Top Interesting Facts About Rwenzori Mountain The Rwenzori mountains are popular for their unique alpine flora which includes various species of endemic to the Albertine Rift in the higher altitude zones including giant heathers, groundsels and lobelias.
The park also supplies local communities with various wild resources and surrounded with cultural heritage.
Rwenzori mountains boosts with range of features which has long been thought to be the source of the great Nile River. However, the river originates in nearby Victoria Lake which is the second African largest lake.
Fact, the highest and largest of the Rwenzori ranges was named after Sir Henry Morton Stanley the British explorer and journalists. However, Sir Stanley was the first European explorer to see Mount Rwenzori in year 1888 – May -24th.
Rwenzori mountain is majestically snow capped throughout the year because the highest peak of the Rwenzori reaches up to 5,109 meters which is the highest point. Therefore, snow covers throughout the year.
The Rwenzori Mountain are home to two of the highest peaks in Africa.
Fact, Rwenzori mountains National Park covers nearly 100,000 ha in western Uganda and composes the main part of the Rwenzori Mountain chain and ranks the Africa’s third highest peak named as ‘’Mount Margherita’’ that rises over 5,109meter. The area stuns with beautiful vegetation covered with glaciers, waterfalls and lakes thus making it one of Africa’s most beautiful alpines areas.
The Rwenzori Mountain was once named the ‘’Mountain of the Moon’’ by the Alexandrine geographer Ptolemy in AD 150. The later on, explorer Henry Stanley placed the Rwenzori on the map on 24th -May -1888. He named it Ruwenzori, a local name which he recorded as meaning ‘’rain maker or Cloud-king’’.
Uganda’s Rwenzori Mountain was formed about three million years ago in the late Pliocene epoch and are the result of an uplifted block of crystalline rocks including amphibolite, granite and quartzite, gneiss. More so, the Rwenzori Mountain has the highest non- volcanic, non – orogenic mountains in the world, Top Interesting Facts About Rwenzori Mountain
Well, the shortest trek to reach to the peak of the mountain, it takes typically 6 -7 days to access the summit and descend back.
Fact, Rwenzori Mountain National Park is not only famous for mountain climbing adventure but also a home for wildlife viewing because the park host around 70 mammal species such as Giant Forest hog, elephants, Giant Forest hog, duikers, bushbucks and if you are lucky can see leopards. Primates can also be seen during your visit including blue monkeys, Angola colobus monkey, black and white colobus monkeys and chimpanzees.
Fact about Rwenzori Mountain, the first person to climb the mountain was the British explore Sir James Grant and John Speke who came searching for the source of the Nile, ventured into the Rwenzori mountains and found the summits blanketed in white snow.
Fact Rwenzori mountains are one of the most significant water catchment areas in Uganda as well as the African region at large. The area supplies over 5 million people in the Rwenzori region depend on this mountain source for household water usage.
The highest peak on Mountain Rwenzori measures around 5,109 meters which is the highest point on Mount Stanley and the third -highest peak in Africa.
The mountain is surround with a lot of tourist attraction of which the mountain its self; Birds such as Rwenzori turaco; Wildlife – Primate species including black and white colobus monkeys, blue monkey and rare chimps; 6 Vegetation zones; Lake like Irene, Kitandara.
Climate; Rwenzori Mountain have a very wet climate, with mist and rain occurring throughout the year. More so, Uganda experience two short dry seasons from June to August and from December to February.
The Mountain consists of six massifs separated by deep gorges from; Mount Stanley ‘5,109 meters’’, Mount Speke ‘’4,890 meters’’ and Mount Baker ‘’4,843 meters’’.
The Rwenzori Mountain National Park is located in western region of Uganda and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site placed in Rwenzori Mountain ranges. The park covers an area of about 1,000 square kilometers under the protection of ‘’UWA’’ Uganda Wildlife Authority. It boosts on World Tourism map because it holds the third highest mountain peak in Africa and range of lakes, waterfalls and glaciers as well as being a beautiful area for plant life.
