Mount Kenya Ring Road
🇰🇪 Kenya
The Mount Kenya Ring Road is a roughly 330-kilometer circular route that encircles Africa's second-highest mountain (5,199 meters) through the fertile highlands of central Kenya. The road passes through a remarkable variety of landscapes: dense cedar and bamboo forests on the wetter southern slopes, tea and coffee estates in the Nyeri and Meru districts, semi-arid bushland on the drier northern slopes, and traditional Kikuyu, Embu, and Meru farmland throughout.
The route connects several towns including Nanyuki, Meru, Embu, and Nyeri, and offers numerous viewpoints of the mountain's glaciated peaks and dramatic rock spires. On clear mornings, particularly from the northern side near Nanyuki, the twin peaks of Batian and Nelion present one of the most impressive mountain vistas in Africa. The road also provides access to the various gates of Mount Kenya National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and to community conservancies where wildlife including elephants, buffalo, and even the rare bongo antelope can be found in the montane forest.