Mount Kenya Hiking Safari, Mount Kenya Trekking, Climbing Trip
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image Mount Kenya Hiking Safari

The snow-covered peak of Mount Kenya dominates the Central Highlands. At 5199m it is Africa’s second highest mountain after Kilimanjaro which is in Tanzania.

Mount Kenya Hiking Safari
The snow-covered peak of Mount Kenya dominates the Central Highlands. At 5199m it is Africa’s second highest mountain after Kilimanjaro which is in Tanzania. It was formed between two-and-three-million-years-ago by a series of volcanic eruptions and no doubt it once had a crater not unlike Mt Kilimanjaro, but erosion has sheared this down to a series of peaks.

History of Mount Kenya Treks
When the first 19th century European missionaries reported seeing the snowy peak on the equator no one really believed it, perhaps some thought the missionaries had had a touch too much sun. The mountain above the forest line is a National Park and it supports rainforests and thickets of bamboo, while higher up is a moor land of giant lobelia and heather. The forests are home to elephant, buffalo, monkeys, antelope and giant forest hog.

Climbing Trips and Vacation Holidays
The Central Highlands, which comprise Mt Kenya and the Aberdares, is the homeland of the Kikuyu people, who hold the mountain sacred. But its fertile soil and good climate were also a draw for European settlers, who snatched the land out from under the Kikuyu, resulting in the resentment that prompted the Mau Mau Rebellion. Since independence the land occupied by the remaining whites has been much reduced and redistributed to the Kikuyu, and is now intensely cultivated.

The mountain was first climbed in 1899 by Sir Halford McKinder and today is a popular peak to conquer. There are three peaks, most relatively fit people can reach Point Lenana, but the other two are only accessible to mountaineers with technical skills. Mt Kenya is circled by the main towns Naro Moru, Nanyuki, Meru and Embu.
Kenya safaris and Tours