Aberdare National Park

A unique, forested park

Aberdare National Park is situated to the south west of Mt Kenya within the well-watered and fertile Central Highlands region. It is the highest park in Africa and its predominant habitats are the Kinangop Plateau in the west, a 40 mile stretch of moorland, peaks and forests, and the Salient in the east, an area of thick rainforest.

Pretty rivers & waterfalls

Aberdare National Park has a fantastic range of flora and fauna as well as the most beautiful scenery with its only peer in this respect being Mt Kenya itself. Its terrain is criss-crossed by mountain streams with pretty waterfalls and babbling water simply teeming with trout.

Elephants and buffalos are widespread and there are also a number of rarer species such as black rhino, the beautiful and elusive bongo antelope and the extremely rare black leopard. Bush pigs and giant forest hogs are spotted here too. Birdlife is varied and prolific.

Game-viewing is not completely straightforward in Aberdare National Park; amongst the tall trees and obscuring undergrowth of the Salient it can be tricky. The rainforest is often shrouded in mist and the high rainfall across this part of Kenya can turn the tracks into treacherous mudslides yet these are normally navigable if you are in a 4x4 vehicle, except during the wet season when extreme caution is recommended!

The park is famous for Treetops, the lodge at which Queen Elizabeth II was staying in 1952 when she was informed of her father’s death and her accession to the throne.