Kenya - Aberdare Mountains

The Aberdare (or Nyandarua) mountains are an isolated volcanic range that forms the easternmost wall of the Great Rift Valley, to the east of the high Kinangop/Laikipia plateau. They are around 100 km long from north to south (the northern end almost reaching the equator). There are two main peaks, Ol Donyo Lesatima (3,999 m) to the north and Kinangop (3, 906 m) to the south, separated by a long 'saddle' of land above 3,000 m. The small peak of Kipipiri (3, 349m) flanks the main range to the west, linked to it by a formerly forested valley at around 2,700 m. Deep ravines cut through the forested eastern and western slopes and there are many clear streams and waterfalls. The park is renowned for its torrential waterfalls plunging from cloud-shrouded heights to spray-filled ravines. They include the magnificent Karuru falls, which drop 300m, the impressive Gura falls which torrent from the opposite side of the same Gorge, the drop of the Chania falls and the enchanting Gura falls which cascade across the yawning mouth of the Queen's Cave. Mist and rain occur throughout much of the year, with precipitation varying from around 1,000 mm on the drier north-western slopes to as much as 3,000 mm in the south-east. The vegetation varies with altitude. A rich alpine and sub-alpine flora, including species of Senecio spp, Lobelia spp, Erica spp, Helichrysum spp and tussock grasses, gives way at around 3,000 m to bamboo Arundinaria alpine and then montane rainforest (mainly Juniperus procerus-Podocarpus falcatus-Nuxia congesta forest on the western and northwestern slopes, ocotea forest on the south-east, and mixed Podocarpus latifolius forest on the east and on Kipipiri (Beentje 1990). Pockets of Hagenia forest occur in sheltered patches on the rolling moorland (Ojwang et al. 2006).