Bantu Utamaduni Lodge The lodge is situated north of Naro Moru and offers rooms, tented accommodation and a campsite. It administers the Old Moses and Shipton's Camps on the Sirimon Route. Naro Moru River Lodge This lodge is situated near Naro Moru, and offers facilities from bird watching to equipment hire and guided climbs of the mountain. It also administers the bunkhouses at the Met Station and Mackinder's Camp on the Naro Moru Route. The Serena Mountain Lodge This luxury hotel is found on the western slopes of the mountain, at around . It has its own waterhole and offers guided walks, trout fishing and luxury climbs up the mountain, as well as conference facilities. Naro Moru Youth Hostel The youth hostel is situated between Naro Moru and Naro Moru Gate, and is a renovated farmhouse. It has dormitories and a campsite, with hot water, a kitchen and equipment hire. Castle Forest Lodge This lodge was built by the British in the late 1920s as a retreat for royalty. It is on the southern slopes of the mountain in the forest at about . Rutundu Log Cabins This luxurious lodge is on the northern slopes of the mountain at about . Mount Kenya Royal Cottages The lodge is situated opposite the Nanyuki airstrip. It has beautifully furnished cottages and homestay. It is the official lodge for the GATHIURU ROUTE. History European sighting The first European to report seeing Mount Kenya was Dr Johann Ludwig Krapf, a German missionary, from Kitui in 1849, a town away from the mountain. The sighting was made on 3 December 1849, a year after the discovery by Europeans of Kilimanjaro. Dr Krapf also noted that the rivers flowing from Mt Kenya, and other mountains in the area, were continuously flowing. This was very different from the other rivers in the area, which swelled up in the wet season and completely dried up after the rainy season had ended. As the streams flowed even in the driest seasons he concluded that there must be a source of water up on the mountain, in the form of glaciers. He believed the mountain to be the source of the White Nile. In 1851 Krapf returned to Kitui. He travelled closer to the mountain, but did not see it again. In 1877 Hildebrandt was in the Kitui area and heard stories about the mountain, but also did not see