Mount Kilimanjaro is a challenge many can't resist, and for a naturalist, the ascent through the different vegetation zones is fascinating. Once above the tree-line, you enter the Afro-Alpine zone with Giant Lobelias and Giant Groundsel - Dendrosenecio kilimanjari - adding strange shapes to the horizon... if the cloud lifts! Today's video to #BrightenYourDay in #Covid19 #lockdown is No.100, so I thought it should be a high point and the summit of Kili is the highest I've been so far. At 19,341 feet (5,895 meters) it is too cold for wildlife though, so apart from admiring the glaciers and the spine-tingling sunrise, and taking the obligatory photos, most people don't spend long there. My climb was with a small team making a documentary about climate change - Climb for Climate Action - on the way up (trailer here: • Climb For Climate Acti... and find the full film on www.ecostreamz.com). About 2 hours after leaving Kikelelwa camp (elevation: 3,679 meters; 12,070 feet) I suddenly realised I had left my #cameratrap behind. Running back down was not part of the plan, but I had to get it, and later found it had recorded a small mammal, a mongoose and a curious Corvid - the most impressive member of the crow family: a White-naped Raven. These intelligent and beautiful birds frequent the campsites all the way up, cleaning up any food remains left by the climbers and their porters, so we begin the video on full HD with the Corvid clean-up crew around the tents, then switch to cameratrap footage, and ending with some views of the summits - before the cloud rolled in...
25 июн 2020
