Mt Suswa is a double crater volcano with a shield-shaped cone covering an area of about 270km2. Its inner volcano soars to an altitude of 2356m above sea level at its summit. The inner crater, about 5km across, is covered by a forest that is also home to leopards, hyenas, buffaloes, antelopes and other wildlife, and has breath-taking view that has to be seen to be believed.

 

The outer crater, estimated at about 10km in diameter, is currently dotted with Maasai homesteads. The Maasai graze their livestock on the outer crater and the slopes of the inner volcano, and harvest water for their domestic use from the numerous springs spouting steam and hot water in this area.

 

The lava caves on the outer crater have over 30 entrances, most of which are collapsed roofs into these caves. The caves are home to large populations of bats that are said to travel as far as 30km in search of food at night and then retreat to the caves in the morning. As you walk and crawl through the caves, you can view the colonies of bats hanging from the roof, asleep and dead to the world, until evening when they stream out.

Another interesting location in the caves is the Baboons’ parliament where a large troop of Baboons take shelter at night from their predators. The Baboon troops’ arrival in the evening coincides with the departure of the local bat colonies, creating two way traffic.

It is said that if you peer down the opening in the roof early in the morning, you will find the troop’s leader perched on a pile of rocks at the centre of the chamber, seemingly addressing the rest of the troop perched on ledges high up the walls of the cave.