Mt Elgon park teeming with caves and wildlife

Hardly do guests on the Western Kenya circuit remember to visit the Mt Elgon National Park whenever they are in Kitale or the environs of this beautiful park.

The park sits quietly at the foot of Mt Elgon, within the Mt Elgon ecosystem, a location which attracted a lot of public attention years back when the Sabaot Land Defence Force, a militia group, terrorised and killed residents before the national government intervened and brought peace to the area.

This background is what haunts the ecosystem to date and may be the reason why the National Park has not attracted much attention to itself.

Yet the two - Mt Elgon National Park and Mt Elgon itself don’t have much in common, except the name of the volcanic mountain that the two draw their legacy from.

The Mt Elgon most Kenyans are familiar with is found in Bungoma County. Whereas the gem BDLife visited is found in Trans Nzoia County in the Rift Valley.

The National Park borders Uganda - where the peak of the mountain is.

Tourists visiting the park often cross to Northern Uganda for excursions. The additional part of the package and perhaps the most exciting is the possibility of joining other tourists for the exciting guerrilla circuit tour which extends to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mt Elgon National Park has many unique things that many Kenyans from other parts are not aware of. For instance, have you ever heard of the salt mining elephants?

This is where they are found; in the archaeological caves of the mountain named Kitum Cave. The elephants are popularly known as the salt mining elephants of Kitum Cave.

During a recent visit to the park, another cave had just been discovered and more continue to be unearthed adding to the exclusivity of the park.

Guests to the park get to enjoy a number of activities among them bird watching, picnicking, horse riding, hiking, mountain and game viewing.

The park is a bird lovers’ haven with over 340 species. 110 of them are forest specialist while the rest are forest dependant. Apart from elephants, other wild animals present are buffalo, leopard, giant forest hog, black and white Columbus, blue monkeys, bushbuck, golden cat and duiker.

The park also has a remarkable waterfall visible from as far as Kimilili, a small town in Western Kenya, adjacent to Kapsokwony in Mt Elgon.

The camp has no luxury accommodation save for Kenya Wildlife Service bandas and self-catering rooms. These are the Koitoboss guesthouse with a capacity of six people and Kapkuro Bandas.

The bandas are four units with a capacity 12 guests. There are also camping facilities with three public campsites - Chorlim, Rongai, Nyati and one special site - Saltlick Special Campsite.

Visitors to the park are encouraged to pay cash for the safari card system is not in place. It costs Sh5,000 to hire KWS four-wheel drive for a six-hour tour inside the park. Individual park charges also apply.

The park is located 50 minutes away from Kitale town and measures 196 km2. It doesn’t have a functional airstrip, so guests wishing to get to the park by air can drop off at Kitale airstrip - an hour away and embark on a road trip.

KWS staff pick up arriving guests at Kitale airstrip and drive them through to the park.

Just outside the park’s main gate is Mt Elgon Lodge, a hotel familiar with residents and frequent park guests. It offers visitors an additional choice; especially those not keen on patronising the park.