Africa Safaris

Africa Safaris

What East Africa Has to offer to the world

Kenya:

Geography & Climate
The country of Kenya is slightly smaller than the state of Texas, yet larger than France. It's 582,646 sq km contain most of the world's major climatic conditions. Kenya's topography is a study of contrasts. Features range from deserts to snow capped mountains, sandy coastlines to freshwater lakes, savannah grasslands to fertile agricultural plantations, extinct volcanoes to coral reefs. The eastern half of the country slopes gently downward towards sea level while to the west, the land patterns resemble a flight of stairs as a series of hills and plateaus alternate upward to the Rift Valley. On the western side of the Rift Valley the land again gently slopes downward towards Lake Victoria. Moving from east to west, a traveller experiences the white beaches of the Indian Ocean to the mile-high plateau of Nairobi, climbs higher still to the snow-capped summit of Mount Kenya, then drops across the Great Rift Valley to Lake Victoria. The Kenyan countryside boasts jagged, forested mountains, fertile red-soil agricultural belts surrounding Lake Turkana and sandy, dusty desert savannah regions.

Kenya lies on the equator and is bordered on the north by Sudan, Somalia and Ethopia; Uganda and Lake Victoria lie to the west; Tanzania and Mount Kilimanjaro are to the south while the Indian Ocean lies to the east. Kenya has twenty mountains, six of which rise to over 3,000 meters (9,900 feet). The Tana River, largest in the country, supports river traffic in its lower regions. Most of Kenya's rivers and small lakes dry up during the dry season making perennial water shortages an ongoing problem. Before the formation of the Rift Valley, Kenya's climate and vegetation could best be characterized as tropical. The great geological changes that created the Rift triggered extreme climatic changes as well. After millions of years of evolution, Kenya's climates now range from semi-arid to tropical, temperate to alpine, and also include artic. The country has three main geographic regions, each characterized by its own
unique climate and vegetation.

Tanzania:
Geographical Features
Tanzania is the biggest of the East Africa countries (i.e. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania). Has a spectacular landscape of mainly three physiographic regions namely the Islands and the coastal plains to the east; the inland saucer-shaped plateau; and the highlands. The Great Rift Valley that runs from north east of Africa through central Tanzania is another landmark that adds to the scenic view of the country. The rift valley runs to south of Tanzania spliting at Lake Nyasa; one branch runs down beyond Lake Nyasa to Mozambique; and another branch to north-west alongside Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and western part of Uganda. The valley is dotted with unique lakes which includes Lakes Rukwa, Tanganyika, Nyasa, Kitangiri, Eyasi and Manyara. The uplands includes the famous Kipengere, Udzungwa, Matogoro, Livingstone, and the Fipa plateau forming the southern highlands. The Usambara, Pare, Meru, Kilimanjaro, the Ngorongoro Crater and the Oldonyo Lengai, all form the northern highlands. From these highlands and the central saucer plateau flow the drainage system to the Indian ocean, Atlantic ocean, Mediterranean sea and the inland drainage system.

Mountain Summits:

	(metres above sea level)
Mount Kilimanjaro	5,895
Mount Meru	4,566
Mount Rungwe	2,960
Uluguru Mountains	2,648
Rubeho Mountains	2,576
Livingstone Mountains	2,521
Mbizi Mountain	2,418
Mahari Mountain	2,373
Usambara Mountains	2,300

Uganda:
Geographical Features
Uganda can be described as basin shaped rising between the western and eastern blocks of the rift valley. The country lies across the equator bordered by Tanzania in the south, Sudan in the north, Kenya in the east, Zaire in the west and Rwanda in the southwest.
The topography of the country is generally flat with an altitude of 1,000m in most parts of the country, however its location on the great African plateau and across the equator gives it a remarkable biological and physical diversity.
Uganda is naturally endowed with water and fertility, 25% of the area is covered with lakes, rivers and swamps, Lake Victoria being the largest lake in Africa, the source of the River Nile the world's longest river, Lake Kyoga in the center of the country, Lakes Edward, George and Albert close to the border of Congo.
The country is also a product of the African Continent uplift with the most mountainous part in the southwest that harbors the Rwenzori mountains which form the highest mountain in Africa, other mountains also include Mount Elgon, Virunga, Bufumbira Mountains on the southwestern border of Rwanda, the Northern Volcanoes of Uganda and many more of these physical features make Uganda a n interesting geographical part of Africa.