Chogoria Route

Distance approx. 200km; driving time approx. 4 hours

In the morning, your transfer driver will meet you at your hotel in Nairobi. Soon thereafter, you leave Kenya’s busy capital and its morning traffic behind you. You drive past tea and rice farms on your way towards Chogoria, arriving in the late morning.

Your journey continues, driving through a forest until you reach the meeting point “Kilometre Kumi” or “Kilometre Ten”. You will meet your guide and mountain crew here, and your adventure can begin.

You walk along a well-laid-out path through a dense bamboo forest. This first section of your trek acclimatises you and allows your body to slowly become accustomed to the increase in altitude.

After approximately three hours, you reach the Chogoria Park Gate. Time permitting, you can still explore the area with your guide on another short hike.

In the evening, you enjoy your first dinner and your first night spent on the mountain at 3000m.

Have a hearty breakfast in the early morning before starting today’s hike. Your destination today is Lake Ellis.

Your journey takes you across marshlands, past the clear waters of mountain streams and through indigenous forests. As your trek continues, a sprawling landscape will open up before you. Keep your eyes out for any of the buffalos, antelopes, and elephants which inhabit this region on your way. A detour to the beautifully located Nithi Waterfall is certainly recommendable today.

In the afternoon, you will reach your camp at Lake Ellis. If you still want to stretch your legs some more, you can walk along the lake’s shore. Here, you can witness the weather change back and forth, sometimes even by the minute. From eery low-hanging clouds of fog to brilliant bright sunshine and back again in only a matter of minutes.

Enjoy the tranquillity of your surroundings and your second night in the solitude of Mt Kenya.

Today, you have a long journey ahead of you as you hike approximately 12km from Lake Ellis to the Mintos Camp.

After breakfast, you can enjoy the lake views as you cross a deep gorge. Then, you’ll walk steeply up a mountain ridge. Along the way, you can enjoy a picnic lunch while gazing over Lake Michaelson below.

In the afternoon, you reach the Mintos Camp, your base camp for the summit approach tomorrow. Here, you can further explore the area on another short hike if you like. But sleep early because your summit approach to Point Lenana will begin deep into the night.

After some hours of sleep, your guide will wake you with tea and biscuits between 1 am and 2 am. You have a long, exciting day ahead of you, so drink up.

Depending on your fitness level and pace, you begin the steep summit ascent with your guide between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. Surrounded by the various peaks of the Mt Kenya mountain range, you hike throughout the cold night before finally arriving at Point Lenana just in time to witness the sunrise.

The arduous ascent will be worth it as you take a moment to enjoy the spectacular views of the Mt Kenya mountain range while the sun slowly rises and throws its golden glow over the Batian summit.

After that, you descend along a steep path to Shipton’s Camp. You should arrive at the camp around 11 am and be greeted with a welcome and fortifying breakfast. After a short time to relax, you continue your hike and pass through the Mackinder’s Valley.

This expansive valley stretches over seven kilometres and is picturesquely located. Dissected by clear mountain streams and decorated with various types of Dendrosenecios, Lobelias, Proteas, and other flowers, you can revel in the beauty provided by the mountain’s kaleidoscopic scenery.

You then leave the valley, and after a short and steep ascent, you reach a moor landscape. You continue through the Liki North region, and after crossing the Ontulli River, you reach the Old Moses Camp.

Here you will spend your last night on the mountain.

You start your last relaxed hike with lasting impressions of your summit ascension still fresh in your memory. As you walk along a comfortable path, the moor landscape changes to a dense bamboo forest and your transfer driver awaits you at the Sirimon Park Gate. With a bit of luck, you might see zebras along the way.

The eventful past few days you experienced on Mt Kenya herewith come to an end as you return to Kenya’s bustling capital city, Nairobi, arriving in the afternoon. You can stop for lunch along the way (optional).