 'true' story of the Kikuyu people.

The lodge is surrounded by a forest on three sides, and in the trees many monkeys were seen, such as this Colubus Monkey.

A little later on still, as the light was fading fast, this group of Giant Forest Hogs arrived for a little scavenging around and a quick drink of water.