Page 64 - Volcano and Geothermal Tourism

Africa’s Great Volcanoes of the Albertine Rift Valley 41

north-north-west of Nyiragongo. This is Africa’s intersection of the borders of three countries:
most active volcano: it has erupted 34 times since DRC to the west, Rwanda to the south-east and
1882, each time spewing into the atmosphere Uganda to the north-east. Muhavura (4127m), a
large quantities of sulphur dioxide, and pouring forested volcano, is the easternmost of the Virunga
flows of devastating molten lava that burn volcanoes. It is linked by a broad saddle on its
everything downhill. The 1938 lava flow created a western flank to Mgahinga (3474m). These
lot of damage and continued until 1939. A volcanoes and parts of Sabinyo are part of the
recurrence cycle of about three to four years is Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, and the
observed, sometimes with extremely powerful Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda.
blows of heated scoria, devastating lava flows, or These two parks share with the Virunga National
both at the same time, but with the most recent Park the remaining habitat for the world’s
eruption occurring on 4 July 1994 (ash and lavas). mountain gorillas.
Destruction in the surrounding settlements was
recorded only for the 1912–1913 eruptions.
Nyamulagira’s 2×2.3km wide truncated caldera, Biomes, wildlife and
still with its floor partially covered with historic biodiversity
lava flows, is flanked by many subsidiary features:
about 50 cones and 4 craters and vents (Diallo,1975; Biomes and ecosystems
GVP/USGS, 2008b). The Virunga National Park biomes and ecosystems
are strongly influenced by the climate, itself deeply
The Karisimbi, Visoke and linked to such physical elements as altitude,
Mikeno group topography, temperature and rainfall. The overall
land elevation in VNP goes from 680m in the north
This group of volcanoes, called the Karisimbi on the southern shores of Lake Albert, to 916m at
volcanic complex, is the highest of the Virunga the Rutanzige Lake, to 4507m at the top of
volcanoes, and is dominated by Karisimbi (4507m). Karisimbi in the Virunga massif in the south, and to
Sometimes snow falls over the Virunga, especially 5109m at the snow-covered Peak Margherita in the
over the round top of Karisimbi, shining to the north-eastern Ruwenzori range (see Figure 2.4).
sun as ‘white shells’ (the meaning of Karisimbi in As for rainfall, VNP has within its 800,000ha
the local language). This is a dormant volcano of land the driest (500mm of rain per year) and
having a pit crater (Muntango crater) south of the the wettest (more than 3000m) areas in the
summit and still keeps a symmetrical shape Congo, which are separated by less than 75km of
notwithstanding more than 10,000 years of distance. Average annual rainfall is around 500mm
inactivity (Diallo, 1975; Andakar, 2005). per year over Lake Rutanzige and its surroundings,
The very old Mikeno volcano (4000m) located 900–1500mm over the plains south of the lake,
north-west of Karisinbi is deeply eroded, while then decreasing with altitude, except for heavy
the perfectly symmetrical Visoke (3711m) to the orographic rains (>3000mm) over the western
north-east, contains a 450m-wide crater. These are flanks of high peaks on the Ruwenzori
volcanoes of the stratovolcano type. A mountain mountains.
gorilla research centre named Karisoke was created Notwithstanding the intensive deforestation
by Dian Fossey on the Rwanda side between by humans since they colonized this space, it still
Karisimbi and Visoke. It has been abandoned since has innumerable species of fauna and flora,
1985 following Fossey’s murder. among which a very large quantity of endemic
species. The park flora consists of five main
The Sabinyo, Mgahinga and ecosystems: swampy grasslands around Lake
Muhavura group Rutanzige, savannas, lowland forests, forests in the
Mt Sabinyo (3645m) is an extinct volcano in the volcanic Virunga massif, as well as mountain
group of volcanoes located in the eastern part of forests on the slopes of granitic Ruwenzori
the Virunga mountain range. Its summit marks the (McGinley, 2008).

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