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Rwenzori Mountains National Park

Rwenzori Mountains National Park is a Ugandan national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Rwenzori Mountains. Almost 1,000 km2 in size, the park has Africa's third highest mountain peak and many waterfalls, lakes, and glaciers. The park is known for its beautiful plant life. Rwenzori Mountains National Park was established in 1991. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 because of its outstanding natural beauty. Rebel militias occupied the Rwenzori Mountains from 1997 to June 2001. The park was inscribed on UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger between 1999 and 2004 because of insecurity and a lack of resources in the park. Rwenzori Mountains National Park is located in southwestern Uganda on the east side of the western African rift valley. It lies along Uganda's border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and borders the DRC's Virunga National Park, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for 50 km . It is situated in the Bundibugyo, Kabarole, and Kasese districts, 25 km from the small town of Kasese. It is 996 km2 in size, 70% of which exceeds an altitude of 2,500 m . The park is 120 km long and 48 km wide. The park comprises most of the centre and eastern half of the Rwenzori Mountains, a mountain range rising above dry plains located just above the equator. The Rwenzori Mountains are higher than the Alps and are ice-capped. Mount Stanley is located in the park. Margherita Peak, one of Mount Stanley's twin summits, is Africa's third highest peak with a height of 5,109 m . Africa's fourth and fifth highest peaks (Mount Speke and Mount Baker) are also located in the park. The park has glaciers, snowfields, waterfalls, and lakes and is one of Africa's most beautiful mountain areas. The park has many species that are endemic to the Albertine Rift system, and there are several endangered species in the park. It has a high diversity of plants and trees. The park is noted for its botany, which has been described as some of the most beautiful in the world. There are five distinct vegetation zones in the park, which change according to changes in altitude. The park has 89 species of birds, 15 species of butterfly, and four primate species. The park's wildlife varies with elevation, and its species include the forest elephant, chimpanzee, hyrax, black-and-white colobus, L'Hoest's monkeys, duiker, and Ruwenzori turaco.

Mount Stanley

Mount Stanley is a mountain located in the Rwenzori range. With an elevation of 5,109 m , it is the highest mountain of both the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, and the third highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya . The peak and several other surrounding peaks are high enough to support glaciers. Mount Stanley is named for the journalist and explorer, Sir Henry Morton Stanley. It is part of the Rwenzori Mountains National Park, a UNESCO world Heritage Site. Mt. Stanley consists of two twin summits and several lower peaks: As early as the time of the Ancient Greeks, there were tales of mountains of snow and ice forming the source of the Nile River. Aeschylus talked of "Egypt nurtured by snows" and Aristotle noted 'Mountains of Silver, the source of the Nile' in the fourth century B.C. Ptolemy labeled these mountains in the correct location as “Lunae Montes” (The Mountains of the Moon) in his map published some 1800 years ago. According to the expedition account of the Duke of Abruzzi, this was actually a translation error from the name “white mountains”, but the name has stuck through the millennia. Despite the legends, the existence of these mountains was not confirmed outside of Central Africa until the arrival of Henry Morton Stanley. In 1876 he first glimpsed the range; then in 1888 he noticed what he first thought to be a cloud, but later realized was the slopes of a mountain covered with snow. For a number of years explorers attempted to reach the peaks but were always turned back by thick vegetation, bad weather, disease, or lack of time. However, in 1906, the Duke of Abruzzi led an expedition replete with six scientists, four alpine guides, and the phenomenal photographer Vittorio Sella. With the help of over 300 porters, they climbed to the highest points of the six massifs in the range that at that time contained glaciers, including the highest peaks of Mt. Stanley. The ascent of Margherita Peak was made by the Duke, J. Petigax, C. Ollier, and J. Brocherel on a traverse from the summit of Alexandra Peak. In the intervening years the area has been plagued by political instability, warfare and dictators, and malaria. Additionally, the once magnificent glaciers have retreated profoundly. Three massifs have lost their ice entirely. Mt. Baker only has a few minor remnant glaciers, and Mt. Speke a single remaining glacier of any consequence. Mt. Stanley is currently the only peak in the range that still contains extensive glaciation. Recent studies indicate that the ice may be entirely gone by the year 2025. Mt. Stanley was first climbed in 1906 by Duke of the Abruzzi, J. Petigax, C. Ollier, and J. Brocherel. Margherita Peak is named after Queen Margherita of Italy.

Mount Speke

Mount Speke lies in the Ruwenzori Mountains National Park in Uganda and is the second highest peak in this range. Together with Mount Stanley and Mount Baker, it forms a triangle enclosing the upper Bujuku Valley. The nearest peak is Mount Stanley, which is 3.55 kilometres to the south-southwest. The mountains lie within an area called 'The Mountains of the Moon'. All mountains in this range consist of multiple jagged peaks. Mount Speke's summits are Vittorio Emanuele 4,890 metres ; Ensonga 4,865 metres ; Johnston 4,834 metres ; and Trident 4,572 metres . The names were chosen in respect for the Italian royal family; however, the name choice had to be approved by the British Protectorate of Uganda who ruled the region at that time. The people living on the mountains call the 'Rwenzori', which means 'rain maker' or 'rain mountains' in the Bakonjo language. The Baganda, who could see the mountain range from far, used to call them 'Gambaragara', which means 'My Eyes Pain', a reference to the shining snow. The Bakonjo had their own names for the peaks in the Rwenzori range, however, as they had never climbed them, it was difficult to clarify which peak was which. For example, they had names for the three main peaks: Kiyanja, Duwoni and Ingomwimbi. The fact is that for the Bakonjo the high Rwenzori is the home of Kitasamba, god who resides at the high altitudes and cannot be accessed. Early European explorers visited the region in the search for the source of the Nile. This mountain was named after John Speke. While he never climbed this peak, Speke mapped the source of the White Nile in 1862. All the mountain in this region are named after similar early explorers. When Duke of the Abruzzi climbed this summit, he climbed all the other peaks in the Rwenzori range. Due to the large amount of rainfall Mount Speke receives, it is criss-crossed by many rivers and streams. The vegetation tends to be quite thick. There is also a variety of wildlife, including elephants, chimpanzee, monkeys, leopards and antelope.

Lake George

Lake George or Lake Dweru is a lake in Uganda. It covers a total surface area of 250 square kilometres and is a part of Africas Great Lakes system, although not itself considered one of the Great Lakes. Like the other lakes in the region, it was named after a member of the British royal family, in this case Prince George, later to become King George V of the United Kingdom. Lake George drains to the southwest into Lake Edward through the Kazinga Channel. Explorer Henry M. Stanley was the first European to see the lake in 1875, after following the course of the Katonga river from Lake Victoria. Thinking it was part of Lake Albert, he named it Beatrice Gulf. On his second visit in 1888 through 1889, he realized that there were two independent lakes, and gave it its current name.

Mount Baker (Uganda)

Mount Baker or Kiyanja is a mountain in the Rwenzori Mountains National Park in Uganda, 2.8 kilometres from the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. With a height of 4,844 metres , it is the sixth highest mountain in Africa. Together with Mount Stanley and Mount Speke, it forms a triangle enclosing the upper Bujuku Valley. The nearest peak is Mount Stanley, which is 2.26 kilometres to the west. The mountains lie within an area called "The Mountains of the Moon". Like all peaks in the Ruwenzori Range, Mount Baker has multiple jagged peaks along a ridge. The highest is Edward Peak. The ridge line of Mount Baker was first reached in January 1906 by the Austrian mountaineer Rubert Grauer accompanied by two British missionaries, H. E. Maddox and H. W. Tegart. In February of that year and again in April, the same rocky point was reached by an English expedition, including Alexander F. R. Wollaston, A. B. Wosnam, and M. Carruthers. The highest point of Mount Baker was finally climbed in June by an expedition led by the Duke of the Abruzzi, which climbed all peaks of the other five highest mountains of the Rwenzori, . The Bakonjo name for the mountain seems to have been "Kiyanja". On his June 1891 expedition into the Ruwenzori, Franz Stuhlmann observed the peak and named it either "Semper" or "Ngemwimbi". Abruzzi renamed the mountain after Samuel Baker, a 19th-century British explorer who in 1864 was the first European to sight and visit Lake Albert, just northeast of the Ruwenzori Mountains, and who had reported to glimpse "great mountainous masses away in the distance, to the south of Lake Albert."
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