Mount Mtelo (Sekerr) is the seventh-highest mountain in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

(3336m/10,944 ft), after Mount Kenya, Mount Elgon, Aberdares, High Cheranganis, and Mount Kipipiri, and is situated in the North West highlands of

West Pokot County West Pokot County is a county in Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Kapenguria, its area is approximately 9,169.4 square kilometers and it measures 132 kilometers from north to south. West Pokot County is bordered to the north by Turkana ...

, approximately 120 km north of

Kitale Kitale is a town in the north west of Kenya, in the former Rift Valley province, between Mount Elgon and the Cherangany Hills. It has an elevation of around . Its population was as of 2019. It is the location of Kitale Airport. The National ...

Town.

Climbing the mountain

Marich Pass Field Studies Cent

represents a good base to explore the mountain, and guides are available to help people with the ascent. It is a three-day hi

to the top and back, and it is advised that hikers stay a night or two at the wonderful Mount Mtelo Viewpoint Cam

a campsite with cottage accommodation run by the Ywalasiwa family. However, getting to the campsite by vehicle is possible, an amazing drive up the Sekerr escarpment. No specialist equipment or training is required for the climb, and different trails can be taken to the campsite and peak, passing through cultivated areas of the Pokot, forest, bamboo, and open moorland, with extensive views of eastern

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

and north-west Kenya on a clear day. The mountain is considered sacred, as it is described as the cradle of pastoral Pokot according to oral tradition

Mount Mtelo is home to

black-and-white colobus Black-and-white colobuses (or colobi) are Old World monkeys of the genus ''Colobus'', native to Africa. They are closely related to the red colobus monkeys of genus '' Piliocolobus''. There are five species of this monkey, and at least eight subs ...

monkeys, small

antelope The term antelope refers to numerous extant or recently extinct species of the ruminant artiodactyl family Bovidae that are indigenous to most of Africa, India, the Middle East, Central Asia, and a small area of Eastern Europe. Antelopes do ...

, three species of

turaco The turacos make up the bird family Musophagidae ( "banana-eaters"), which includes '' plantain-eaters'' and '' go-away-birds''. In southern Africa both turacos and go-away-birds are commonly known as loeries. They are semi-zygodactylous: the ...

and 10

sunbird Sunbirds and spiderhunters make up the family Nectariniidae of passerine birds. They are small, slender passerines from the Old World, usually with downward-curved bills. Many are brightly coloured, often with iridescent feathers, particularly i ...

species. The altitude means the temperature and humidity are lower than in Marich, making hiking far more comfortable and unfavorable for mosquitoes.

Community and development projects

The area is home to six clans, Chapin, Kamket, Ngusurot, Silokot, Talai, and Tungo, with an overall population of over 30,000. However, the area is isolated, and most people are involved in

subsistence farming Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow crops on smallholdings to meet the needs of themselves and their families. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements. Planting decisions occ ...

(maize and beans). In recent years local people, with outside assistance, have worked to set up several community projects aimed at helping the Pokot people of the Mbara sub-location. These projects have included: the creation of many water pipeline projects which provide safe drinking water to the local population, the building of a new clinic, and a tree nursery controlled by a local women's group.

References

{{reflist Mtelo Sacred mountains