SUNBIRD and KILIMANJARO

Tanzania, East Africa

1. Sunbird as Kilimanjaro (hover for outline)

25 miles (40 km) above the Tanzanian and Kenyan landscape, is a 75 mile (120 km) wide, dark oval-shape that has the appearance of a hummingbird or African Sunbird. But in fact, it is Mount Kilimanjaro.

Image

2. Female Malachite Sunbird

Image

3. Male Malachite Sunbird

Within the center of the Sunbird’s wing lies the mountain’s snowy summit, the highest point in all of Africa, at 19,341 feet (5,895 meters) above sea level. Formed over a million years ago, Kilimanjaro is the tallest, free-standing mountain on the entire earth.

Image

4. Aerial View of Kilimanjaro

Image

5. Elephant of Kilimanjaro

The Sunbird’s wing is 44 miles (70.8 km) wide by 25 miles (40 km) tall. Its large dark eye marks the community of the Arusha Chini, who grow crops as well as raise livestock on the mountain’s slopes. The Sunbird’s 17-mile long, (27.35 km) nectar-drinking beak, is actually the Nyumba Ya Mungu Reservoir or “House of God”, located in the Pangani River Valley of the Massai Steppe.  

The dark eyes of a large lion peer out from behind the Sun Bird, as if stalking him. The lion’s left eye (right-side) holds the Ol Donyo Orok Mountain located in Tanzania. His right eye (left side) holds Longido Mountain located in Kenya, and upon the lion’s back is the famous Nairobi National Park, known as the Wildlife Capitol of the World.

Image

6. Sunbird and Lion

Image

7. Lion of Nairobi

Wide open grassy plains and the backdrop of the city scrapers and scattered acacia bush play host to a wide variety of wild life including the endangered black rhino, lions, cheetas, hyenas, buffaloes, giraffes and diverse birdlife with over 400 species recorded. Nairobi National Park

Located on the throat of the lion is the Amboseli National Park in the Rift Valley of Kenya. The park is abundant with wildlife and is the home of the free-ranging African Bush Elephant. The Amboseli consists of acacia trees, open plains, bush country and hundreds of bird species.

8. Olorgesesallie Rift Zone (hover for outline)

Image

9. Elephants of the Nairobi

Image

10. Giraffe of the Nairobi

Directly above the back of the lion is the serene Lake Natron, home to the Maasai people. The 35 mile- long (56km) by 15 mile-wide (24km) lake of salt and soda, has a deadly alkaline ph of 10.5. Somehow, the lake still provides freshwater wetlands, salt marshes and Tilapia fish. The lake’s warm water is an ideal breeding ground for the Rift Valley flamingos that have adapted over the centuries to the lake’s harsh chemical content.  

  • 11. Maasai Village

  • 12. Maasai Tribe

  • 13. Flamingo of Lake Natron

Just south of Lake Natron is the extinct volcano Ngorongoro. Its cauldera measures between 10 and 12 miles (16 and 19 km) across and has an area of 102 square miles (264 square km). It is 14 miles (22.53 km) across at its widest point, 2,000 feet (609 m) deep and has a level floor that holds a lake fed by streams running down the caldera wall. Oldonyo Lengai, the Mountain of God, is also here in the Ngorongoro. Both are part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and home to over 75,000 animals. Lakes Eyasi and Manyara south of the crater are also part of the conservation area. Thousands of flocks of Pink Flamingo’s make their home in Lake Manyara. from NASA

Image

14. Ngorongoro Vast Crater

Image

15. Beneath Mt. of God Natron

120 miles (193 km) east of Mount Kilimanjaro, in the Manonga Valley, is the Olduvai Gorge of Tanzania, believed to be the birthplace of humanity, as it holds the earliest evidence for the existence of human ancestors. Paleoanthropologists have found thousands of fossilized bones and stone tools in an area dating back millions of years, leading them to conclude that human’s evolved from out of Africa.

Olduvai or Oldupai is a Maasai word for a wild sisal plant that grows in the area. The Maasai have used the wild sisal plant for an antiseptic, natural bandage, ropes, baskets, roofs and clothes. The Olduvai gorge is located in the Great Rift Valley between Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti. The rich and verdant area lying in the center of this NASA satellite image is believed to have been the cradle of humanity.

Image

16. Wild Sisal Plant

Image

17. NASA map of Olduvai

The national parks and game reserves cover 16 per cent of the country and include Serengeti National Park, famous for its vast migratory herds of plains animals, notably wildebeest, zebras, elands and kudus. Small bands of chimpanzees are found in the Gombe National Park along Lake Tanganyika. The steep mountain walls of Ngorogoro Park’s volcanic crater have provided protection and a natural enclosure for animals in an environment of great natural beauty. Despite government protective measures, rhino and elephant populations are still being depleted by poaching. Some 36 mammal species and 44 bird species, as of 2014, were thought to be endangered.

Image

16. Baby Olive Baboon

  1. sunbird_as_kilimanjaro.jpg; Google earth
  2. female_malachite_sunbird.jpg: File:Nectarinia famosa female.jpg: Wikimedia: Stig Nygaard, Denmark
  3. male_malachite_sunbird.jpg: bigtockphoto-205758862 by Robin mousley
  4. aerial_view_of_kilimanjaro.jpg: bigstockphoto-6287361; copyright by sbures
  5. elephant_and_kilimanjaro.jpg: bigstockphoto- 84470876 by byrdyak
  6. sunbird and the lion,jpg; Google earth
  7. lion_of_the_nairobi.jpg: bigstockphoto- 57653078 by Danieloncarevic
  8. lion_of_the_nairobi.jpg; Google earth
  9. olorgesesallie_rift_zone.jpg: Google earth
  10. elephants_of_nairobi.jpg; bigstockphoto-196124014; author 104paul
  11. giraffe_of_the-nairobi.jpg: bigstockphoto-187421794 by Sergey Novikov
  12. maasi_village.jpg: bigstockphoto-106036196-author Magdalena
  13. maasai_tribe.jpg: bistockphoto-68420269 by meunierd
  14. flamingo_of_lake_natron.jpg; bigstockphoto-181710907 by Idea Studio
  15. ngorongoro’s_vast_crater.jpg; File:Ngorongoro-1001-2.jpg; Author Grahampurse-own work; Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
  16. beneath_mt_of_god_lake_natron.jpg: File:Lengai from Lake Natron.jpg; author by Clem23-own work
  17. wild_sisal_plant.jpg; bigstockphoto-26944178 by Elizabeth Sekowska
  18. nasa_map_of_olduvai.jpg; NASA
  19. baby_olive_baboon.jpg: Gombe Stream Game Reserve, Tanzania; bigstockphoto-47578966 by MattiaATH