Mount Elgon National Park, Kenya (Center on Interactive Map)

This shield volcano is one of the higher mountains in Africa.

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Trips

Kenya Solar Eclipse

10/28/2013: We arrived in the morning to the mountain for a stay of three nights.

On the first day, we hiked to a couple of caves in which there are salt licks for the buffalo and elephants. It is not clear if these animals are still found in the area, but we saw their dried up poop and some scratches in the wall. We also saw a very poor grade on a crumpled up school exam for some boy named Mohammed.

Really, Mohammed, 70%? We both know you can do better than that.

The caves were very scenic, and there were some thousands of bats flying about. The front of the caves were highlighted by waterfalls. The walk to the caves involved a lot of rain, and the trails were very muddy.

The next day, we drove up toward the top of the mountain in an attempt to bag the peak. The road was very muddy, and our vehicle was barely up to the task as we got stuck several times. We were finally dropped off on the trail head to the welcome of lightning, freezing rain, and hail.

The weather cleared up for the most part after about an hour, and we camped near the summit. The thin air made breathing a real challenge, but somehow we all survived. On the way back down the mountain, we met some very unprepared looking people wearing short sleeves. And, then the rain started again. Not sure if those people made it out alive...

When we reached the trail head, we were slightly surprised to find that our ride was not waiting for us. We walked down the mountain for a few more miles to find that the driver had been stuck on a muddy hill, and that he had needed to get towed out by some guy with a tractor.

Previous Visit (Kitale: 10/27/2013)
Next Visit (Saiwa Swamp National Park: 10/31/2013)

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Lifelists

Africa
World