Mount Elgon is a massive solitary
volcanic mountain on the border of eastern Uganda and western Kenya. Its vast form, in diameter, rises above the surrounding plains. Its cooler heights offer respite for humans from the hot plains below, and its higher altitudes provide a refuge for flora and fauna. Mt. Elgon consists of five major peaks: •
Wagagai (), in Uganda •
Sudek () on the Kenya/Uganda border •
Koitobos (), a flat-topped basalt column in Kenya •
Mubiyi () in Uganda •
Masaba () in Uganda Other features of note are: • The
Caldera — Elgon's is one of the largest intact calderas in the world. • Subsidiary craters to the Southwest: All about 25 km across, Bududa, and Manafwa rings intersect the caldera and Bububo with a central plug sits at its edge. The smaller Tororo marks the plain almost 50 km from Elgon’s peak. • The warm springs by the
Suam River •
Endebess Bluff () • Ngwarisha, Makingeny, Chepnyalil, and Kitum caves:
Kitum Cave is over wide and penetrates into the mountain. The cave contains salt deposits and it is frequented by wild
elephants that lick the salt exposed by gouging the walls with their tusks. Richard Preston's book
The Hot Zone (1994) described the cave's association with the
Marburg virus after two people who had visited it (one in 1980 and another in 1987) contracted the disease and died. The mountain soil is red
laterite. The mountain is the catchment area for several rivers such as the
Suam River, which becomes the Turkwel downstream and drains into Lake Turkana, and the
Nzoia River and the
Lwakhakha River, which flow to
Lake Victoria. The towns of
Mbale, Uganda and
Kitale, Kenya are in the foothills of the mountain. The area around the mountain is protected by two
Mount Elgon National Parks, one on each side of the international border. == Fauna ==