East Africa - Mt Kenya and more

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Plant Travels and Excursions

We set out after finishing work Friday afternoon by air via Amsterdam and arrived Nairobi Airport, Kenya early Saturday morning. Our guide met us at the entrance with his car and we drove off. Early afternoon we reached our first camp, small thin-boarded cabins at about 3000m. In the middle of the night I woke of a sudden thump in the wall. I had my face close to a windowpane and stared right into the eyes of a huge African Buffalo scratching his thigh against the wall. I barely breathed, he was less than 10cm away....

The next day we walked close to a lot of different animals: elephants, buffaloes, monkeys... and birds before slowly ascending the slopes.

After Mt Kenya we went by bus to Tanzania to walk two more mountains, Meru and Kilimanjaro.
All the mountains were breathtaking and the flora very different from all I have seen elsewhere. But the alpine flora at Mt Kenya took the prize and the rain forrest at the foot of Mt Kilimanjaro won the woody contest.

We travelled for 10 days and arrived home early Monday morning just reaching work.

Here are some pics (other are in the gallery): First the road!

Comments

Trond Hoy's picture

Trond Hoy

Wed, 03/03/2010 - 12:04pm

As you say, Mark, cabbage is the word! As far as I have found out it is  Senecio brassica. Sorry I forgot to add the name. It is some different gigantic Senecios on the East African mountains, often endemic to each.

Here is another, maybe S. keniodendron, endemic to Mt Kenya.

Trond Hoy's picture

Trond Hoy

Wed, 03/03/2010 - 11:28pm
RickR wrote:

Those really are some amazing photos, Trond.  Certainly not of my world here!

Hello, Rick! It is not my daily world either. And that made it a very special adventure. I also intend to return one day!

Mark McDonough's picture

Mark McDonough

Fri, 03/05/2010 - 6:13am
Hoy wrote:

As you say, Mark, cabbage is the word! As far as I have found out it is  Senecio brassica. Sorry I forgot to add the name. It is some different gigantic Senecios on the East African mountains, often endemic to each.

Here is another, maybe S. keniodendron, endemic to Mt Kenya.

Trond, are the large gray branches things hanging down from some of the Senecio "trees" the old inflorescences, or are they roots?  Fantastic plants.  The fluffy-looking grass clumps that are all around look attractive too.  Are there smaller herbaceous plants growing among the grass or tucked close to some of the rock outcroppings?  In the photo, I can see some different leafy things just above and to the left of your head.

Trond Hoy's picture

Trond Hoy

Fri, 03/05/2010 - 9:07am
McDonough wrote:

Trond, are the large gray branches things hanging down from some of the Senecio "trees" the old inflorescences, or are they roots?  Fantastic plants.  The fluffy-looking grass clumps that are all around look attractive too.  Are there smaller herbaceous plants growing among the grass or tucked close to some of the rock outcroppings?  In the photo, I can see some different leafy things just above and to the left of your head.

Mark, the "large gray branches things" are inflorescences as you suggest. Only few of the Senecios had flowers, they seem not to flower every year. The grass were  common some places but I don't know what it is. In this height (4000m) it is  freezing every night and very little rain but dew and hoarfrost. The rocks are covered in  lichens. Not many herbaceous plants around except small Senecios and Lobelias but different low shrubs of a Helichrysum-type or similar. Unfortunately I had not much time to crawl around, we had quite a distance to walk every day. I had some problems with my camera too so a lot of the pictures I took are of bad quality. The most beautiful plant I saw was the Gladiolus shown elsewhere.

Here are three more pictures:

Trond Hoy's picture

Trond Hoy

Thu, 03/11/2010 - 9:10am
McDonough wrote:

Thanks Trond, for posting additional photos.  That Senecio is a wondrous yet bizarre spectacle, must be amazing to experience this in person. 

Very special, I am longing to return and use more time photographing plants and eventually looking for seeds than walking to the summit!

Todd Boland's picture

Todd Boland

Sun, 03/21/2010 - 5:54pm

I can't believe I missed this thread!  What an amazing place!...and not one I'm ever likely to see in person.

I head to South Africa Oct 18-Nov 7...wonder what funky plants I'll see?  We do go to Sani Pass for a day but otherwise it's more typical veld vegetation I'll see.

Trond Hoy's picture

Trond Hoy

Mon, 03/22/2010 - 2:51pm
Boland wrote:

I head to South Africa Oct 18-Nov 7...wonder what funky plants I'll see?  We do go to Sani Pass for a day but otherwise it's more typical veld vegetation I'll see.

South Africa is a marvellous country! A wonderfull nature and all the people we met there too. (I went with wife and children some years ago.) All kinds of bulbous plants, Proteacea, Ericaceae and others. Be aware of the baboons though!