MOUNT KENYA NATIONAL PARK

The Mount Kenya National Park was established in 1949 and covers an area of 588sq km, the boundary being the contour.  It comprises small sections of the higher forest and bamboo hypericum zone, alpine moorlands, glaciers, tarns and glacial moraines.  It is dominated by the Twin Peaks of the mountain, Batian 5200m 17058ft and Nelion.
The visitor to the Mt Kenya National Park does not need to be an experienced mountaineer, and access to the alpine moorlands is easy via the Sirimon Track which branches to the right off the main Nanyuki-Isiolo road several kilometers north of Nanyuki; but a four-wheeled drive vehicle is necessary to negotiate the rough surface and steep inclines.  The trail passes through magnificent stands of juniper and podocarpus before reaching the altitude bamboo forest with mighty gorges, sylvan glades and trout streams.  Elephant and Buffalo are common, and Black Rhino exist but are not often seen.  In the early morning there are always Bushbuck and Bush Duiker in evidence and the expectation of Leopard and the elusive Bongo if one is very lucky.
Another road of access is via a turning off the Nyeri-Nanyuki road near Naro Moru.  This easy track is now the most used access to the Park but it ends at the upper level of the forest, after which one proceeds on foot. There are lodge huts at its highest point, suitable for those carrying their own bedding and food.  Mountain Lodge sited at a little over 2134m in the Mount Kenya forest, is an outstanding attraction.  It is reached via a sign posted access road near Nyeri, off the main Nyeri-Nanyuki road.  Several mammals can be seen here which are encountered rarely elsewhere, such as Bush Pig, Giant Forest
Hog (also easily seen at treetops and the Ark), Large – spotted Genet, Tree Hyrax, Greater Galago, white-tailed, Swamp, Black-Tipped and Large Grey Mongoose.  Elephant, Black Rhinoceros, Buffalo, Bush Buck, Red Duiker, Suni and Defassa Waterbuck are common and leopard may be seen sometimes. Birds seen from the lodge include Green Ibis, African Black Duck, Ayres' Hawk Eagle, Rufous-breasted and Great Sparrow Hawks, Scaly Francolin, Silver-cheeked Hornbill, Hart-laubs Turaco, Red-Headed Parrot, Bronze-naped Pigeon, Mackinders's Eagle Owl, Ruppell's Robin Chat and various Sunbirds to name but a few. Birds are not over abundant in the forest, but sometimes Ayres' Hawk Eagle and the Crowned Hawk Eagle may be seen soaring over their hunting grounds. The Red-headed Parrot and Hartlaub's Turaco frequent fruiting podocarpus trees, whilst two forest francolins, Jackson's Francolin and Scaly Francolin, scuttle away into the undergrowth as your vehicle approaches.  The rate Mount Kenya race of the Green Ibis feeds in marshy.