Mountain Field Guide

🏔️ Overview The Democratic Republic of the Congo contains some of the most spectacular and geologically varied mountains in Africa. Although much of the country is occupied by the broad, relatively low-lying Congo Basin, the landscape rises dramatically along its eastern border. Here, fault-block mountains, volcanic chains, forested massifs, alpine wetlands, and glaciated summits form …

🏔️ Overview The mountains of Comoros rise dramatically from a chain of volcanic islands in the western Indian Ocean. Located in the Mozambique Channel between Madagascar and the coast of southeastern Africa, the country consists of three main islands: Grande Comore, Anjouan, and Mohéli. Grande Comore is dominated by Mount Karthala, an active shield volcano …

🏔️ Overview Chad is often pictured as a country of broad desert plains, Sahelian grasslands, and the low-lying basin surrounding Lake Chad. Its northern and eastern regions, however, contain some of the most dramatic mountain landscapes in the Sahara. The country’s greatest elevations occur in the Tibesti Mountains, a vast volcanic massif in northern Chad …

🏔️ Overview Cameroon contains some of the most varied mountain landscapes in Africa. Active volcanoes, crater lakes, forested massifs, cool upland grasslands, rocky escarpments, and isolated volcanic plugs appear across the country. Much of this terrain is connected to the Cameroon Volcanic Line, an unusual geological belt extending from islands in the Gulf of Guinea …

🏔️ Overview Cabo Verde is an Atlantic island nation whose mountains were created almost entirely by volcanic activity. Although the archipelago is often associated with beaches, dunes, and dry coastal scenery, several islands contain remarkably steep peaks, enormous volcanic craters, deeply eroded valleys, and high ridges covered by seasonal vegetation. The country’s highest mountain is …

🏔️ Overview Burundi may be one of Africa’s smallest countries, but much of its landscape consists of rolling hills, elevated plateaus, steep ridges, and forested mountains. The country lies within the African Great Lakes region, where the high ground surrounding the western branch of the East African Rift creates dramatic changes in elevation over relatively …