Mount Kenya : KENYA
Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second highest in Africa (after Mount Kilimanjaro). It's highest peak measures 5,199 m. It is located in central Kenya, just south of the equator, around 150 km north-northeast of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro.[3] The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian (5,199 metres (17,057 ft)), Nelion (5,188 metres (17,021 ft)) and Point Lenana (4,985 metres (16,355 ft)). Mount Kenya is located in central Kenya, just south of the equator, around (150 kilometres (93 mi)) north-northeast of the capital Nairobi. Mount Kenya is a stratovolcano created appxomiately 3 million years after the opening of the East African rift.[4] It was covered by an ice cap for thousands you years. This has resulted in very eroded slopes[5] and numerous valleys radiating from the centre. There are currently 11 small glaciers. The mountain is an important source of water for much of Kenya. The volcano was discoved by Europeans in 1849 by Johann Ludwig Krapf,[8] but the scientific community remained skeptical about his reports of snow and ice so close to the equator. The existence of Mount Kenya was confirmed in 1883 and it was first explored in 1887. The summit was finally climbed by a team led by Halford John Mackinder in 1899.Today there are many walking routes, climbs and huts on the mountain. There are eight distinct vegetation bands from the base to the summit. The lower slopes are covered by different types of forest. Many species are endemic or highly characterestic of Mount Kenya such as the lobelias, the senecios and the rock hyrax.[13] Because of this, an area of 715 km² (276 mi²) around the centre of the mountain is designated a National Park and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park receives over 15,000 visitors per year.
Mt. Kenya is an imposing extinct volcano dominating the landscape of the Kenyan Highlands, East of the Rift Valley. Mt. Kenya lies about 140 km North, North-East of Nairobi with its Northern flanks across the Equator. The mountain has two main peaks - Batian (5200m) and Nelion (5188m). The mountains slopes are cloaked in forest, bamboo, scrub and moorland giving way on the high central peaks to rock, ice and snow. Mt. Kenya is an important water catchment area, supplying the Tana and Northern Ewaso Ngiro systems. The park includes a variety of habitats ranging from higher forest, bamboo, alpine moorlands, glaciers, tarns and glacial morains. The park, which was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1997 and is also a Biosphere Reserve, covers 715 km2, and includes the Peaks consisting of all the ground above 3200m with two small salients extending lower down to 2450m along the Sirimon and Naro Moru tracks. Surrounding the park is Mount Kenya National Reserve with an area of approximately 2095 km2. Between 1200m and 1850m, the vegetation is mainly dry upland forest comprising of Croton associations. Juniperus procera and Podocarpus spp. are predominant in the drier parts of the lower zone (below 2,500m), with rainfall between 875 and 1400mm (Naro Moru and Sirimon tracks on the western slopes). In wetter areas (over 2200mm/year) in the south-west and north-east, Cassipourea malosana predominates. Higher altitudes (2,500-3,000m with rainfall over 2000mm/year) are dominated by a dense belt of bamboo Arundinaria alpina on south-eastern slopes, and a mosaic of bamboo and Podocarpus milanjianus with bamboo at intermediate elevations (2,600-2,800m), and Podocarpus at higher and lower elevations (2,800-3,000m) and (2,500-2,600m). Towards the west and north of the mountain, bamboo becomes progressively smaller and less dominant. There are also areas in zones of maximum rainfall 2,000-3,500m with up to 2,400mm/year, where Hagenia abyssinica with Hagenia revolutum predominate.
Kenya is located in the eastern part of Africa. It has an area of about 150,000 square kilometers. It is a very popular tourist destination and also a hotspot for climbing and hiking. In the central highlands a couple of hundred kilometers north of the equator lays Mt.Kenya. It is here, where the Kikuyu god ngai resides. It is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second highest in Africa. It is one of the few places near the equator on Africa with permanent glaciers. The name of the country has been known to have been derived from Mt.Kenya which was formerly known as Mount Kirinyaga. The mountain is located 180 kilometers north of Nairobi and it can often be seen from high-rise buildings in Nairobi and from Thika. It is an extinct volcano, which formed a couple of million years ago. The mountain is located in the Mount Kenya National Park, which is a designated protected area around the mountain above 3200m altitude. The Kenya Wildlife Service manages the park. The national park covers an area of 700 square kilometers and was established in 1949. Kenya enjoys an equatorial climate with average annual temperatures of about 26oC and diurnal temperatures of about 3oC. There are two rainy seasons on the mountain from April-June and October-December. The mountain is an important water catchment area and many rivers such as the Naro Moru emerge from the melting glaciers. The first documented ascent of the mountain was by Halford Mackinders. At the moment the mountain attracts several thousand climbers both local and international annually. It is this popularity, which has contributed to the deterioration of the environment and the litter accumulation.
Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second highest in Africa (after Mount Kilimanjaro). It's highest peak measures 5,199 m. It is located in central Kenya, just south of the equator, around 150 km north-northeast of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro.[3] The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian (5,199 metres (17,057 ft)), Nelion (5,188 metres (17,021 ft)) and Point Lenana (4,985 metres (16,355 ft)). Mount Kenya is located in central Kenya, just south of the equator, around (150 kilometres (93 mi)) north-northeast of the capital Nairobi. Mount Kenya is a stratovolcano created appxomiately 3 million years after the opening of the East African rift.[4] It was covered by an ice cap for thousands you years. This has resulted in very eroded slopes[5] and numerous valleys radiating from the centre. There are currently 11 small glaciers. The mountain is an important source of water for much of Kenya. The volcano was discoved by Europeans in 1849 by Johann Ludwig Krapf,[8] but the scientific community remained skeptical about his reports of snow and ice so close to the equator. The existence of Mount Kenya was confirmed in 1883 and it was first explored in 1887. The summit was finally climbed by a team led by Halford John Mackinder in 1899.Today there are many walking routes, climbs and huts on the mountain. There are eight distinct vegetation bands from the base to the summit. The lower slopes are covered by different types of forest. Many species are endemic or highly characterestic of Mount Kenya such as the lobelias, the senecios and the rock hyrax.[13] Because of this, an area of 715 km² (276 mi²) around the centre of the mountain is designated a National Park and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park receives over 15,000 visitors per year.
Mt. Kenya is an imposing extinct volcano dominating the landscape of the Kenyan Highlands, East of the Rift Valley. Mt. Kenya lies about 140 km North, North-East of Nairobi with its Northern flanks across the Equator. The mountain has two main peaks - Batian (5200m) and Nelion (5188m). The mountains slopes are cloaked in forest, bamboo, scrub and moorland giving way on the high central peaks to rock, ice and snow. Mt. Kenya is an important water catchment area, supplying the Tana and Northern Ewaso Ngiro systems. The park includes a variety of habitats ranging from higher forest, bamboo, alpine moorlands, glaciers, tarns and glacial morains. The park, which was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1997 and is also a Biosphere Reserve, covers 715 km2, and includes the Peaks consisting of all the ground above 3200m with two small salients extending lower down to 2450m along the Sirimon and Naro Moru tracks. Surrounding the park is Mount Kenya National Reserve with an area of approximately 2095 km2. Between 1200m and 1850m, the vegetation is mainly dry upland forest comprising of Croton associations. Juniperus procera and Podocarpus spp. are predominant in the drier parts of the lower zone (below 2,500m), with rainfall between 875 and 1400mm (Naro Moru and Sirimon tracks on the western slopes). In wetter areas (over 2200mm/year) in the south-west and north-east, Cassipourea malosana predominates. Higher altitudes (2,500-3,000m with rainfall over 2000mm/year) are dominated by a dense belt of bamboo Arundinaria alpina on south-eastern slopes, and a mosaic of bamboo and Podocarpus milanjianus with bamboo at intermediate elevations (2,600-2,800m), and Podocarpus at higher and lower elevations (2,800-3,000m) and (2,500-2,600m). Towards the west and north of the mountain, bamboo becomes progressively smaller and less dominant. There are also areas in zones of maximum rainfall 2,000-3,500m with up to 2,400mm/year, where Hagenia abyssinica with Hagenia revolutum predominate.
Kenya is located in the eastern part of Africa. It has an area of about 150,000 square kilometers. It is a very popular tourist destination and also a hotspot for climbing and hiking. In the central highlands a couple of hundred kilometers north of the equator lays Mt.Kenya. It is here, where the Kikuyu god ngai resides. It is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second highest in Africa. It is one of the few places near the equator on Africa with permanent glaciers. The name of the country has been known to have been derived from Mt.Kenya which was formerly known as Mount Kirinyaga. The mountain is located 180 kilometers north of Nairobi and it can often be seen from high-rise buildings in Nairobi and from Thika. It is an extinct volcano, which formed a couple of million years ago. The mountain is located in the Mount Kenya National Park, which is a designated protected area around the mountain above 3200m altitude. The Kenya Wildlife Service manages the park. The national park covers an area of 700 square kilometers and was established in 1949. Kenya enjoys an equatorial climate with average annual temperatures of about 26oC and diurnal temperatures of about 3oC. There are two rainy seasons on the mountain from April-June and October-December. The mountain is an important water catchment area and many rivers such as the Naro Moru emerge from the melting glaciers. The first documented ascent of the mountain was by Halford Mackinders. At the moment the mountain attracts several thousand climbers both local and international annually. It is this popularity, which has contributed to the deterioration of the environment and the litter accumulation.
