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Mountains of Africa

The document provides an overview of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, highlighting their geographical locations, volcanic features, ecosystems, climates, and climbing records. Mount Kilimanjaro, located in Tanzania, is Africa's highest free-standing mountain with three volcanic cones, while Mount Kenya, an extinct volcano in Kenya, features notable peaks and diverse wildlife. Both mountains attract climbers and have significant cultural and ecological importance.

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Kaia Roy
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24 views3 pages

Mountains of Africa

The document provides an overview of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, highlighting their geographical locations, volcanic features, ecosystems, climates, and climbing records. Mount Kilimanjaro, located in Tanzania, is Africa's highest free-standing mountain with three volcanic cones, while Mount Kenya, an extinct volcano in Kenya, features notable peaks and diverse wildlife. Both mountains attract climbers and have significant cultural and ecological importance.

Uploaded by

Kaia Roy
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Mountains of Africa- Geography Academic Fair

Kaia Roy, Siddharth Singh- 6B

MOUNT KILIMANJARO
Location
Mount Kilimanjaro is located in Tanzania, Africa.
It is Africa’s highest free-standing mountain. And is also a dormant volcano. It is not a part of a
mountain range, and the summit of the mountain is called Uhuru point, which is 5895m high.
People live on the lower sloped of the mountains. They grow bananas, millet, and coffee and raise
cattle there.

Volcanic Cones
Mount Kilimanjaro is made up of three volcanic cones. These are called Kibo, Mwenezi, and Shira.
Kibo is the tallest of the cones and is where the summit of the mountain is found.
Mwenezi and Shira are extinct which means they will never erupt again. Kibo is dormant.
Its last major eruption was 360,000 years ago but Kibo could erupt again in the future.

Wildlife
Kilimanjaro is made up of several ecosystems, such as moorland, tropical jungle and the glacial zone.
There are many plants, flowers, and trees growing here. Some of these cannot be found anywhere else
in the world.
Some animals that can be found there are the blue monkey, the bush baby and
Jackson’s chameleon.

Climate
The weather on Mount Kilimanjaro can range from very hot to very cold. These temperatures depend
on your altitude and what time of day it is. Altitude is how high up the mountain you are.
Hikers need to be prepared for hot, sunny weather as well as rain, wind, cold temperatures, and snow.
The summit of Mount Kilimanjaro is colder than the rest of the mountain. The night-time
temperatures can range between -7˚C(20F) and -29˚C(-20F).

Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro


Many people travel to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro
each year. You do not need special equipment or experience to climb the mountain but it can be
very dangerous. The town of Moshi is at the foot of the mountain. It has become a base for climbers.
There are several different routes to take up and down the mountain.

Climbing Records
1889
Hans Meyer and Ludwig Purtscheller became the first people to reach the summit. Yohani Lauwo, a
local Tanzanian guide, also joined them.

1909
Gertrude Benham was the first woman to climb to the summit.

2006
Simon Mtuy from Tanzania climbed to the summit and back in nine hours and 19 minutes. He
completed his trip unaided which means he carried all his own equipment, water, and food.

2014
Swiss mountain runner Karl Egloff ran to the summit in four hours and 56 minutes. He beat the record
for the fastest ascent. He then came back down the mountain to finish the overall trip in 6 hours, 42
minutes, and 24 seconds!

Fun Facts
Mount Kilimanjaro was made a World Heritage Site in 1987 by The United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
It is thought that the mountain was formed about 3 million years ago.
There are several ideas about what the name Kilimanjaro actually means. Some examples are
‘mountain of greatness’, ‘white mountain’, and ‘mountain of caravans. No one really knows the true
meaning.

MOUNT KENYA
Location
Mount Kenya is located in Kenya, East Africa.

About the Mountain.


Mount Kenya is an extinct volcano that originally rose an estimated 3 million years ago and last
erupted an estimated 2.6 million years ago.
The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian (5,199 meters or 17,057 feet), Nelion (5,188 m or
17,021 ft) and Point Lenana (4,985 m or 16,355 ft) The main ethnic groups living around Mount
Kenya are Kikuyu, Ameru, Embu, and Maasai.

Climate
The weather on Mount Kenya can range from very hot to very cold. These temperatures depend on
your altitude and what time of day it is.
The sunsets and rises at the same time every day, with both the day and night lasting 12 hours. In fact,
there is only a 1-minute difference between the shortest and longest days in the year. This is due to it
being situated so close to the equator.
The year is divided into two distinct wet seasons and two distinct dry seasons which mirror the wet
and dry seasons in the Kenyan lowlands.

Wildlife
So far, there have been over 130 different bird species recorded within Mt. Kenya. Wild animals
include elephants, tree hyrax, white-tailed mongoose, suni, black-fronted duiker, mole rats,
bushbucks, waterbuck, and Elands. Animals rarely seen include leopards, bongo, and giant forest
hogs.
Mount Kenya is the main water catchment area for two large rivers in Kenya; the Tana, the largest
river in Kenya, and the Ewaso Nyiro North.

Climbing Records
In September 1899, Sir Halford John Mackiner, Josef Brocherel, and Cesar Ollier were the first to
ascend Mount Kenya’s highest peak, Batian. Prior to their success, the trio had made three
unsuccessful attempts.
On 20th September 2020, Keyan male athlete Kenneth Kemboi ran the whole Sirimon route in 7hr 39
seconds. Holding the record of the fastest unsupported male athlete to ascend and descend up and
down Mt. Kenya
Susy Chemaimak, a female Kenyan Athlete on the same day as Kenneth ran the whole Sirimon route
in a time of 7 hours 50 minutes, and 7 seconds. She holds the record of the fastest woman to climb
Mt. Kenya.
Fun Facts
Mt. Kenya is culturally known as Kĩrĩnyaga which literally means ‘the one with the ostrich’ referring
to the glaciers among the peaks of the mountain. This is because of how the appearance of an ostrich
looks.

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