Kenya

Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya, and the second highest in Africa (after Mount Kilimanjaro). The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian (5,199 m - 17,058 ft), Nelion (5,188 m - 17,022 ft) and Lenana (4,985 m - 16,355 ft). Mount Kenya is located in central Kenya, just south of the equator, around 150 km (95 miles) north-northeast of Nairobi. The area around the mountain is protected in the Mount Kenya National Park, which is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. The National Park is around 620 km² (240 square miles), and receives up to 15,000 visitors every year.

Elevation 5,199 metres (17,057 ft)
Location Kenya
Prominence 3,825 m (12,549 ft) Ranked 32nd
Coordinates 0°9′S 37°18′E / -0.15, 37.3Coordinates: 0°9′S 37°18′E / -0.15, 37.3
Topo map private, Mt Kenya by Wielochowski and Savage
Type Stratovolcano (extinct)
Last eruption 2.6-3.1 Ma
First ascent 1899 by Halford Mackinder
Easiest route rock climb
Listing Seven Second Summits

 

History

The mountain is an extinct (dead) volcano standing alone, which last erupted between 2.6 and 3.1 million years ago. Its slopes include several different biomes; the lowest parts are dry upland forest, changing to montane forest of juniper and podocarpus at about 2,000 metres (6,600 ft), with a belt of bamboo at 2,500 m (about 8,000 ft) that changes to an upper forest of smaller trees covered with moss and "goat's beard" lichen. Above a distinct timberline at about 3,500 m (11,500 ft), there is an afroalpine zone, with its characteristic giant rosette plants. Twelve small (and rapidly shrinking) glaciers may be found scattered among the complex of peaks, of which Batian and Nelion are the highest.

The missionary Johann Ludwig Krapf was the first European to report a sighting of Mount Kenya, in 1849. The first recorded ascent of Mount Kenya was made by Halford John Mackinder, C. Ollier and J. Brocherel on 13 September 1899. The highest point (Batian) is a technical climb; the classic Diamond Couloir climbing route is a Grade IV of about 20 pitches, up to YDS 5.9 in difficulty. Nelion was first climbed by Eric Shipton in 1929, and Shipton and Bill Tilman completed the traverse of the ridge between the two highest peaks. Point Lenana, at 4,985 m (16,355 ft), can be reached by a hiking trail. Mount Kenya is best climbed in January or February on the south side and August or September on the north side.

Mount Kenya is home to one of the Global Atmosphere Watch's atmospheric monitoring stations.

On July 19, 2003, a South African registered aircraft, carrying 12 passengers and two crew, crashed into Mount Kenya at Point Lenana: nobody survived.This was not the first aircraft lost on the mountain; there is also the wreckage of at least one helicopter that crashed before 1972.

 

Local culture

The main tribes living around Mount Kenya are Gĩkũyũ, Meru, Embu and Maasai. They all see the mountain as an important aspect of their cultures.

 

Gĩkũyũ

Several tribes that live around Mount Kenya believe the mountain to be sacred. For this reason they used to build their houses facing the mountain, with the doors on the side nearest it.

The Gĩkũyũ live on the southern and western sides of the mountain. They are agriculturalists, and make use of the highly fertile volcanic soil on the lower slopes. The Gĩkũyũ people believed that their god, Ngai lived on Mount Kenya.They build their houses with the doors facing the mountain. The Gĩkũyũ name for Mount Kenya is 'Kĩrĩ Nyaga' (Kirinyaga), which literally translates to 'has ostriches'. The mountain looks like an ostrich; black body and white tip (tail feathers). God's name in Kikuyu is also 'Mwene Nyaga' meaning owner of the ostriches.

Embu

The Embu people believe that Mount Kenya is the home of their god, Ngai. The mountain is sacred, and they build their houses with the doors facing it.The Embu name for Mount Kenya is Kirenia, which means mountain of whiteness.

Maasai

The Maasai are nomadic people, who use the land to the north of the mountain to graze their cattle. They believe that their ancestors came down from the mountain at the beginning of time.The Maasai names for Mount Kenya are Ol Donyo Eibor and Ol Donyo Egere, which mean white mountain and speckled mountain respectively.

Ameru

The Ameru occupy the East and North of the Mountain. They are generally agricultural and also keep livestock. They occupy among the most fertile land in Kenya. The Meru names for the Mt. Kenya are Kirimara (That which has white stuff or snow). Some Meru songs refer to 'Kirimara no makengi'(The mountain is all speckles.)

Other tribes

The first Europeans to visit Mount Kenya often brought members of other tribes as guides and porters. Many of these people had never experienced the cold, or seen snow and ice before. Their reactions were often fearful and suspicious.

Another trait of the Zanzibari character was shown at the same camp. In the morning the men came to tell me that the water they had left in the cooking-pots was all bewitched. They said it was white, and would not shake; the adventurous Fundi had even hit it with a stick, which would not go in. They begged me to look at it, and I told them to bring it to me. They declined, however, to touch it, and implored me to go to it. The water of course had frozen solid. I put one of the pots on the fire, and predicted that it would soon turn again into water. The men sat round and anxiously watched it; when it had melted they joyfully told me that the demon was expelled, and I told them they could now use this water; but as soon as my back was turned they poured it away, and refilled their pots from an adjoining brook.

—J W Gregory, The Great Rift Valley

Mackinder's expedition of 1899 met some men from the Wanderobo tribe. They were at about 3,600 m (12,000 ft), and are an example of a tribe that use the mountain for normal purposes.

Main Peaks of Mount Kenya

Glaciers on Mount

The glaciers on Mount Kenya are retreating rapidly. The Mountain Club of Kenya in Nairobi has photographs showing the mountain when it was first climbed in 1899, and again more recently, and the retreat of the glaciers is very evident.[22] Descriptions of ascents of several of the peaks advise on the use of crampons, but now there is no ice to be found. There is no new snow to be found, even on the Lewis Glacier (the largest of them) in winter, so no new ice will be formed. It is predicted to be less than 30 years before there is no more ice on Mount Kenya.[21]

The area of glaciers on the mountain was measured in the 1980s, and recorded as about 0.7 km² (0.25 square miles).[23] This is far smaller than the first observations, made in the 1890s.

Clockwise from the north:


"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."    — Robert A. Heinlein

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