Mt. Kenya (5,200m), the second highest mountain in Africa after Mt. Kilimanjaro (5,900m) could be seen from some parts of the Muguga road on a very clear day as if inviting us for a visit. It was a rugged mountain with snow and three main peaks: Batian (5,199m), Nelion (5,188m) and Lenana (4,985m). They are named after Mbatian (a Maasai Medicine Man), Nelieng, his brother, and Lenana, one his sons.

In 1849 Krapf found the mountain, located a few km south of the equator, following a similar story of the finding of Kilimanjaro described earlier. It was Krapf who gave the mountain the name “Kenya”, likely to derive from the words Kirinyaga, Kirenyaa and Kiinyaa which mean “God’s resting place” in the language of three of the main ethnic groups that live around the mountain: Kikuyu, Embu and Kamba respectively. The mountain gave the country its name.

Mount Kenya surged approximately three million years after the formation of the East African rift valley and it has suffered the impact of erosion resulting in what we see today: weather-beaten slopes, valleys and shrinking glaciers. Mount Kenya is the main water catchment area for two large rivers in Kenya: the Tana, the largest Kenyan river and the Ewaso Nyiro than runs north through very dry country.

The vegetation in Mt. Kenya changes with altitude. Around the base of the mountain we saw fertile farmland extending as far as you could see and I recall the amazing horticultural wealth of the Murang’a market where, among an enormous amount of horticultural produce, I have seen the largest cabbages! Unfortunately, althogh necessary, it was clear that the agriculture frontier was gradually encroaching the forests.

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The nature of the forests found in Mt. Kenya depend on rainfall and whether they grow in the south- or north-facing slopes. Above the forest there is a wide band of almost pure bamboo and above it we find the timberline forest with smaller trees. The heathland (wet) and chaparral (dry) zones start at about three thousand metres. The former, located in the wetter part has giant heathers while the latter is found in the drier areas and it consists mainly of grasses.

As we continue our virtual climb, the temperature fluctuations increase to extremes and the air’s oxygen decreases and we enter into the most known place of the mountain: the Afro-alpine zone, an area with several endemic plant species such as giant groundsels (senecios) and giant lobelias. After this there are glaciers and rock in the areas that the latter had retreated and no vegetation is present there.

Not being climbers or hikers we had a limited interest in mountains and preferred to spend our time in the more manageable lower grasslands of Kenya. However, we decided to give it go.

During our first visit to Mt. Kenya we entered through the west of the mountain, through the Naro Moru gate, one of the busiest. Although we intended to camp near the gate, we decided to go up the mountain on a exploratory trip through a road that got progressively worse until we reached a point where the kombi’s torque and the altitude became even and there we stopped. It was already late so we decided to spend the night in the car, cold and wet, not appreciating the beauty of the place.

The following day we managed to turn the car around in the mud and descended to more manageable roads where we had some joy by watching the vegetation and views of the peaks that, luckily, were uncovered that day. We returned to Nairobi and we promised ourselves to come back.

We did return another year. This time we followed a different route on the eastern side through the Chogoria gate that led to our bungalow at the Meru Mt. Kenya Lodge. It was freezing but luckily there was hot water although the firewood was wet and to make a fire was quite a job. It soon became misty and we could not see anything around us, apart from the buffaloes that apparently found the bungalows a protection against predators!

The following morning the buffaloes had gone and the mist lifted so we decided to go for a guided hike to Lake Ellis and suffered the effects of altitude and cold. This was the country where “Icy Mike” an elephant that lived (and died) at 4,400m, an unusual event as it demands very high energy consumption, not typical of elephants and that is still unexplained.

Like the first, the second visit was not a great success and it was the end of our attempts at ‘enjoying’ the mountain. We left early and got to Nairobi in time to go to the Fox Drive In cinema to enjoy a good movie and an Indian dinner and, later, a hot shower and a rest. We decided that we had done enough and that from then on we would watch Mt. Kenya from a distance and enjoy it!