The Ruwenzori Range is a small mountain range of central Africa, often referred to as Mt. Ruwenzori, located on the border between Uganda and Congo, with heights of up to 5,109 m (16,761 ft). The highest Ruwenzoris are permanently snow-capped, and they, along with Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, are the only such in Africa. The Ruwenzoris are often identified with the "Mountains of the Moon" mentioned by Ptolemy, but the descriptions are too vague to make this definite.
The range is about 120 km (75 mi) long and 65 km (40 mi) wide. It consists of six massifs separated by deep gorges: Mount Baker, Mount Emin, Mount Gessi, Mount Luigi di Savoia, Mount Speke, and Mount Stanley. Mount Stanley is the largest and has several subsidiary summits, with Mount Margherita being the highest point. The rock is metamorphic, and the mountains are believed to have been squeezed upwards by plate movement. They are in an extremely humid area, and frequently enveloped in mists. There are a number of small glaciers, with a total area of less than 4 sq km.
The first European sighting of the Ruwenzori was by the expedition of Henry Morton Stanley in 1889 (the aforementioned mists are considered to explain why two decades of previous explorers had not seen them). On June 7, the expedition's second-in-command and its military commander, William Stairs, climbed to 10,677 feet, the first non-African ever to scale the range's tallest peak. The first ascent to the summit was made by Duke of the Abruzzi in 1906.
External link
Wild Frontiers page, with info and photos for guided climbs (http://www.wildfrontiers.com/ug/wfugb.htm)
RuwenzoriMountains National Park was proclaimed a World Heritage Site to protect the natural beauty, flora and fauna of the area.
The Ruwenzoris are a true mountain range created by tectonic movement of the earth's plates, and are not as a result of volcanic activity.
The Ruwenzori is one of the main watersheds of the Nile receiving rain throughout the year but exceptional amounts from March through till June and September through December.
The mountains formed as a result of uplift on the flanks of the Albertine (western) Rift of the East African Rift, the African part of the Great Rift Valley.
The Ruwenzori are known for their vegetation, ranging from tropical rainforest through alpine meadows to snow; and for their animal population, including forest elephants, several primate species and many endemic birds.
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