Mount Kenya
Mountain
Africa's second-highest mountain stands almost on the equator, with ice on top.
Mount Kenya is 5,199 metres high. In Africa only Kilimanjaro is higher. It is a volcano that went out long ago; what is left are jagged peaks of hard rock that were once its core.
The mountain stands almost exactly on the equator, and still there is ice at the top. The glaciers are shrinking fast, though. The country of Kenya is named after the mountain.
- high
- 5,199 m
- highest mountain in Africa
- 2nd
- World Heritage since
- 1997
- 1
For the Kikuyu people the mountain is Kirinyaga, the home of their god Ngai.
- 2
The two highest peaks need ropes and climbing skill. The third, Point Lenana, can be reached on foot.
- 3
On the way up you walk through forest with elephants, then bamboo, then a moor of giant plants found only on Africa's high mountains.
Question 1 of 2
Which mountain in Africa is higher than Mount Kenya?
- KilimanjaroAfrica's highest mountain has snow on top, close to the equator.
- SerengetiThe plain where more than a million animals are always on the move.
- Lake VictoriaThe largest lake in Africa, shared by three countries.
- Churches of LalibelaEleven churches not built up, but carved down into the rock.
It is in Kenya.
Read about Kenya