Mount Elgon National Park

Mount Elgon National Park is located in the Mbale district in the Eastern Region in Uganda and it forms an extensive transboundary conservation area, which covers a total surface area of about 4,000 square kilometers. This national park derived its name from Elgon Mountain, which is commonly known as an extinct mountain because of the eruption that happened, and it has the largest Caldera in the whole world. Mount Elgon National Park was first gazette as a game reserve in 1992 and later established as a national park in 1968. The Uganda Wildlife Authority is managing this national park and it shares borders with Kenya. More so, this national park is ranked as one of the highest mountains in Africa however, its height reduced to 4,321 meters due to continuous erosion hence making it ranked as the fourth highest peak in the whole of East Africa and the eighth highest peak on the African continent.

Mount Elgon National Park is considered a good destination to visit while on a safari in Uganda and most especially a good place for bird lovers to visit because it is known to be the home to over 300 bird species and tourists exploring in this national park have great opportunities to involve in different adventurous interesting activities during their tour such as; guided nature walks, sipi trail, community visits, mountain biking, cultural encounters, rock climbing, hiking the sasa trail, piswa trail among others.   More so, there are also two tribes, that live in Mount Elgon National Park as their home these tribes include; the Bagisu who are referred to as the Bamasaba who see this mountain as the embodiment of their founding father who is named Masaba, and the Sabiny.

Tourist Attractions in Mount Elgon National Park.

Most people choose to travel to Mount Elgon National Park because there are so many interesting things to do and many unique tourist attractions that increase the anxiety of individuals to travel from all over the parts of the world to tour around the park and these include;

Caves.

Mount Elgon National Park has a number of caves that many tourists spend most of their time hiking through these caves such as; Mude Cave, Siyo Cave, Hunters Cave, and Tutum Cave. More so, there are the Khauka caves that are located on the Wanale Ridge and others are found along the slopes of Mount Elgon in Kapchorwa, Kitgum, Mbale, and Kapkwai.

 Wildlife.

Tourists within Mount Elgon National Park are always able to sightsee a number of wildlife species because this park harbours a variety of mammal species like; buffalos, duikers, antelopes, elephants, and other primate species like; the black and white colobus monkeys, the red-tailed monkeys, the blue monkeys. More so, this national park is home to over 300 bird species such as; Hartlaub’s turaco, the eastern bronze-naped pigeon, and the endangered Lammergeyer among others.

Vegetation cover.

Mount Elgon is surrounded by a variety of vegetation, which varies in altitude and ranges from open moorland to montane forest, which both comprise groundsel plants and giant lobelia. More so, the Olive trees characterize the high altitudes of this national park, moorland, with heaths, lobelia, bamboo, and montane forests whereas the lower altitude of this national park comprises the tussock grass and the rocky ground.

Nyero Rock Paintings.

The Nyero rock paintings are found in the Eastern region of Uganda and they are famously known to be the oldest rock in Uganda they cover a distance of about 65 kilometers from the North of Mbale town therefore many tourists who are traveling to Mount Emgon National Park always make stopovers to see the beautiful rock arts. The Nyero rock paintings are made up of six panels of prehistoric art, which involve geometric patterns.

Jackson’s pool and peak.

Jackson’s pool and peak stand at an altitude of about 4,165 meters and it is known to be a natural and shallow water pool. More so, Jackson’s Peak and Jackson’s Pool derived their names after Fredrick Jackson because he is known to be the first European to climb Mount Elgon in 1889.

More so, apart from the mentioned above there are more attractions that are within the park that attract many tourists to visit Mount Elgon National Park and they include; the Tewei Hill, the pain Upe wildlife, Matheniko Bokora Wildlife Reserve, the Sipi Falls which are located a few kilometers away from the national park and it takes tourists about one hour from park to be able to access the sipi falls, Nkokenjuru and wanale ridges, Mount Elgon peaks and the Caldera among others.