Can you visit Kitum cave?
Toward the base of this mountain lies a hidden cave surrounded by a dense, lush green jungle. This place is called Kitum Cave. If you come as a visitor, in all likelihood, you will fly into the Nairobi airport, secure a vehicle and travel the Kinshasa highway toward your destination.
Where is Kitum cave located?
Mount Elgon National Park
Kitum Cave is located in Mount Elgon National Park, Kenya. In the 1980s, two European visitors contracted Marburg virus there. It is one of five named “elephant caves” of Mount Elgon where animals, including elephants, “mine” the rock for its sodium-rich salts.
Do elephants go into caves?
A fragile population of unique and fascinating ‘cave elephants’ exists on Mount Elgon in western Kenya. These are the only elephants in the world known to go deep into caves to mine salt.
Who was the real Charles Monet?
Charles Monet was a French laborer and amateur naturalist who lived on The Nzoia River in western Kenya in the 1970s. The name is a pseudonym bestowed on Monet by journalist Richard Preston in his terrifying 1989 nonfiction book The Hot Zone about the origins of the Ebola virus.
What disease did Charles Monet have?
In his 60s, Monet started to develop bilateral age-related cataracts (or nuclear sclerosis), which would eventually affect his work dramatically. In 1913, Monet travelled to London to consult the German ophthalmologist Richard Liebreich, who had been appointed chair of ophthalmology at St Thomas’ Hospital.
What makes Kitum Cave a nice place for a virus to jump species?
Preston notes that many different animals mingle in Kitum Cave, an enclosed air space, which makes it “a nice place for a virus to jump species.” Outside the cave, Preston dons his space suit and tells the rest of the group he will return in an hour.
Why do elephants need salt?
Why do animals need a salt lick? Animals such as deer, sheep, goats, cattle, and elephants make regular visits to the salt resources in nature to get the minerals they need like calcium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, and sodium.
Where is the Kitum Cave in Mount Elgon?
Kitum Cave is located in Mount Elgon National Park, Kenya. In the 1980s, two European visitors contracted Marburg virus there. It is one of five named “elephant caves” of Mount Elgon where animals, including elephants, “mine” the rock for its sodium-rich salts.
When did Kitum Cave in Kenya become famous?
Kitum Cave, in Mount Elgon National Park, Kenya, became well known in the 1980s when two European visitors contracted Marburg virus there.
How old was Frenchman when he entered Kitum Cave?
In 1980, a 56-year-old Frenchman living in Kenya entered Kitum cave and may have been entranced by that beauty. After a few hours of exploration, he left spellbound and in awe. But something evil left with him.
Is the Kitum Cave a petrified rain forest?
Kitum Cave is, in fact, a petrified rain forest. Seven million years ago, the volcanic Mount Elgon erupted and buried the surrounding rain forest in ash. Kitum is deep within what was once a molten sea. Mineralized logs jut out from the cave walls. So do all sorts of bones, from animals like crocodiles, hippos, and elephants. It’s eerily beautiful.