Aberdare National Park

Aberdare National Park: Background Info

Aberdare National Park is located in the southwestern part of Central Kenya. The park is north of Nairobi and east of the Rift Valley. The park covers an area of 296 square miles (767 sq km). Aberdare is a diverse eclectic collection of African ecosystems. The valleys are traversed by streams and rivers and backdropped with the Aberdare Mountain Range. The range features summits that reach heights of 13,000 feet (4,000 m). The streams and rivers coming out of the mountains into the valley give way to waterfalls. The temperate grasslands neighbor up to bamboo forests as well as rich diverse rainforests. The forested ravines deliver some of the best waterfalls. These varied habitats serve as the perfect home of an abundance of varied wildlife.

Aberdare National Park: Destination Preview

The Experience: Aberdare National Park

Aberdare national park is one situated within the Aberdare mountain ranges of Kenya, the park welcomes visitors with spectacular views of the moorland, splendid water falls and forested ravines with a cooler friendly environment compared too many other national parks. Aberdare also boasts with the big five and rare forest animals accompanied with superb wildlife viewing despite its size. Aberdare national park also gives a rich history of one of the world’s icons it is the place where Queen Elizabeth of England found out she was queen after the death of her father king George V1.

The park was established in 1950 with an aim of protecting the Aberdare mountain ranges, the park covers an area of about 766 kilometers squared located 100 kilometers north of the country capital Nairobi. Aberdare national park is very rainy and always Misty throughout the year, the elevations range from 6000 feet to 13126 above sea level, it’s one of the most beautiful parks with a scenic topography. The park derived its name from nyandaura or Aberdare the mountain ranges forming the eastern wall of the rift valley.

Wildlife

Aberdare national park has got the big five that is lion, buffalo, elephant, rhino and leopard. Viewing this game on the dense Vegetation covers is a must, the other animals are, hyenas, warthogs, bushbucks, a rare species of a shy antelope known as bongo, golden cat, giant forest hog, colobus monkeys, vervet monkey, olive baboon, blue duiker and African wild cat to mention a few. The Eastern sector of The Park is the best place to do game viewing.

The park is a refuge to many interesting forest creatures, including several primates such as black-and-white colobus monkey and Sykes’ monkey. Nocturnal animals, including giant forest hog and large-spotted genet, often visit the waterholes at night. The forest is also home to the very elusive and beautiful bongo antelope. Unfortunately, numbers have decreased over the last few decades and sightings are extremely rare.

Birdlife

Aberdare park is gifted with over 250 species of birds such as Sharpe’s Lon claw, Aberdare cisticola, Jackson widow bird, Abbot’s starling, red tufted sunbird, idis stork, crowned eagle,long tailed cuckoo, red chested owlet among the rest. The forests and moorlands of Aberdare National Park are a birder’s paradise – more than 290 species have been recorded. The striking Hartlaub’s turaco is just one of the interesting visitors at the bird-feeding platforms at the tree hotels. The indistinct Aberdare cisticola is endemic, and therefore unique, to the region and can be found at higher altitudes. Several interesting sunbirds are found in the park, including the rare scarlet-tufted malachite sunbird, which can be found on the mountain peaks.