Mount Kenya is 5,199 metres tall. That's nearly six times the height of the tallest building in the world's average city. It is the second-highest mountain in Africa, after Kilimanjaro in neighbouring Tanzania.
It used to be a volcano. It hasn't erupted for about three million years, so it is safely 'extinct'. Over millions of years, water and wind have shaped its old crater into jagged peaks called Batian, Nelion and Lenana.
Because it is so tall, climbing Mount Kenya is like travelling through different countries one above the other. At the bottom there are warm farmlands. Higher up there are forests full of monkeys. Higher again, the air is cold and only tough plants survive. At the very top, there is ice.
Mount Kenya is sacred to the Kikuyu people, who live around its slopes. In their tradition, the mountain is called Kĩrĩ-Nyaga — 'the place of brightness'. Many Kikuyu houses are still built so their doors face the mountain.