Aberdare Range
Encyclopedia
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
's capital Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
with an average elevation of 3500 metres (11,482.9 ft). It is located in west central Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, northeast of Naivasha
Naivasha
Naivasha is a market town in Rift Valley Province, Kenya, lying north west of Nairobi. It is located on the shore of Lake Naivasha and along the Nairobi - Nakuru highway and Uganda Railway.Naivasha is part of the Nakuru District...
and Gilgil
Gilgil
Gilgil, Kenya is a town in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya. The town is located between Naivasha and Nakuru and along the Nairobi - Nakuru highway. Gilgil has a population of 18,805 . Gilgil is also the centre of the Gilgil division in Nakuru District.- History :During the 1920s - 1940s, some...
and just south of the Equator
Equator
An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....
. It forms a section of the eastern rim of the Great Rift Valley
Great Rift Valley
The Great Rift Valley is a name given in the late 19th century by British explorer John Walter Gregory to the continuous geographic trench, approximately in length, that runs from northern Syria in Southwest Asia to central Mozambique in South East Africa...
running from the Kinangop Plateau, to the Laikipia Escarpment, roughly north to south. On the west, the range falls off steeply into the Great Rift Valley and views of Lake Naivasha
Lake Naivasha
Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake in Kenya, lying north west of Nairobi, outside the town of Naivasha. It is part of the Great Rift Valley. The name derives from the local Maasai name Nai'posha, meaning "rough water" because of the sudden storms which can arise...
and the distant Mau Escarpment
Mau Escarpment
The Mau Escarpment is a steep natural cliff approximately 3,000 m high, running along the western edge of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya.-External links:...
can be seen.
The Aberdare Range has a maximum elevation of 3994 metres (13,104 ft) above sea level and is heavily-forested. Much of the range has been protected within the Aberdare National Park
Aberdare National Park
- External links :* * * *...
since its creation in 1950. The range attracts large numbers of hikers and climbers operating out of the main centers of Naivasha
Naivasha
Naivasha is a market town in Rift Valley Province, Kenya, lying north west of Nairobi. It is located on the shore of Lake Naivasha and along the Nairobi - Nakuru highway and Uganda Railway.Naivasha is part of the Nakuru District...
and Gilgil. The lower slopes are farmed, higher areas are known for their wildlife
Wildlife
Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
. The Rhino Charge
Rhino Charge
Rhino Charge is an annual event, held in Kenya, in which the competitors have to compete on a gruelling cross-country course in 4x4 vehicles. All funds raised by this event are donated to Rhino Ark, a Kenyan charity set up to help to conserve the Aberdare Conservation area.RHINO CHARGE OVERVIEWThe...
is an annual event run by conservationists in Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
to pay for fencing of the Aberdare National Park as a means of protecting East Africa's largest indigenous forest from destruction.
The former name of the range survives in Mount Satima
Mount Satima
Mount Satima, also known as Mount Lesatima and often abbreviated to Satima or Lesatima, is the third-highest mountain in Kenya and the highest in the Aberdare Range...
("the mountain of the young bull"); it is the highest peak in the Aberdare Range. Mount Kenya
Mount Kenya
Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian , Nelion and Point Lenana . Mount Kenya is located in central Kenya, just south of the equator, around north-northeast of the capital Nairobi...
, 5199 metres (17,057.1 ft) the second highest mountain in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
(after Kilimanjaro) lies east of the Aberdare Range.
The area is well known as the headquarters of Dedan Kimathi
Dedan Kimathi
Dedan Kimathi Waciuri , was a Kenyan rebel leader who fought against the British colonial government in Kenya in the 1950s. He was convicted and executed in 1957 for murder and terrorism....
, leader of the 1950s Mau Mau Uprising
Mau Mau Uprising
The Mau Mau Uprising was a military conflict that took place in Kenya between 1952 and 1960...
. Also, Elizabeth II became Queen of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
while vacationing in the Aberdares. It was also the site where J.A. Hunter killed the Rogue elephant of Aberdare Forest
Rogue elephant of Aberdare Forest
The rogue elephant of Aberdare Forest was a bull African Bush Elephant which terrorized several villages in the vicinity of the Aberdare Range in British East Africa in the early 20th century, destroying crops and killing at least one person. The bull was reportedly so cunning, that it never struck...
.
Name
The Aberdare Range was named by J. J. ThomsonJ. J. Thomson
Sir Joseph John "J. J." Thomson, OM, FRS was a British physicist and Nobel laureate. He is credited for the discovery of the electron and of isotopes, and the invention of the mass spectrometer...
in 1884 in honour of Lord Aberdare
Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare
Henry Austin Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare GCB, PC, FRS was a British Liberal Party politician, who served in government most notably as Home Secretary and as Lord President of the Council....
, who at the time was President of the Royal Geographical Society
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
and the Royal Historical Society
Royal Historical Society
The Royal Historical Society was founded in 1868. The premier society in the United Kingdom which promotes and defends the scholarly study of the past, it is based at University College London...
. Aberdare was also a Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
politician who had served as Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
from 1868 to 1873. He was later to become the first Chancellor of the University of Wales
University of Wales
The University of Wales was a confederal university founded in 1893. It had accredited institutions throughout Wales, and formerly accredited courses in Britain and abroad, with over 100,000 students, but in October 2011, after a number of scandals, it withdrew all accreditation, and it was...
.
Geology
The Aberdares are the water catchment area for the Sasumua dam and the Ndakaini dam, which provide most of the water for Nairobi. The mountain forests are catchment areas for the Tana RiverTana River (Kenya)
The long Tana River is the longest river in Kenya, and gives its name to the Tana River District. Its tributaries include the Thika. The river rises in the Aberdare Mountains to the west of Nyeri. Initially it runs east before turning south around the massif of Mount Kenya. The river then runs...
, the largest river in Kenya, supplying water to the Seven Forks hydroelectric power plant, which generates over 55 percent of Kenya’s total electricity output.
Ecosystem
The main ecosystemEcosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
s within the mountain range are rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
giving way to dense bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
forests and then moorland
Moorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...
.
The steep western edges of the hillside are sparsely inhabited by wildlife compared to the forested gentle slopes to the east, which are home to a wide variety of wildlife. There are multitudes of elephant, buffalo, giant forest hog as well as the endangered Black Rhino. A variety of cats including leopards and the rare African Golden Cat
African Golden Cat
The African Golden Cat is a medium-sized wild cat distributed over the rainforests of West and Central Africa. It is about long, and has a tail of about in length...
. Other threatened species including the Jackson mongoose, the black and white Colobus monkey
Black-and-white colobus
Black-and-white colobuses are Old World monkeys of the genus Colobus, native to Africa. They are closely related to the brown colobus monkeys of genus Piliocolobus. The word "colobus" comes from Greek κολοβός kolobós , and is so named because its thumb is a stump.Colobuses are herbivorous, eating...
and Sykes monkey are plentiful , as are waterbuck
Waterbuck
The Waterbuck is a large antelope found widely in Sub-Saharan Africa.Waterbuck stand at the shoulder. Males weigh and females . Their coats are reddish brown in colour and become progressively darker with age; they have a white 'bib' under their throats and white on their rumps...
, reedbuck
Reedbuck
Reedbuck is a common name for African antelopes from the genus Redunca. These species are:* Southern Reedbuck, Redunca arundinum* Mountain Reedbuck, Redunca fulvorufula* Bohor Reedbuck, Redunca redunca...
, duiker
Duiker
A duiker is any of about 21 small to medium-sized antelope species from the subfamily Cephalophinae native to Sub-Saharan Africa.Duikers are shy and elusive creatures with a fondness for dense cover; most are forest dwellers and even the species living in more open areas are quick to disappear...
s, serval cats
Serval
The serval , Leptailurus serval or Caracal serval, known in Afrikaans as Tierboskat, "tiger-forest-cat", is a medium-sized African wild cat. DNA studies have shown that the serval is closely related to the African golden cat and the caracal...
and bushbuck
Bushbuck
The bushbuck is the most widespread antelope in Sub-Saharan Africa, and is found in rain forests, montane forests, forest-savanna mosaics and bush savannaforest and woodland. Recently, genetic studies have shown that the bushbuck, is in fact a complex of two geographically and phenotypically...
.
The Aberdares contain a rich diversity of vegetation. There are 778 vegetation and plant species, subspecies and varieties found in the Aberdare National Park
Aberdare National Park
- External links :* * * *...
, due to the park's altitude and rainfall. Hardwood
Hardwood
Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...
trees include camphor, Cedar
Juniperus procera
Juniperus procera, commonly known in English as African Juniper or East African Juniper, is a coniferous tree native to the mountains of eastern Africa from eastern Sudan south to Zimbabwe, and the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula...
, Podo and Hagenia
Hagenia
Hagenia abyssinica is a species of flowering plant native to the high-elevation Afromontane regions of central and eastern Africa. It also has a disjunct distribution in the high mountains of East Africa from Sudan and Ethiopia in the north, through Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic...
.