All You Need To Know About Mt Kilimanjaro

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All You Need To Know About Mountain Kilimanjaro Tanzania

KIRIMANJARO NATIONAL PARK

Kirimanjaro national park is an outstanding destination located in Tanzania. The northern safari circuit is the mostly visited area by travellers on a safari in Tanzania. The park is located near Moshi city in the northern side and south of the border heading to Kenya 300 kilometers south of Kirimanjaro region equator.

Kirimanjaro national park was established in 1973 and its famously known for the outstanding massif volcano which is the heart and the basis attraction of the park.it covers a wide range of over 75575 ha and its prominence of a large dormant volcano in the world which is snowcapped throughout the year. The Kirimanjaro Mountain is a super stunning highland surrounded with savannah and overlooking plains.

Mountain volcano is a composite volcano situated in the amazing country called Tanzania. Nature is full of surprises but it’s in Tanzania where the tallest mountain is located in the whole of Africa. The mountain is prominent for its highest peak of 5885 meters made up by the center cone known as Kibo.

The park is under the protection of the world heritages which oversees its management and conservation of the ecosystem. There was an extension of forest reserves consisting of montane forest to enlarge the park. The extension of the forest reserves to the park has greatly blessed the ecosystem and led to breeding of wildlife species hence promoting Tanzania’s tourism.

Mountain Kirimanjaro is gifted with three unique volcanic cones and this adds up to its beauty towards the eyes of travellers. These cones on the peak of mountain Kirimanjaro include Kibo which adds up the mountain’s altitude, Mawenzi and Shira.

The vegetation zones observed while ascending to the summit of mountain Kirimanjaro are eye catching and breath taking at the same time as travellers are caught up by beauty of the geological features and fauna at different zones. As you ascend from the lowest zone to the highest point, you get exposed to numerous forest vegetation zones such as montane forest, heath and moorland, alpine desert and the summit which is snowcapped.

The fascinating fact about Kirimanjaro Mountain is that it’s snowcapped year round. The higher you go the cooler it becomes and because of the height of mountain Kirimanjaro the temperatures decrease with an increase altitude. Put in mind that the mountain is near the equator dividing it into the north and southern part.

16 Gorilla Trekking Families in Rwanda

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16 Gorilla Trekking Families in Rwanda

Sabyinyo Group – 16 members, including the biggest silverback (Guhonda) known in the entire jungle.the sabinyo group moves in close proximity to mountain sabinyo where treking begins from Ibiwachu side

Amahoro Group – 18 members including four silver backs but not the group has splinted its self

Susa Group – 17 members including three silverbacks

Sabyinyo Group – 14 members

Amahoro Group – 18 members including four silverbacks

Umubano Group – 12 members including four silverbacks

Agashya Group –18 members including one silverback

Hirwa Group – 18 members including one silverback

Kwitonda Group – 29 members including two silverbacks

Muhoza Group – 7 members including one silverback

Isabukuru Group – 14 members including one silverback

Mafunzo Group – 12 members including one silverback

Igisha Group – 25 members including three silverbacks

Karisimbi Group – 10 members including five silverbacks

Isimbi Group – 16 members including one silverback

Bonobo Tracking and Watching in DR Congo

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Bonobo Tracking and Watching in DR Congo

Bonobos are primates prominently found in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the area around the Congo River, the Lomami River, the Kasai/Sankuru Rivers and Lake Tumba/Lac Ndombe region. These can stay in harmony with the humans without any inconveniences as long as everything remains peaceful.

A research camp called Wamba was founded in 1974 by a Japanese primatologist called Takayoshi in order study the bonobo, pan paniscus a species of simian. These are different from all the other primates like the chimpanzee for these prefer making peace/ living peacefully unlike the roughness of its relative the chimpanzee. These are more relaxed, easy and sexually persistent practicing cordial bonding.

Track Bonobos

The Bonobos are situated in the thick forest and are tracked just like the other primates i.e the chimpanzee, Gorillas etc. You will wake up early in the morning, take breakfast then transfer through the forest depending on where they had nested the previous day and when you get there, you will be amazed at how they make their chorus. If they nested about 4 kms away, you will be required to wake up earlier at 3:30 am to get to spot them at 5:00 am and if they nested just a km away, tracking them through the forest can be delayed by 1 hour.

After tracking and watching these, you will transfer back to your campsite at 8:00 am or 9:00 am to have breakfast then relax till 3:00 pm/ 4:00 pm where you will transfer with an experienced guide/ ranger who will go with you through the forest to spot where the bonobos will be nesting and interact with them until they go to sleep then after on, you will return back to your camp for dinner and overnight.

According to how many people are going to track, you will be divided into two or three candid groups so as to reduce interruption to the bonobos. Carry a mobile camp to make it easy for you to rest.

Physical characteristics

  • They are close cousins to humans i.e 98.4% of the genetic makeup
  • They have black faces, red lips, two or three webbed toes, a tail clump and parted long hair
  • They whine when they fail just like humans
  • They move quadrupedally in a special position called knuckle-walking
  • They tend to suspend themselves from their arms to move around easier. And on the ground, the bonobo can walk bipedally as well, making it the most human-like of all apes
  • They live in a fission-fusion society i.e dividing and getting together again daily
  • They stay in groups of 50-100 although, during the day they break up forming candid hunting groups. At night, these unite making sub groups hence building sleeping nests from branches to leaves
  • They control their emotions during times of happiness, sorrow, excitement and anger just like the humans.
  • They also do human like gestures when communicating non verbally e.g they beg by stretching out an open hand and sob when they fail accomplishing something
  • They love to feast on fruit however; they also feed on leaves, flowers, seeds, bark, invertebrates, candid vertebrates and more than 113 types of plants.

Threats

  • These are a globally threatened species for many are illegally hunted for bush meat to sell on the black market.
  • Habitat destruction where there forest areas are usually encroached on by humans for settlement as well as agriculture which has led to massive relocation of the bonobos.