The Mountain of the Buffalo - One of the smallest yet most unusual parks in Kenya

A rugged, hump-backed outcrop of ancient rock jutting high above the Athi Plains and hazily visible from Nairobi, Ol Donyo Sabuk is a densely forested mountain known to the local Kikuyu as 'The Mountain of the Buffalo', and to the Maasai as 'The Big Mountain'. Just one track leads to its summit, which offers magnificent 360-degree panoramas over the Athi River, the pineapple fields of Thika and the snow-capped peaks of both Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya. Within easy reach of Nairobi the lush vegetation and cool air of this compact and scenic National Park make for an ideal day trip or camping weekend. 

Fact File

• Altitude: 1,524-2,145 meters above sea level.
• Area: 20.7 sq km.   
• Location: Machakos District, Eastern Province.
• Distance from Nairobi: 85 km north-east of Nairobi. (27km south-east of Thika).
• Gazetted: Gazetted as a National Park in 1967.
• Climate: January to March is hot and dry, April to June is hot and wet. July to October is very warm and dry and November and December are warm and wet.
• Vegetation: Montane forest.
• Fauna: Includes: buffalo, leopard, spotted hyena, mongoose, bush buck, olive baboon, colobus monkey, vervet monkey, Sykes' monkey, Kirk's dik-dik, bush pig, common duiker, reed buck, rock hyrax, bush baby, tree and ground squirrels, aardvark, porcupine, python and monitor lizard.
• Birds: The Park offers abundant forest species (over 45 species).
• A montane landscape - The Park is essentially comprised of the slopes and ravines of the mountain and, except for a small bare patch at the top, is entirely forested. Within the halo of primal forest at the summit you may also find some of the giant plants more commonly associated with the Afro-alpine zones of Mount Kenya and Mount Elgon (particularly giant lobelia).
• Driving to the summit - The Park's one road leads directly to the summit (with 4WD and weather conditions permitting), a flat open glade marked by a large survey beacon. This, the focus of the Park, offers breathtaking views, especially in December and January when the air is particularly clear.