The Aberdare Range (formerly the Sattima Range,

Kikuyu Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gĩkũyũ) mostly refers to an ethnic group in Kenya or its associated language. It may also refer to: *Kikuyu people, a majority ethnic group in Kenya * Kikuyu language, the language of Kikuyu people *Kikuyu, Kenya, a town in Cen ...

: ''Nyandarua'') is a long

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

upland Upland or Uplands may refer to: Geography *Hill, an area of higher land, generally *Highland, an area of higher land divided into low and high points *Upland and lowland, conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level *I ...

, north of

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

's capital

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

with an average elevation of . It straddles the counties of Nyandarua,

Nyeri Nyeri is a town situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya. It is the county headquarters of Nyeri County and was the central administrative headquarters of the country's former Central Province (Kenya), Central Province. The town is situated a ...

Murang'a Murang'a is a town in Murang'a County of Kenya. It is the administrative headquarters of Murang'a County and is mainly inhabited by the Kikuyu community. Before the Kenyan independence in 1963, the town was known as Fort Hall. Fort Hall was ...

Kiambu Kiambu is a town in Kiambu County, Kenya. It is from the national capital, Nairobi. It is the capital of Kiambu County, which bounds the northern border of Nairobi. Other proximate towns are Ruiru, Gatundu, Limuru and Kabete. Administr ...

and

Laikipia Laikipia County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya, located on the Equator in the former Rift Valley Province. Laikipia is a cosmopolitan county and is listed as county number 31. The county has two major urban centres: Nanyuki to the southeast ...

. The mountain range is in west central

, northeast of

Naivasha Naivasha is a town in Nakuru County, Kenya, north west of Nairobi. From 1969, the population expanded by a factor of 17 times to over 355,383 at the 2019 census. It is situated on the shores of Lake Naivasha, from which it takes its name. The ...

and

Gilgil Gilgil, Kenya, is a town in Nakuru County, Kenya. The town is located between Naivasha and Nakuru and along the Nairobi - Nakuru highway. It is to the west of the Gilgil River, which flows south to feed Lake Naivasha. According to the 1999 c ...

and lies just south of the

Equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...

. The mountain range is called Nyandarua among the Agikuyu people in whose territory this forest and mountain range is located. The name ''Nyandarua'' comes from the Kikuyu word ''rwandarua'' meaning a drying hide, due to the distinctive fold of its silhouette.

Topology

The Aberdare Range forms a section of the eastern rim of the

Great Rift Valley The Great Rift Valley () is a series of contiguous geographic depressions, approximately 6,000 or in total length, the definition varying between sources, that runs from the southern Turkish Hatay Province in Asia, through the Red Sea, to Moz ...

running roughly north to south. On the west, the range falls off steeply into the Kinangop Plateau and then into the Great Rift Valley. On the east, the range slopes more gently.

Lake Naivasha Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake in Kenya, outside the town of Naivasha in Nakuru County, which lies north west of Nairobi. It is situated in the Great Rift Valley. The name derives from the local Maasai name ''ɛnaɨpɔ́sha '', meaning ...

and the distant

Mau Escarpment The Mau Escarpment is a fault scarp running along the western edge of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya. The top of the escarpment reaches approximately 3,000 m (10,000 ft) above sea level, and is over 1,000 m higher than the floor of ...

can be seen from peaks in the range. The range has a maximum elevation of above sea level and is heavily forested. The former name of the range survives in

Mount Satima Mount Satima, also known as Mount Lesatima and often abbreviated to Satima or Lesatima, is the third-highest mountain in Kenya and the highest in the Aberdare Range. The Maasai language, Maasai name is Oldoinyo Lesatima, which has a variety of al ...

("the mountain of the young bull"), the highest peak in the Aberdare Range. The second-highest peak, at the southern end of the range, is Mount Kinangop at .

Mount Kenya Mount Kenya (Meru people, Meru: ''Kĩrĩmaara,'' Kikuyu people, Kikuyu: ''Kĩrĩnyaga'', Kamba language, Kamba: ''Ki nyaa'', Embu language, Embu: ''Kĩ nyaga'') is an extinct volcano in Kenya and the Highest mountain peaks of Africa, second-highe ...

at is the second highest mountain in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

after

Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world, at above sea level and above its plateau base. It is also the highest volcano i ...

and lies east of the Aberdare Range. The Aberdares are the water catchment area for the Sasumua dam and the Ndakaini dam, which provide most of the water for Nairobi. The mountain forests are catchment areas for the Tana River, the largest river in Kenya, supplying water to the Seven Forks hydroelectric power complex which generates over 55 percent of Kenya's total electricity output.

Ecology

The main

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

s within the mountain range are

rainforests Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

giving way to dense

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

forests and then

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of Habitat (ecology), habitat found in upland (geology), upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and the biomes of montane grasslands and shrublands, characterised by low-growing vegetation on So ...

. The steep western edges of the hillside are sparsely inhabited by wildlife compared to the forested gentle slopes to the east, which are home to a wide variety of wildlife. There are multitudes of

elephants Elephants are the Largest and heaviest animals, largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (''Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian ele ...

, buffalos, giant forest hogs,

hyenas Hyenas or hyaenas ( ; from Ancient Greek , ) are feliformia, feliform carnivoran mammals belonging to the Family (biology), family Hyaenidae (). With just four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the orde ...

as well as the endangered black rhinos and

bongos Bongos (Spanish language, Spanish: ''bongó'') are an Afro-Cubans, Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. The pair consists of the larger ''hembra'' () and the smaller ''macho'' ...

. A variety of cats including

leopards The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

servals The serval (''Leptailurus serval'') is a wild small cat native to Africa. It is widespread in sub-Saharan countries, where it inhabits grasslands, wetlands, moorlands and bamboo thickets. Across its range, it occurs in protected areas, and hu ...

civet A civet () is a small, lean, mostly nocturnal mammal native to tropical Asia and Africa, especially the tropical forests. The term ''civet'' applies to over a dozen different species, mostly from the family Viverridae. Most of the species's div ...

, genet and the rare

African golden cat The African golden cat (''Caracal aurata'') is a wild cat endemic to the rainforests of West and Central Africa. It is threatened due to deforestation and bushmeat hunting and listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. It is a close relative o ...

. Other threatened species including the Jackson mongoose, the black and white colobus monkey and

Sykes' monkey Sykes' monkey (''Cercopithecus mitis albogularis''), also known as the white-throated monkey or Samango monkey, is a subspecies of the blue monkey. It is an Old World monkey found between Ethiopia and South Africa, including south and east Demo ...

are plentiful, as are

waterbuck The waterbuck (''Kobus ellipsiprymnus'') is a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa. It is placed in the genus ''Kobus (antelope), Kobus'' of the family Bovidae. It was first Scientific description, described by Irish naturalist Will ...

reedbuck Reedbuck is a common name for Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Ea ...

duiker A duiker is a small to medium-sized brown antelope native to sub-Saharan Africa, found in heavily wooded areas. The 22 extant species, including three sometimes considered to be subspecies of the other species, form the subfamily Cephalophinae ...

s, and

bushbuck Bushbuck is a common name that may refer to one of the following African antelopes: *Cape bushbuck The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus''), also known as imbabala is a common, medium-sized bushland-dwelling, and a widespread species of ant ...

. The Aberdare Range is also home to the

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Aberdare cisticola The Aberdare cisticola (''Cisticola aberdare'') is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is endemic to Kenya. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-elevation grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss. Description Th ...

. The Aberdares contain a rich diversity of vegetation. There are 778 vegetation and plant species, subspecies and varieties found in the

Aberdare National Park The Aberdare National Park is a protected area in the Aberdare Mountain Range in central Kenya located east of the East African Rift Valley. It covers the higher areas and the Aberdare Salient to the east. Overview The park is located about ...

, due to the park's altitude and rainfall.

Hardwood Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...

trees include camphor,

cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae * Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona ...

, podo and

hagenia ''Hagenia'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plant with the sole species ''Hagenia abyssinica'', native to the high-elevation Afromontane regions of central and eastern Africa. It also has a disjunct distribution in the high mountains of East ...

. Much of the range has been protected within the

since its creation in 1950. The range attracts large numbers of hikers and climbers operating out of the main centers of

and

. The lower slopes are farmed, higher areas are known for their

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

. The Rhino Charge is an annual event run by conservationists in

to pay for fencing of the Aberdare National Park as a means of protecting East Africa's largest indigenous forest from destruction.

Aberdare Range Forest

Aberdare Ranges Forest are the host for the Aberdare Forest Reserve, which along with the Kikuyu Escarpments runs northwards from Nairobi and about at its widest point. With a perimeter of , the Aberdare Range varies in altitude from on the forest boundary on the eastside and towards the northern edge at the peak of Oldonyo Lesatima. The Range descend gradually from the peak towards

Nyahururu Nyahururu (formerly known as Thomson Falls) is a town in Kenya, lying north east of Nakuru. The town derives its name from the Maasai word e-naiwurruwurr, meaning waterfall or windy or place of storms. It is located in both Laikipia County and ...

from the northern side, where incised river valleys and volcanic vents are evident. On the southern side, the range is steep southwards from IL Kinangop peak towards the northern part of Murang’a North District.

Rivers

The major rivers from the Aberdare Forest are the Athi and the Tana, which flow into the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

, the Ewaso Nyiro that drains into the

Lorian Swamp The Lorian Swamp is an area of wetlands on the Ewaso Ngiro river in Isiolo North (chari), Kenya. The swampy zone is long and has a greatest width of , covering an area of . Apart from the Ewaso Ngiro river, the swamp is also fed by wadis from ...

and the River Malewa that drains into

. The Aberdares also have several tributaries, and higher up are bog markings that are the source of the rivers on the moorlands and afro-alpine. The Athi, Lake Naivasha, Tana and Ewaso Nyiro river basins have their source in the Aberdare Forest Reserve.

Ecosystems

The mountains have four vegetation zones, including subalpine vegetation, xeromorphic evergreen forest, montane humid forest, and submontane forest. Plants endemic to the range include '' Alchemilla hagenia, Coelachne friesiorum, Dendrosenecio brassiciformis, Helichrysum gloria-dei'', and ''

Heracleum taylorii Heracleum may mean *The plant genus ''Heracleum'' (plant) *An alternative spelling of Herakleion, the capital of Crete in Greece *An alternative spelling of Heraklion, various places with that name *An alternative spelling of Heracleium, various p ...

''.

Sub alpine vegetation

Found at elevations above is the moorlands. Alpine grass (''

Deschampsia ''Deschampsia'' is a genus of plants in the grass family Poaceae, commonly known as hair grass or tussock grass. The genus is widespread across many countries.Dendrosenecio johnstonii''), ''

Lobelia deckenii ''Lobelia deckenii'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Campanulaceae. It is a giant lobelia endemic to the mountains of Tanzania. It is listed as a threatened plant of the forests of Cherangani hills, Kenya. It grows in moist areas, ...

'', and heath ('' Erica mannii''). Moorland communities are the main vegetation in this region. Shrub communities consisting of ''

Erica arborea ''Erica arborea'', the tree heath or tree heather, is a species of flowering plant (angiosperms) in the heather family Ericaceae, native to the Mediterranean Basin and Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa. It is also cultivated as an o ...

'' and '' Hebenstretia angolensis'' are found between , while a belt of bamboo is common between , and cover about 35,000 ha (135 square miles).

Montane humid forest

This belt is mostly dominated by

pioneer species Pioneer species are resilient species that are the first to colonize barren environments, or to repopulate disrupted biodiverse steady-state ecosystems as part of ecological succession. Various kinds of events can create good conditions for pi ...

'' Macaranga capensis'' and ''

Neoboutonia macrocalyx ''Neoboutonia'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1864. It is the only genus in subtribe Neoboutoniinae, and native to tropical Africa. It is dioecious. ;Species # '' Neoboutonia macrocalyx '' Pax - Burun ...

'' and runs to the east side of the range. The region is also host to the valuable commercial species including '' Aningeria adolfi-friederici'', '' Kuloa usambarensis'', and ''

Syzygium guineense ''Syzygium guineense'' () is an evergreen leafy forest tree of the family Myrtaceae, found in many parts of Africa both wild and domesticated. Both its fruits and leaves are edible; the pulp and the fruit skin are sucked and the seed discarded. I ...

'', which are the most conspicuous forest in the Kikuyu escarpment.

Xeromorphic evergreen forest

Located on the dry northern and western slopes of Aberdares, it has several species with the most notable being the olives (''

Olea europaea The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of subtropical evergreen tree in the family Oleaceae. Originating in Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean Basin, with wild subspecies in Africa ...

'', ''

Olea capensis ''Olea capensis'', the black ironwood, is an African tree species in the olive family Oleaceae. It is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa: from the east in Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan, south to the tip of South Africa, and west to Cameroon, Sierra ...

'', '' Olea hochstetteri''), podo (''

Podocarpus milanjianus ''Podocarpus milanjianus'' is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae. It is native to the highlands and mountains of tropical Africa. Description ''Podocarpus milanjianus'' is an evergreen tree which can grow slowly up to 35 meters in ...

''), and cedar (''

Juniperus procera ''Juniperus procera'' (known by the common English names African juniper, African pencil-cedar, East African juniper, East African-cedar, and Kenya-cedar) is a coniferous tree native to mountainous areas in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. It i ...

'').

Sub-montane forest

This forms the seasonal forest cover on the north-east slopes with predominantly '' Ekebergia capensis'', ''

Nuxia congesta ''Nuxia congesta'', commonly known as brittle-wood, is a species of tree in the Stilbaceae family, with an extensive range in the Afrotropics. The species is named ''congesta'' for its dense inflorescences. Range The species is native to Eswati ...

'', ''

Cassipourea malosana ''Cassipourea malosana'' is a species of plant native to tropical Africa. Description ''Cassipourea malosana'' is an evergreen shrub or tree, growing to 25 or 30 meters in height, and occasionally up to 45 meters, with a rounded crown. The tree ...

'', and ''

Calodendrum capense ''Calodendrum capense'', the Cape chestnut, is an African tree which was first studied at The Cape in South Africa and cultivated widely for its prolific flower display. The tree obtained the common name of "Cape chestnut" because explorer Willi ...

'' (Cape chestnut) species.

Events

The Aberdare Range was named by Joseph Thomson in 1884 in honour of Lord Aberdare, who at the time was president of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

and the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

. Aberdare was also a Liberal politician who had served as

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

from 1868 to 1873. He was later to become the first chancellor of the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

. The area is well known as the headquarters of

Dedan Kimathi Dedan Kimathi Waciuri (born Kimathi wa Waciuri; 31 October 1920 – 18 February 1957) was the leader of the Kenya Land and Freedom Army during the Mau Mau Uprising (1952–1960) against the British colonial rule in Kenya in the 1950s. He was ca ...

, leader of the 1950s

Mau Mau Uprising The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt, or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the Mau Mau, and the ...

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

became Queen of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

while staying at

Treetops Hotel Treetops Hotel is a hotel in Aberdare National Park in Kenya from the township of Nyeri, above sea level on the Aberdare Range and in sight of Mount Kenya. First opened in November 1932 by Eric Sherbrooke Walker, it was built into the tops ...

in the Aberdares. It was also the site where J.A. Hunter killed the rogue elephant of Aberdare Forest.''The Rogue Elephant of Aberdare Forest'', From ''Hunter'', J.A. Hunter, HarperCollins, 1952

Footnotes

External links

The Aberdare Mountain Ranges (Nyandarua Range)
{{Great Rift Valley, Kenya Mountain ranges of Kenya Great Rift Valley Nyandarua County East African montane forests