Mount Elgon National Park

Mount Elgon National Park is the fourth largest park with Mount Elgon an extinct volcano that straddles both in Ugandan and Kenya borders. Two million years ago, after its last major eruption, the top of Mount Elgon collapsed, creating one of largest caldera resembles a large bowl of 8 km in diameter, surrounded by a ring of rugged peaks. The collapsed crater covers approximately 40 sq km with hot springs inside and shallow crater lakes.

Climbing mount Elgon takes you through four distinct vegetation zones from lush montane forest, occurring between 2000m to 2500m, bamboo zone 2400m to 3000m contains largest biodiversity, dense scrub and brilliant wildflowers characterize the Heath Zone 3000m to 3500m to higher top of mountain at 3500m to 4231m endowed with endemic plant species include clusters of peculiar called big game plants, giant fleshy shrubs as lobelias and groundsels that reach up to 6m height.

Wildlife species exist include Chandler’s mountain reed-bucks spotted near the caldera rim with species of raptors as lammergeyer.