The Aberdare National Park - Mount Kenya Region
The Aberdare Country Club nestles on the slopes of Mweiga Hill, just two hours drive from Nairobi on a good paved road. All rooms and cottages are comfortable with private bathroom facilities and have spectacular views of the plains below, the Aberdare Mountains to the west and Mount Kenya to the east. The club serves as a gateway to the popular 'tree lodge, The Ark, which is situated within the Salient of the Aberdare Mountains. Visitors usually stop over for lunch at the Club before they are transferred to the Ark.
However, the Club is a delightful place to spend a night pre- or post-Ark. Besides its excellent reputation for generous hospitality and fine international cuisine, the Club also offers a 9-hole golf course, where you will mingle with the resident antelope and baboon population, a 1,300 acre wildlife sanctuary, trout fishing and a gorgeous garden, swimming pool, horseback riding and tennis court for relaxation. The Club is also an excellent venue for conferences and special events.
Location
Nyeri is 197 km north of Nairobi (a 3 hour 30 minute drive). The hotel stands above a gorge through which flows the Chania River. Set in rolling gardens, it features numerous ancient trees and flowering shrubs.
Kenya hotels and accommodation
Amongst the wide range of Kenya hotels, some make the ideal Kenya safari destination. Choose a safari lodge, safari hotel, bush camp, luxury lodge, safari camp, tented camp or bush lodge. National park accommodation usually takes the form of a traditional safari lodge or tented camp, but numerous other options exist on the park boundaries. Luxury lodges and luxury camp options are also offered in the private wildlife conservancies.
The Background
The Aberdare National Park
Highlands, moorlands, peaks and falls
Aptly dubbed ‘Scotland with Lions', this atmospheric park showcases the chill, wild and beautiful moorlands of the Aberdare mountain range. An often mist-wreathed realm where elephants roam through lichen-hung forests; spectacular waterfalls plunge into churning pools, and trout-filled streams cascade through mossy dells, it offers matchless views of the glittering coronet of Mount Kenya and the sparkling lakes of the Great Rift Valley. Believed by the Kikuyu to be one of the homes of Ngai (God), the area became known as the ‘White Highlands' in the 1920's, due to the large numbers of Europeans who settled there. During the 1950's, the dense forests and bamboo thickets were the scene of intense guerrilla warfare between the British and the ‘Mau Mau' freedom fighters of Kenya, while the famous ‘Treetops' Hotel was where the young Princess Elizabeth heard she had become Queen Elizabeth II of England.
Wildlife highlights: colobus monkey, leopard, lion, serval cat, elephant, warthog, black rhino, giant forest hog, reed and bushbuck, buffalo, duiker, suni, eland and the rare bongo antelope. Birds: 250 recorded species.
Accommodation
There are 28 twins and 20 double-bedded rooms, 38 of which are in cottages. A total of 107 guests can be catered for. The bedrooms are tastefully furnished and all have private bathrooms with showers and telephones. The cottages have two bedrooms, each with interconnecting doors, and most have fireplaces. Two of the double-bedded rooms are now in the "Honeysuckle Cottage". A balcony provides superb views of either Mount Kenya or a pretty woodland where bushbuck often come to graze.
Room facilities
• Private bathroom with shower
• Telephone
• Fireplaces in some cottages
• Views of Mount Kenya or pretty woodland
Dining and bars
The club offers an elegant dining room with indoor and outdoor seating and glorious views. Meals are usually buffet-styled and offer international and local cuisine. The club also offers a comfortable bar area. Meals can also be taken in the bush, as can sundowners.
Conferences meetings and events
The Club offers conference facilities with a choice of four interconnecting rooms, accommodating groups of 10 to 100 people depending on the layout. Each room is equipped with a full range of audio-visual equipment
Child-friendly
The club welcomes children.
What to see and do
• 9-hole golf course and a putting green
• swimming pool
• gardens
• night game drives and game walks in the wildlife sanctuary
• Game drives in Mount Kenya National Park, Solio Ranch, Sweetwaters and the Salient within the Aberdare National Park
• Bush lunches
• tennis
• horseback riding
• Trout fishing
• Bush meals
Aberdare Country Club - Aberdare
Kenya Safari Lodges, Tented Camps, Hotels & Resorts.