Mount Kenya massif

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Mount Kenya massif
Mount Kenya region map-de.svg
Highest peak Batian ( 5199  m )
location KenyaKenya Kenya
part of East Africa
Mount Kenya Massif (Kenya)
Mount Kenya massif
Coordinates 0 ° 9 ′  S , 37 ° 19 ′  E Coordinates: 0 ° 9 ′  S , 37 ° 19 ′  E
Type Stratovolcano
Age of the rock 3.5 million years
particularities second highest mountain range in Africa
World Natural Heritage ( UNESCO ) since 1997
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The Mount Kenya massif (also Mount Kenya ; in the language of the Maasai Kirinyaga and Kinyaa "black and white mountain") is the second highest mountain massif in Africa at 5199  m . Its center is located around 15 km south of the equator in Kenya .

In 1997 the unique landscape of the Mount Kenya massif, which was expanded to include the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in 2013 , was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO .

geography

The Mount Kenya massif is located about 140 km northeast of the Kenyan capital Nairobi . There it is located in the heart of the country in Mount Kenya National Park. While the terrain slopes towards the east over the Tana to the distant Indian Ocean , it mainly goes over to the west into the Kenyan highlands and the dry savannah .

Mount Kenya National Park

The Mount Kenya National Park surrounds the central Mount Kenya massif from an altitude of about 3200  m . The purpose of the approximately 715 km² national park is to protect the landscape and the flora and fauna and to preserve them for the future.

Landscape image

View from Point Lenana to the Nelion

After the Kilimanjaro massif (5895 m), which is about 325 km further south, and in front of the Ruwenzori mountains (5109 m), which is 810 km further west, the Mount Kenya massif with the Batian ( 5199  m ), its highest peak, the second of the three highest peaks of eastern Africa and thus of the entire continent . It is one of the few places in the world on or near the equator where there is always snow and ice .

The regions between its highest, often pointed peaks are partially glaciated from 4700  m ; in particular hollows and gently sloping mountain slopes are heavily glaciated. The largest of the eight glaciers on the Mount Kenya massif are called Gregory and Lewis (between Nelion and Point Lenana) and Tyndall (between Batian Point Pigott). They have been losing size for decades due to the decline in rainfall and global warming .

The tree line is around 3200 m; Above it extends a lush vegetation of tall grass, perennials and shrubbery, reaching up to about 4000 m. The rocky massif is also home to firn and snow fields , mountain rivers, waterfalls and mountain lakes that have formed in the former volcanic craters .

Because clouds very often accumulate in the high mountain regions of the massif, which usually leads to heavy and long-lasting precipitation, a narrow strip of tropical rainforest could develop on its slopes . Therefore, the massif rises as a green island from the East African dry savannah , on which majestically towering peaks are enthroned.

geology

The Mount Kenya massif is located on the East African continental plate , which is located east of the Great African Rift Valley , from which it is about two centimeters away every year, so that the rift becomes wider and wider and the massif, if the drifting continues, will probably lie on a new continental plate in the Indic in a few million years .

The volcanic massif is located on the eastern edge of the Rift Valley, i.e. the Kenyan part of the tributary of the East African Rift Valley that runs in a southeastern direction . When this junction began to split, numerous volcanoes, including the Mount Kenya massif with its chimneys, arose around 3.5 million years ago on its edges and on its bottom. From then on, the center of Kirinyaga was an active mountain of fire for about two million years - a volcano that had once reached more than 7000 m.

Deep crater holes that have filled with lakes or are covered by the ice masses of the glaciers , some lava flows and several remaining tower-like and pyramid-like peaks that are still up to 5199  m high still bear witness to this activity and the former mountain height. While the softer or more porous rocks eroded over the course of millions of years, the hard cores mentioned last remained quite well preserved. Because the volcano has not erupted for several millennia and, according to scientific studies, probably no longer has the potential for further eruptions, it is considered an extinct mountain of fire.

History, exploration

Name interpretation and deity

The local people of Kikuyu and Kamba call the gigantic Mount Kenya massif Kirinyaga and Kinyaa , which means something like "shining mountain". This gave the state the English name Kenya . The massif is still regarded as the throne of the creation god Ngai wa Kirinyaga (god of Kirinyaga, also: Mwene-Nyaga ). The legend tells that after the creation of the world the god divided the land among the people and showed a man named Kikuyu from the summit of Mount Kenya the land that should belong to him. When Kikuyu returned to the base of the mountain, he found a woman there. Their female children became the great mothers of the nine Kikuyu tribes.

discovery

The ice-covered Mount Kenya massif was "discovered" for the western world in 1849: the German missionary and Africa explorer Dr. Johann Ludwig Krapf was the first European to see the mountain range with its snow- and ice-covered peaks. On his return he reported on the white splendor on the equator . The message of the "snow on the equator" was dismissed as an illusion and was only confirmed in 1883 by the British researcher Joseph Thomson . According to local tour guides, Krapf is said to have given the mountain the name Kenya because he misunderstood the word Kirinyaga . Another theory is that the word Kenya is derived from Kee Nyaa , which in the Kamba language means the place of the ostrich.

20th century

During the Mau Mau uprising (1952 to 1957), which was strongly supported by the Kikuyu, freedom fighters hid in its impenetrable forests. One of their cave shelters can still be viewed south of Nanyuki .

Mountain world

Krapf Rognon (4800 m) and Krapf Glacier

Highest peaks

The Mount Kenya massif in central Kenya is about 90 km long and 55 km wide with a center consisting mostly of pointed peaks (north – south 10 km, west – east 15 km). The massif has three main peaks, Batian ( 5199  m ), Nelion ( 5189  m ) and Lenana ( 4985  m ), which bear the names of important Maasai chiefs. Almost all the peaks of the Massif Central are above the snow line; the regions between the highest peaks are heavily glaciated.

Mountains and mountain peaks lying close together in the central high mountain region:

  • Batian (5199 m)
  • Nelion (5189 m)
  • Lenana (4985 m)
  • Pigott (4958 m)
  • Top Hut (4790 m)
  • Tereri (4715 m)
  • Sendeyo (4705 m)
  • Midget (4701 m)
  • Minte's Hut (4297 m)
Mount Kenya

Rockclimbing

The first ascent of the highest mountain of the massif, the Batian , was achieved in 1899 by the British Sir Halford Mackinder with Cesar Ollier and Joseph Brocherel . The Nelion Summit was first climbed by Eric Shipton and Wyn Harris.

The Mount Kenya massif can be seen as a visitor-friendly mountain range: Numerous roads from all directions up to around 3000  m above sea level, so that a mountain tour can be tackled at a certain starting height. About 30 different paths begin in the valley, which first lead through the beautiful Afro-Alpine rainforest to gradually meet in the higher regions. The mountain is otherwise well developed for tourism, so that there are several camps and lodges in its immediate vicinity where you can stay overnight. There you can acclimate yourself to go on an expedition to the center of the massif.

Climbing the highest peaks is more difficult than climbing Kilimanjaro, which is 696 m higher. Local guides can show the way and porters are available to transport equipment. In total there are a few dozen routes of varying degrees of difficulty. Currently the three standard routes for ascent are the Naro Moru Route, the Sirimon Route and the Chogoria Route. The main peaks can be climbed on various routes of UIAA difficulty levels from IV to VIII. At the secondary peaks there are also various rock routes from III to VIII + and there are also technical (i.e. not freely climbed) rock routes along the entire massif. Hikers with good physical fitness and suitable equipment can dare to climb to the third highest peak (Lenana), because on the way there are steep paths and snowfields to climb, but not rock faces and glaciers. Technically, it is a strenuous multi-day high mountain tour.

Because of the high humidity (see this and travel with "climate") and the tropical heat that dominate especially in the lower and middle mountain regions, and the cold on the peaks is an ascent of the mountains quite a strenuous task: Including acclimatization should Allow around five to seven days for this. In order to avoid altitude sickness after this familiarization , only small vertical meters should be conquered per day or stage: If the weather cooperates and the ground allows a fairly fast ascent, the summit region including return can be reached within two to three days (with 2 overnight stays at the mountain).

When the weather is clear, the view extends from the various peaks to the fertile plains that surround the mountain range, or to the vast dry savannas and deserts that adjoin the area - especially further north.

Flora and fauna

Lobelia deckenii in African-alpine zone. The flute ludaya is madefrom its flower stalks.
A bongo on the Mount Kenya massif
A hyrax on Mount Kenya

The Mount Kenya massif is an important, lush and species-rich habitat for African flora and fauna .

flora

Due to the tropical and humid high mountain climate, a unique flora has not only developed in the lower mountain regions, in which innumerable plant species thrive. Many of them are splendid - they are mostly larger than elsewhere. Similar to Kilimanjaro, the foot of the massif is surrounded by fertile fields and fields: beans , maize , coffee and tea are grown there. In the relatively dry climate of the western flank, cattle are raised. The uppermost limit of the Afroalpine mountain forest is at an altitude of about 3000  m to 3500  m ; the area above 3200  m is part of the Mount Kenya National Park. Above that, there is rather loosened vegetation, which is gradually being replaced by scree slopes and from around 4300  m altitude by the glacier areas.

fauna

Hundreds of animal species live in the mountain world, some of which penetrate into the summit regions.

climate

Snow storm on Mount Kenya in July

The Mount Kenya massif has a tropical, humid climate , which is characterized by very high humidity and large amounts of precipitation (it rains around 200 days a year), so that the lower mountain slopes turn into mud slides. The annual precipitation varies between about 1000 mm on the northern slopes and 2200 to 3800 mm in the southeast. Because the evaporation through the moist, warm updrafts quite strongly fails, the summits of the mountains are often enveloped by clouds. Tropical-humid weather prevails in the lower areas and more icy-humid cold on the peaks (cf. FIEBIG 2010, p. 497).

January and February are the best months to venture up the south side, for the north side these are August and September; then you have the chance to get quite dry weather in the otherwise tropical and humid rainforest high mountain area.

places

These places are among others in or around the Mount Kenya massif:

  • Nyeri - place in the west
  • Naro Moru - place in the west, most important place for ascent
  • Nanyuki - place in the northwest
  • Embu - place in the southeast
  • Chogoria - place in the east
  • Meru - place in the northeast
  • Ena - place in the southeast

media

Web links

Commons : Mount Kenya  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ UNESCO World Heritage Center: Mount Kenya National Park / Natural Forest. Retrieved August 20, 2017 .
  2. ↑ a b Pointdexter, Joseph: Between heaven and earth. The 50 highest peaks. Könemann, Cologne 1999, ISBN 3-8290-3561-6 , p. 87
  3. ↑ Pointdexter, Joseph: Between heaven and earth. The 50 highest peaks. Könemann, Cologne 1999, ISBN 3-8290-3561-6 , p. 89
  4. ↑ a b Pointdexter, Joseph: Between heaven and earth. The 50 highest peaks. Könemann, Cologne 1999, ISBN 3-8290-3561-6 , p. 89