Mount Kenya

Mt. Kenya National Park is most famous for .... Mt. Kenya, an extinct volcano and the second highest mountain in Africa. Like the Aberdares, Mt Kenya is an important water catchment area since the area not only has snow covered peaks but also very high rainfall. The habitat is a mix of rain forest, bamboo, open woodland, scrub, moorland as well as the high altitude rock peaks. It has a number of globally and regionally threatened species some of which it has in common with the Aberdares, but it is also home to the Lesser Kestrel, the Purple-throated Cuckoo-shrike and is one of the few remaining areas in Kenya where the Lammergeier can still be seen.

Mountain Lodge, on the slopes of Mt Kenya is less famous than Treetops but in our opinion a far better place to stay in terms of accommodation and wildlife viewing. If you're lucky and the weather's right large numbers of raptors can be seen either in the trees or circling overhead. Bronze-naped and green pigeons come down to the waterhole and take advantage of the natural salt-lick, and we've also seen Grey-headed Negrofinch and Montane Oriole there. At night a number of sandpipers and other waders visit the waterhole. It's also the only place in Africa that an American Spotted Sandpiper has ever been seen (just once, in September 1999).

In the same area is Naro Moru River Lodge which regularly features on the itinerary for quite a few specialist birding trips (it's also one of the primary bases for climbing Mt Kenya). It is located along the banks of the Naro Moru River and the extensive grounds include stretches of natural woodland as well as scrub so it provides a lot of scope for a leisurely ramble with your bins. As well as the species mentioned above it is a good area to see Tacazze Sunbird, Montane White-eye and Black and White Mannikin.

The Kianyaga Valleys (another of Kenya's IBAs) are on the south-eastern side of Mount Kenya. They are almost entirely settled with coffee, maize and arrowroot being cultivated across much of the area. Small pockets of wetland remain and these include small Lantana camara thickets which are the main stronghold of the endemic and endangered Hinde's Babbler.

One of the local dawn and dusk spectacles in the foothills of Mt Kenya is the daily 'migration' of the Red-fronted Parrots from their overnight roosts to their daily feeding grounds. Despite their name, the red front is not always conspicuous and in the field they are best identified from their robust build, dark green plumage and pale rump. Of course, the fact that they're the only parrot that's likely to be seen in that part of Kenya does make identifying them somewhat easier.

Mount Kenya Related Links

• Mount Kenya from MagicalKenya
• Mount Kenya Forests from MagicalKenya
• Mount Kenya National Park from Go2Africa
• Mount Kenya National Park by the Kenya Wildlife Service
• Mount Kenya Trust
• Mount Kenya from GORP
• Mount Kenya Kenyaweb
• Mount Kenya National Park Think Quest
• Mount Kenya Flora and Fauna
• Mount Kenya Safari Club
• Naro Moru River Lodge