BRANDING

High in the mist-wreathed hills of Western Kenya presides over a towering volcanic giant, crowned by a vast crater. Etched by glacial tarns, honeycombed by labyrinthine caves, fissured by valleys and cascaded by streams, the 169-square km Mt Elgon National Park is cloaked in forest and straddles the border between Kenya and Uganda.

Sometimes known as the Mountain of the Breast, other times as the Mountain of Illusion, the basalt bluffs of enigmatic Elgon have been held sacred for centuries and, ancient beyond comprehension, remain a potent link with the dawn of time.

Welcome to the untamed wilderness, secluded splendour that is being branded by the Kenya Wildlife Service as part of the national strategy of opening up of the largely unexplored western tourist circuit.

This process involves the improvement of physical facilities in the parks, rehabilitation of roads to enhance accessibility, improvement in staff welfare as well as partnering with neighbouring communities in projects like water, schools and health.

Mt Elgon is dotted with caves formed from ancient lava tubes. The caves are used by a range of creatures --- bats, spiders, and until recently by human beings. Kitum cave is regularly visited by herds of elephants as well as bushbuck, duicker and buffalo, all in search of the salts that abound in the mineral rich earth of the caves.

Mt. Elgon is Kenya’s second highest mountain. It lies 140km North East of Lake Victoria and is bisected by the Kenya-Uganda border. It is an important water catchment for the Nzoia River which flows into Lake Victoria and for the Turkwel River which flows into Lake Turkana.

The Park was gazetted in 1968 and covers a narrow transect up the North Eastern slopes of the mountain, from lower montane forest to the caldera edge. The remaining forest and moorland is part of the Mt Elgon Forest Reserve. The Ugandan side of the mountain is protected within Uganda’s Mt Elgon National Park.

Together with the fauna and flora, the park is endowed with variety and breathtaking scenery of cliffs, caves, waterfalls, gorges, mesas, calderas, hot springs, and the mountain peaks. The most popular areas are the four explorable, vast caves where frequent night visitors such as elephants and buffaloes come to lick the natural salt found on the cave walls. Kitum cave, with overhanging crystalline walls, enters 200 metres into the side of Mt. Elgon. The breathtaking natural beauty of the park can be best appreciated from the Endebess Bluff where one gets a panoramic view of the areas’ escarpments, gorges, mesas, and rivers. The highest peak of Mt. Elgon on the Kenya side, Koitoboss, measures 13,852 ft (4,155 m), and is easily reached by hikers in about two hours from the road’s end.

Fact Sheet
Location: Western Kenya, entrance to park 27 km from Kitale Town

Area: 16,916 hectares or 169 square kilometre

Altitude: 2100 to 4300m (1400 feet) at its highest peaks

History: Established in October 1967 and gazetted as a National Park in April 1968

Status: National park and forest reserve. In 2003, the park was declared a Biosphere Reserve by Unesco in recognition of its importance as a water tower for Lake Victoria and the River Nile, and its diverse habitats.

Administration: KWS manages the park while the forest reserve is protected by the Forest Department

Main attractions and activities: Mountain peaks, caves, vegetation and wildlife viewing, camping photography, vehicle circuits, hiking to Entebess Bluff and Koitoboss peaks.

Picnic Sites: There is one picnic site at the Elephant platform with no facilities.

Nature Trails: The park has three short nature trails to Kiptum cave, Makingeny cave and the Elephant Bluff.

Geography: It’s part of Africa’s Great Rift Valley and sits on the Pre-Cambrian bedrocks of the Trans Nzoia plateau.

Fauna/ animals present: Elusive cave elephants, Cape buffaloes, giant forest hogs, leopards, black rhinos, golden cat, golden mole, black fronted duikers, black and white colobus monkey, sunbird, crowned eagles, Ayres’ hawk eagle, bushbuck, water buck in abundance, rufous-breast sparrow hawk

Vegetation/ fauna present: Afro-alpine flowers on the moorland, terrestrials and epiphytic orchids, gigantic podo trees, juniper, Elgon olive, bamboo forests

Social economic and cultural value: Critical water catchment for Lakes Kyoga, Turkana and Victoria and eventually for the River Nile, honey gatherers site, source of medicinal plants and products, provides fodder and grazing materials to local livestock and support to agricultural production.

Access: By road from Kitale Town or by air from Eldoret airport (70 km away/two-hour drive) or to the airstrip at the park headquarters. There is also an airstrip in Kitale Town, mostly used by small charter aircraft. There are four park gates i.e. Chorlim main gate, Kassawai, Kiptogot and Kimothon.

Entry: Daily, dawn to dusk 6 am to 7pm. No entry permitted after 6.15pm and no entry is permitted on foot except with a guide. Walking and hiking allowed in designated areas in the company of a KWS ranger.

Accommodation: KWS Guest House, Kapkuro bandas, Nyati, Chorlim, Rongai and Saltlick public campsites, 28-bed capacity Mt. Elgon Lodge, situated 0.5 km outside the park gate.

Message from the Chairman

Message from the Director

Saiwa Swamp National Park