Once ranked as Africa ‘s tallest mountain, but as a result of soil erosion, it now stands as the 4th tallest mountain in East Africa and the 8th tallest in the world. Mountain Elgon National Park is home to the world’s largest caldera, measuring about 8kilometers (8miles) and approximately 40 square kilometers. The caldera was formed as a result of a collapsed volcanic cone, and it sits at an altitude of about 4,000 meters. Mountain Elgon National Park is one of the UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserves in Uganda, located in the eastern region of Uganda, approximately 235 kilometers away from Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, along the border of Uganda and Kenya. As you continue reading, below are some of the frequently asked questions about Mountain Elgon National Park and their answers.
What is the area of coverage for Mountain Elgon National Park?
Mountain Elgon National Park covers approximately 494 square miles, with the largest part of the park, about 430 square miles, lying on the Ugandan border side and the rest on the Kenyan side.
What is Mountain Elgon National Park famous for?
Mountain Elgon National Park is well known for or is famous for being home to the world’s largest caldera, which is a result of the oldest solitary volcanic mountain in East Africa, which erupted many years back.
Attractions in Mountain Elgon National Park
Mountain Elgon has a variety of attractions that tourists or visitors should look up to or forward to seeing when they visit, and some of them include
Mountain Elgon
Mountain Elgon National Park is famous or well known for Mountain Elgon, which stands at about 4,321 meters high, making it the 4th highest mountain in West Africa and the 8th in the whole world. Offering hiking opportunities to the tourists or visitors, who are also rewarded by the variety of vegetation cover along the mountain slopes (montane forest, bamboo, giant lobelias, groundsels, and tussock grasslands). These vegetation covers vary depending on the altitude you have reached while hiking or climbing Mountain Elgon. Hikers are also rewarded with the views of the largest caldera worldwide.
Caves in Mountain Elgon National Park
Caves are also one of the attractions to look up to when visiting Mountain Elgon National Park, mostly for those who don’t love hiking. The most visited caves in Mountain Elgon National Park include Chepnyali cave, Kapkwai caves, Khauka caves, Kitum cave, and Mackingeny cave. Some of these caves are so interesting that they are visited by wild animals like elephants and antelopes, which come over just to lick the salty walls of the caves. Although out of Mbale town, tourists also love to visit the Nyero Rock painting caves, which are believed to be a shelter to the first humans to roam about the earth, and the marks on these rocks are believed to be the paintings that showcase their livelihood or ways of life years ago.
Birds in Mountain Elgon National Park
Covered by a variety of vegetation, Mountain Elgon National Park is also home to a number of different bird species, which you should look forward to spotting once you visit. These bird species include African Blue Fly-catchers, Black-shouldered kite, Crowned Hornbills, Baglafecht Weaver, and Black and White Casqued, to name a few. These birds can be spotted flying around the park during guided nature walks, game drives, and hiking activities.
Forests in Mountain Elgon National Park
This park is covered with a variety of vegetation cover, forests happen to be one of them, and these offer forest walk opportunities, birding opportunities to the tourists or visitors who come to this national park.
Wildlife in Mountain Elgon National Park
There are a variety of wildlife (wild animals) to look out for or look forward to seeing once you visit Mountain Elgon National Park, and some of these include Elephants, antelopes, buffalo, spotted hyenas, and some primates like bule monkeys, colobus monkeys, and vervet monkeys, to name a few. These wildlife animals can be spotted or seen in the park during various activities, which include guided nature walks, game drives, hiking, and birding.
Sipi Falls in Mountain Elgon National Park
Sipi Falls are three-tiered falls found or located on the lower slopes of Mountain Elgon, one of the reasons most tourists visit Mountain Elgon National Park.
What activities can be done in Mountain Elgon National Park?
There are a variety of tour activities that can be done or carried out in Mountain Elgon National Park, and these are all derived from the various attractions in the park. Some of these activities include
Hiking Mountain Elgon
Hiking is one of the many activities done or carried out in Mountain Elgon National Park, and it is done on the slopes of Mountain Elgon, the main attraction of the park. Among Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Rwenzori, Mount Elgon happens to be among the cheapest mountains to hike. Hiking mountain Rwenzori to the peak (Wagagai peak) takes about 4 to 6 days, depending on the hiking trails or routes used.
Guided nature walks in Mt Elgon National Park.
Mountain Elgon National Park has various ways of exploring it, and one of them is taking guided nature walks via various routes, which are filled with different encounters and attractions.
Coffee farm tours
Mbale region is one of the leading producers of Arabica coffee in Uganda. Coffee farm tours can be organized for tourists who are interested and get to visit some of the farms, where they get to experience and witness the process of coffee production starting from the gardens.
Other travel activities to look forward to include cave tours, cultural encounters, community tours, Mountain biking, birding, primate watching, and rock climbing.
If you are planning to visit Mountain Elgon National Park, you should remember that the best time to visit is during the dry season of the year (June to September and December to February)
For more information or inquiry regarding Mountain Elgon National Park, don’t hesitate to contact our team of experienced consultants; we shall be glad to help in any way we can.