Kenya 1989: A hike up Mount Kenya

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here we begin our hike up the Sirimon Trail, which is surrounded by lush rainforest. Trees in this area include several species of Afrocarpus (formerly called Podocarpus), which, despite their leaves resembling leaves of broad-leaved trees, are conifers of the family Podocarpaceae. Branches on many of the trees are draped with old man’s beard lichens (Usnea). A very conspicupus bush is Protea afra ssp. kilimandscharica, with large and beautiful flowers, and in more open areas we note several plants of the mint family (Lamiaceae), which contains about 60 members on Mount Kenya.

In several spots we find dung heaps of both elephant (Loxodonta africana) and buffalo (Syncerus caffer), but we don’t see the animals themselves, and not even monkeys, which may be due to the rain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No sooner have we made coffee and are enjoying our evening meal, than we get company of a small brown bird, which hops around between us confidently. It is a moorland chat (Pinarochroa sordida), also known as alpine chat or hill chat, of the flycatcher family (Muscicapidae), which is restricted to mountains in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, where it lives in moors and grassland, usually at elevations above 3,400 m. The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek pinaros (‘dirty’) and khroas (‘coloured’), whereas the specific name is Latin, meaning ‘shabby’ or ‘dirty’. Not very flattering names for this nice little bird!

In the morning, we observe flowers in the area around the camp, including Hebenstretia angolensis, a white-flowered member of the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae), a yellow-flowered, unidentified umbellifer (Apiaceae), and Haplocarpha rueppellii, a prostrate composite, which resembles members of the genus Senecio. It was named in honour of German naturalist Wilhelm Peter Eduard Simon Rüppell (1794-1884), who explored parts of Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, and Ethiopia during two expeditions. His life is described on the page People: Famous naturalists.

Standing out is Kniphofia thomsonii, a species of red-hot poker, to 1.5 m high, with deep red flowers. Its name honours two botanists, Johann Hieronymus Kniphof (1704-1763), a German professor of medicine and botany at Erfurt University, and Scottish geologist and botanist Joseph Thomson (1858-1895) – an excellent explorer, who never caused the killing of any native, or lost any of his men due to confrontations. His motto was “He who goes gently, goes safely; he who goes safely, goes far.” He collected this species on Mount Kilimanjaro.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giant groundsels, 12 species in the genus Dendrosenecio, may grow for 30-50 years without blooming, then suddenly exploding in an abundance of yellow flowers, gathered in a huge, terminal inflorescence. The flowering is often synchronized, with many individuals blooming simultaneously. After flowering, the plant grows a new branch, and the next flowering takes place at the end of this branch. Research indicates that a plant can only flower four times before dying.

The first one we note is Dendrosenecio keniensis, which stands out through its large cabbage-like leaves that form a rosette at ground level. Formerly, it was known as D. brassica, the Latin term for cabbage. Its stem is prostrate, or even underground, to 5 cm across, branching at or below ground level, thus often forming a dense growth of leaf rosettes, each with up to 40 oblong leaves, to 55 cm long and 18 cm broad. Older, withered leaves remain on the stem for a long time.

We also observe large growths of a giant species of thistle, Afrocarduus keniensis, which may reach a height of up to 1 m, with a panicle-like cluster of pink or pale purple flowerheads towards the apex. It has a basal rosette of pale green, pinnately divided leaves with short spines, whereas the stem leaves appear whitish due to the numerous, very long, white spines. The flowerheads are often almost concealed in these spines. It is restricted to Mount Kenya, Mount Elgon on the border between Uganda and Kenya, and Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru in northern Tanzania.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lobelia gregoriana ssp. gregoriana, previously known as L. deckenii ssp. keniensis, is endemic to Mount Kenya, growing at elevations between 3,200 and 4,500 m. It forms a compact rosette of broad, stiff leaves with a reddish hue, which, during several decades, forms a short trunk. When it finally matures, it produces a terminal, fat, barrel- or cone-shaped inflorescence, usually to about 2 m tall, but occasionally to 3.5 m.

When young, the compact leaf rosette holds water, which freezes at night, a process that produces just enough warmth to keep the core of the rosette alive until the next morning, when the sun thaws the ice. The crescent-shaped ‘ice cubes’ gave rise to the English folk name Gin-and-tonic lobelia.

Two other subspecies of this plant are acknowledged, sattimae, which is restricted to Sattima Peak in Aberdare National Park in Kenya, and elgonensis, found on Mount Elgon in Uganda and in the Cherangani Hills in Kenya.

The plant was named in honour of Scottish geologist and explorer John Walter Gregory (1864-1932), who explored the tectonic movements in East Africa, and invented the term Rift Valley.

Lobelia telekii is found in the same area as L. gregoriana, but prefers to grow on slightly drier slopes. When flowering, it looks very strange indeed, like some thin monster, covered in shaggy hairs. The plant consists of a rosette of narrow leaves at ground level, which continues to grow for decades, before sending up a peculiar inflorescence, to 3 m tall, with countless narrow, reddish or pale green, hairy bracts, among which the small blue flowers are hidden.

This spectacular plant was named in honour of Hungarian explorer Count Sámuel Teleki de Szék (1845-1916), who led the first expedition to northern Kenya, where he was the first European to reach Lake Turkana. He also explored the high realms of Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro.

These giant lobelias are pollinated by the scarlet-tufted sunbird (Nectarinia johnstoni), a large species, the male growing to 29 cm long, including the tail feathers, the female to 15 cm. The male is of an iridescent metallic-green colour, with scarlet pectoral tufts, seen in flight, but mostly hidden when the bird is perched. The female has dark brown upper parts, pale brown underside, and orange pectoral tufts. At night, it enters into a torpor, lowering its heartbeat and body temperature to conserve energy.

It is restricted to high altitudes in East African montane moorlands and forests, in eastern Zaire, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, eastern Zambia, and Malawi, usually at elevations between 3,000 and 4,500 m. The majority of the birds feed in flowers of giant lobelias, eating nectar as well as insects. At lower altitudes it feeds in other plants, including Protea species.

The specific name was given in honour of British explorer and administrator Harry Hamilton Johnston (1858-1927), who collected the type specimen on Mount Kilimanjaro in 1884.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this area, we encounter many rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis ssp. johnstoni). Hyraxes constitute two genera, Procavia and Dendrohyrax, in Procaviidae, the only living family within the order Hyracoidea. These animals resemble large guinea pigs, but certain morphological characters reveal that their nearest living relatives are in fact elephants, as unlikely as it may seem.

Divided into at least 5 subspecies, the rock hyrax is widely distributed in Africa and Arabia, living in rocky areas from sea level up to elevations around 4,200 m. Where it is regularly fed, it can become very tame.

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek pro (‘before’), or rather from pros (‘towards’ = ‘resembling’), and çavia, the obsolete Portuguese name of the Brazilian spiny rat (Makalata didelphoides) of the family Echimyidae, derived from the Tupi name of this animal, saujá. In classical Latin, presumably due to a misunderstanding, the word cavia was used for the guinea pig (Cavia porcellus), thus the name can be rendered as ‘resembling guinea pigs’.

The subspecific name honours British explorer and administrator Harry Hamilton Johnston (1858-1927), who collected the type specimen in the Shire Highlands in Malawi around 1893.

We also observe a small rodent, the Afroalpine vlei rat (Otomys orestes), which is endemic to highlands of central Kenya.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a tree, draped with old man’s beard lichens (Usnea), we observe a small flock of slender-billed starlings (Onychognathus tenuirostris), a large starling with a long, tapering tail and a thin bill. Males are bluish-black, whereas the females are slaty-grey. The wings have a large reddish-brown patch, which is clearly seen when the bird is flying. It is widespread in eastern Africa, from Ethiopia and Eritrea southwards to eastern Zaire and Malawi, living in a variety of habitats at elevations between 1,200 and 4,200 m, but may occasionally be observed up to 5,000 m.

We pitch our tents at the Urumandi Hut, elevation 3,063 m, which was built in 1923. No other visitors are here, and we spend the remaining part of the afternoon resting and reading beneath great trees. The following day, the trail leads through bamboo forest, consisting of the species Arundinaria alpina, which dominates along this trail at altitudes between roughly 3,200 m and 2,200 m.

A carnivore scat has attracted numerous butterflies, and tadpoles swim in puddles on the trail, created by rainwater. However, many of the puddles are drying out fast, and if it doesn’t soon rain, the tadpoles will surely die – a fate that has already befallen some of them.