Hiking Mount Kenya along Chogoria route is the most rewarding in terms of scenery giving you an enjoyable & relaxed experience. Trekking in 5 days will give you ample time to acclimatize and local exploring to Nithi Waterfalls, lake Ellis, Hall tarns, the Temple among other scenic landscapes.
The program is not tailored for children as it does not have many walking hours per day.
Here is the sample of the itinerary starting from Nairobi and back.
Hike Highlights;
INCLUDES IN THE COSTS;
EXCLUDES IN THE COSTS;
Altitude Gain from Nairobi; 800m
Hiking distance; 9km in 3 hours
Vegetation; Rain Forest & Bamboo forests
Meal Plan; Lunch & Dinner
Accommodation in mountain tents with mattress.
On an early morning, our representative driver will meet you in your hotel and make a short introduction about the tour. Then board on his vehicle driving towards the Central parts of Kenya passing rich farming highlands reaching Gathiuru junction in 4 hours. From here meet the rest of your climbing crew, change vehicles to a 4×4 jeep again driving you inside the forest till road head.
From road head, picnic lunch will be served by our cook, sort out your big bags between porters and start your hiking. Along the trail you will experience real wilderness with sightings of many bird species as well as buffalo and elephants are also residents here. The trail zigzags through the thickets reaching camp in 3 hours. Dinner and overnight at camp.
Altitude Gain; 1,100m
Hiking distance; 9km in 3-4 hours
Vegetation; Bamboo forests
Meal Plan; Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Accommodation in mountain tents with mattress.
After an early breakfast and packing, leave the camp along a single trail with rush bamboo foliage crossing a small stream uphill. After 2-3 hours walk you will reach above tree line and open moorlands with great views of Laikipia plateau. Have your picnic lunch and continue hiking reaching Highland Castle campsite around 3 pm
Altitude Gain; 500m
Altitude drops; 400m
Hiking distance; 10km in 7-8hours
Vegetation; Alpine heather
Meal Plan; Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Accommodation in mountain hut/tents with mattress.
On this day, it helps in acclimatization with altitude as you will climb high and sleep low at Shiptons camp. After breakfast, leave the camp following the trail passing some interesting rock castles with different volcanic formations and giant senecio lobelia plants. After walking for a while, you will be rewarded by the shimmering Mt Kenya peaks and glaciers continuing to oblong tarns reaching Hausberg col at 4,600m in 5 hours. From this point, Shiptons camp is visible down Mackinders valley and in a few minutes, you will be at camp. Lunch will have been packed for you. Dinner and overnight at the camp.
Hiking distance from Shiptons to Summit; 2.5km
Hiking distance from Summit to Lake Ellis; 12km.
Altitude gain; 785m
Altitude drops; 1,535m
Meal Plan; Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Accommodation in mountain tents with mattress.
On this day, wake up at around 0200 hours, have a simple breakfast and leave camp in the dark. The start of the trail follows the river source then to a zigzag sequence with both steep and gentle grades up the scree. After 2 hours walk, you will reach Haris tarn and junction to Chogoria route. Continue ascending to some rocky surfaces approaching the summit in another hour. Congratulations, you are now on Lenana peak 4,985m above sea level. While on the summit, enjoy beautiful sunrise and 360 degrees view of Mt Kenya. Batian and Nelion peaks are as close to your nose, Mt Kilimanjaro is also visible on a clear day. After taking the photos, descend following Chogoria trail down via gorges valley with scenic views of the Temple and lake Michaelson.
Breakfast served at Mintos campsite, rest a bit and continue descending to Lake Ellis for overnight reaching in 3-4 hours.
Meal plan; Breakfast
Hiking distance; 11km
Altitude drops; 1,650m.
After breakfast and packing, continue trekking down passing via road head for the look out of the magnificent Nithi waterfalls. Continue following the road with high chances of spotting elephants and buffaloes. Reach Mt Kenya Chogoria gate in 3 hours.
END OF THE TRIP.
