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Chyulu Hills National Park E-mail
Zebra
Zebra (Picture: Michael Nikolai)
The Chyulu Hills National Park was established in 1983 with a total area of 741sq km. The Chyulu Hills are the youngest vulcan mountain range of africa. The mountains are only 500 years old and covered with grass. The national park is situated 190km in the south east from Nairobi.

The hills hold no permanent surface water but rainfall percolating through the porus rock feeds many permanent fresh water sources in the surrounding plains, notably Mzima springs and the Tsavo and Galana rivers. This ecosystem has an important role as a reservoir for the coast towns Mombasa and Malinidi.

The national park offers breathtaking views of the landscape including Mount Kilimanjaro. There you can feel the magic of africa. The hills are nearly undisturbed and shelter a variety of vegetation and wildlife. Rough grassland and thicket give way to patches of montane forest along the spine of the hills, mainly above the 1800m contour. The largest part of forest is around the highest peaks in the central southern portion. Animals commonly seen in Chyulu Hills are zebra, buffalo, giraffe, oryx, warthog, leopard, bushbuck, eland, elephant and wildebeest. Also snakes like black mambas and puff adders can be found in the park.

black lava flow
black lava flow (Picture: Michael Nikolai)
Famous is also the the Shetani vulcano. The word „Shetani" comes from the language Kiswahili and means devil in english. People think that many people died durring a volcanic eruption 200 years ago. Today the black lava flow is a mark for this story.

Beside game viewing also horse riding, hiking, or cave exploration is possible.

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