National Parks Africa » Aberdare National Park

One of the three mountain parks, Aberdare covers 770 square kilometres (308 square miles) stretching from the 3,996-metre (13,120-foot) peak at 01 Doinyo Lesatima in the north to the nearly as high Nyandarra Peaks in the south. The eastern wall of the Great Rift Valley is the western boundary, and in the east there is an area known as the Salient. Two famous wildlife viewing lodges, Treetops and The Ark, are located in the eastern Salient. The park consists of high mountain rain forest, open moorland with hagenia woodlands and impenetrable bamboo forest.

Bamboo tunnels:
Bamboo forests are found on some of the mountain slopes and extinct volcanoes and are criss-crossed by wildlife tracks that part the towering bamboo stalks. It is a fascinating experience to walk along these bamboo "tunnels". Extreme caution has to be exercised as they are regularly used by buffalo and elephant. Upon meeting wildlife, the only option is to clamber into the impenetrable bamboo and let the animals pass! Bamboo is a species of gigantic grass. Some stands of bamboo are apparently dead, as this particular type of bamboo to dies off after flowering every 30 years or so.

The moorland above the high treeline is covered in tussock grass with towering giant heather and typical alpine plants, some of which also occur in the Alps and Rocky Mountains. The view is phenomenal. Karura and Guru waterfalls are especially spectacular. Numerous rivers, such as the Chania, are faithfully restocked with brown and rainbow trout each year by the Kenya Fisheries Department—a most welcome relic of the colonial era. High fishing camps are operated on a self-help basis. The more exclusive camps are located outside the national park on the private reaches of fly fishing clubs. Fishing can also be arranged from some of the mountain lodges.

Not too tame:
There were once a number of campsites within the park, but these had to be closed due to the lions that made themselves a nuisance. In this particular park larger wildlife is notorious for being aggressive, probably due to frequent unpleasant encounters with the high density human population in the surrounding area. Along a 37-kilometre (23-mile) stretch of park boundary above Nyeri, there is an experimental elephant proof ditch and electric fence to protect the maize shambas and people outside the park.

Some unusual and rare animals can be seen, such as bongo, a forest dwelling antelope that feeds at night and in the early morning. They are sleek and chestnut coloured, with about a dozen narrow, white, vertical stripes. Giant forest hogs can be recognised by their coarse, black hair and shy, retiring manner. Asterix the Gaul fans will be reminded of the boars beloved of Obelisk. Bushbuck are common males are dark russet, with a white band across the chest and hunchbacked red duiker occasionally creep out of the undergrowth to graze in open forest lanes.

An unusual phenomenon of the high forest parks is the occurrence of melanistic (all black) cats. There are numerous and well-authenticated reports of sightings of black leopards and serval cats, although these are usually fleeting glimpses as the animal dashes across the road.

The bronze-naped pigeon, dusky turtle and tambourine doves and the iridescent turaco area marvellous sight as they clamber around in the upper branches of forest trees. Trumpeter and crowned hornbills can be vociferous in the early mornings and their heavy undulating flight styles across forest clearings is unmistakable. There are numerous forest dwelling barbets and at least 12 species of sunbird.

Both Treetops (where Elizabeth 11 learned she had become Queen of England) and The Ark lodges are famous for their rewarding wildlife viewing, especially by night when their water holes and salt-licks are floodlit.