Caves in Mount Elgon national park- In the 19^th century is when an explorer Joseph Thompson who first visited the mountain Elgon and he discovered the deep caves in which great piles of grain were stored plus herds of cattle.

Mountain Elgon is penetrated by a suite of highly unusual caves. The larger caves in Mount Elgon are Kitum, Makingeny, Chepnyalil, and Ngwarisha and they are limestone solution caves. The caves were created because of the interplay of unique geology with the fauna most especially the elephants and other animals like hyenas, buffaloes, and bush back who mine the salt from the walls of the caves. As you go into deep the falls there are caves with seats that are best for you to rest a bit.  Some people think that these caves are made by man but they are naturally made by God. It’s such an amazing stopover. The local guide tells that during the regime of Amin Dada with his government, they used to organize their meeting from that cave. Some caves can take you to Kenya though they are too dark to give you a proper direction to reach the border of Kenya. You are not advised to use this route and those who tried it were killed on the way by wild animals and it is too dark to access the route.

It about 30 years since mysterious elephants disappearing into the dark labyrinth of caves to mine the rocks with salt. The mountain elephant species are known as savannah elephants and also called Loxodonta Africana, they different the forest elephants of Central Africa and west

Kitum cave is the most visited cave in Mountain Elgon than others. The name Kitum is a local word by Maasai people that means “place of ceremonies” Kitum cave is about 60 meters wide and extends about 200meters into the mountain.

Kitum cave is found in the mountain Elgon national park of Kenyan parts. In the 1980s is when this cave was known after the two European visitors contracted the Marburg virus there. It is among the five places called “elephant caves” of Mountain Elgon where most of the animals are seen including elephant because of their rich salt which attracts them. It penetrated about 200 meters into parts of Mountain Elgon on the border of Kenya and Uganda.  Its walls are rich in salts which attract most of the animals like Elephants to go in deep into the cave looking for salt. The elephants use their tusks to break off walls of the cave that they chew and shallow, and after they leave walls furrowed and scratched and this has made the cave enlarge over time. Other animals which are also seen around the cave are hyenas, bushbuck, and buffaloes.

How to reach Mount Elgon National park

Mount Elgon National Park is about 235kilometers from Kampala the capital city of Uganda. The road is accessible since it is a tarmac one, and it will take you from Kampala via Jinja to Mbale town where you head to Mountain Elgon and from there you will climb to Kapchorwa. The Mbale to Kapchorwa tarmac road enables you to access many trailheads.

Compliment your visit to Mount Elgon caves with Murchison falls national park and take a boat cruise on river Nile where you will spot a lot of aquatic animals like hippos, crocodiles and many more or you may do a game drive and view many wildlife animals such as buffaloes, giraffes,  Uganda kob, hippos as well as countless bird species. You can also visit Bwind impenetrable national park which is found in the Western parts of Uganda and enjoy the one of best safari experiences that is mountain gorilla trekking.