The Outeniqua Mountain Range is a mountain range located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. It is traversed by the Montagu Pass and the Outeniqua Pass. The most general definition of a mountain range is a group of mountains bordered by lowlands. ... Capital Cape Town Largest city Cape Town Area  - Total Ranked 4th 129,370 km² Premier Ebrahim Rasool (ANC) Population   - 2001   - 1996   - Density Ranked 5th 4,524,335 3,956,875 35/km² (2001) Languages Afrikaans (55. ...

Location

The Outeniqua range rises from the Indian Ocean coastal plain north of the town of Mossel Bay and then continues for about 100 km to the east before ending at the Keurbooms River Valley, which enters the ocean at Plettenberg Bay. The range runs parallel to the Swartberg Mountain Range. Mossel Bay, South Africa (spelt Mosselbaai in Afrikaans) lies along the Indian Ocean, east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of Humansdorp. ... Plettenberg Bay is a town in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. ... This article needs to be wikified. ...

Nomenclature

The name Outeniqua probably derived from that of a Khoisan tribe that once lived in these mountains and means "they who bear honey". Rock paintings from these people can still be found in the area. Khoisan is the name for several ethnic groups of southern Africa, where they seem to have appeared many tens of thousands of years ago, and that share some specific physical and linguistic characteristics. ...

Geography

The southern slopes of this range are gentle, and rise to form a series of peaks. In contrast, the northern slopes are very steep and drop sharply into the Little Karoo, a broad low-lying valley north of the Outeniquas. The Little Karoo is part of the semi-desert Karoo in South Africa. ...

This distinct difference in altitude and conditions results in a wide diversity of habitats along the mountain slopes. On the wetter, higher parts of the north-facing slopes, there are moist high-altitude montane fynbos, while lower rainfall on the low-lying parts gives rise to non-fynbos karroid and renosterveld shrubland. Fynbos (Afrikaans for fine bush) is the natural vegetation occurring in a small belt of South Africa, mainly in the South-western Cape. ...

On the mesic southern slopes there are Afromontane forest.

Weather

While the climate along the range is generally hot to moderate with an average summer temperature of 20,5° C, weather conditions can vary greatly. In winter the temperature can drop to 5° C (and even lower on the northern slopes) and snowfalls may occur on the higher peaks.

The weather conditions in the Outeniqua mountains could change at any time. In winter snowfalls may occur on the higher peaks. Heavy fog is very common and thunderstorms occur between five to ten days per year.

Fauna and flora

A variety of animal species are endemic to the Outeniqua range. Mammals occuring there include the klipspringer, grey rhebuck, leopard as well as a great variety of small rodents. Birds include large raptors such as the black eagle and smaller typical fynbos birds like the Cape sugarbird. Jump to: navigation, search Orders Subclass Multituberculata (extinct) Plagiaulacida Cimolodonta Subclass Palaeoryctoides (extinct) Subclass Triconodonta (extinct) Subclass Placentalia Afrosoricida Artiodactyla Carnivora Cetacea Chiroptera Creodonta (extinct) Dermoptera Desmostylia (extinct) Embrithopoda (extinct) Hyracoidea Insectivora Lagomorpha Litopterna (extinct) Macroscelidea Notoungulata (extinct) Perissodactyla Pholidota Primates Proboscidea Rodentia Scandentia Sirenia Tubulidentata Xenarthra Subclass Marsupialia Dasyuromorphia... Binomial name Oreotragus oreotragus (Zimmerman, 1783) The Klipspringer (literally rock jumper in Afrikaans), Oreotragus oreotragus, is a small African antelope that lives from the Cape of Good Hope all the way up East Africa and into Ethiopia. ... Binomial name Panthera pardus (Linnaeus, 1758) Leopards (Panthera pardus) are one of the four big cats of the genus Panthera. ... Families See Classification Section The order Rodentia is the most numerous of all the branches on the mammal family tree. ... Binomial name Ictinaetus malayensis (Temminck, 1822) The Black Eagle (Ictinaetus malayensis) is a bird of prey. ... Genus Promerops The sugarbirds are a small family of passerine birds which are restricted to Africa. ...

In order to protect these species, the 38,000 hectare Outeniqua Nature Reserve was established. It is located on the Garden Route, near the town of George. A hectare (symbol ha) is a metric unit of area. ... The Garden Route is a popular and scenic stretch of the southern coast of South Africa. ... George is the administrative capital of the South Western Cape, South Africa. ...

Interesting facts

The Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe - the last steam-hauled scheduled passenger train operating in South Africa - runs daily between the towns of George and Knysna. The Outeniqua Choo Tjoe is the last remaining continually-operated passenger steam train in Africa, still running six days of the week. ... There are various types of trains designed for particular purposes, see rail transport operations. ... View over the lagoon, showing the Heads guarding the entrance to the sea Knysna (pronounced NIZE-nuh or NACE-nuh) is a town in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. ...