|
Historical
Flahback
From the
Mountains of the Moon to the
Rwenzori
 If
one asks you: where are the Mountains of
the Moon located, what would you answer?
Well, the Mountains of the Moon are in
Uganda, at the equator and the highest
peaks are covered by ice and snow. But on
today's geographical maps you will not
find any indication about them, you will
instead find the Rwenzori Mountains, the
name that the Bakonzo, the local
populations have always used to call this
mountain group of more than 5.000 meters
of height. But why the Mountains of the
Moon have disappeared? Why that beautiful
name has been cancelled from the maps?
Because it was given to a not existing
place. The early explorers, more than 2000
years ago, were looking for the sources of
the mighty river Nile, they could not
explain why so much water could come from
the Sahara desert. It was only in the 19th
century that thanks to various explorers
like Speke, Stanley, Burton, Grant,
Livingstone the map of that part of Africa
was drawn. The river Nile gets its waters
from Lake Victoria, the second largest
lake of the world and from the Rwenzori
Mountains.
In 1906 something very
important happened in the region. A group
of Italian explorers headed by Luigi
Amedeo of Savoy Duke of Abruzzi, a member
of the Italian royal family, scaled all
the peaks, toured all the valleys and
lakes of the mountain range, defined in a
precise way all the geography of the
territory and drew new maps still standing
the test of time.
In 1906 the Duke of
Abruzzi reached Mombasa from Napoli by
boat and then with the newly railway line
he arrived in Kisumu from where, by boat
and via Lake Victoria, he docked in
Entebbe. In fewer than 50 years the region
from total obscurity got served by the
best technology of the time. The Duke and
his team could use the steam train in
Kenya and the steam boat on Lake Victoria
but this did not prevent them to have to
walk from Entebbe to the Rwenzori in 16
legs with the help of the Baganda porters.
Reaching Fort Portal, on the outskirts of
the mountainous region, the Duke was
warmly welcomed by King Kasagama of Toro.
In the following 45 days all the geography
of the area was drawn and the heights of
the peaks determined. Beautiful
photographs were snapped by Vittorio
Sella, the official photographer of the
expedition and brother to the Prime
Minister of Italy. Thanks to the
photographs of Mr. Sella the world over
managed to see the unthought-of snow at
the equator.
Today, one hundred
years from that event the Italian Embassy
in Kampala, the Italian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, the Ugandan Ministry of
Tourism and the Kingdom of Toro intend to
review what happened 100 years ago. In
Kampala and in Turin, town of the Duke and
former capital of Italy, an anthropologic
and photographic exhibition will take
place. The heir of the Duke and of the
photographer will be in Uganda and a
commemorative ascent will be organized in
order to give new light and new life to
the past, enticing all those who love
nature and mountains including those who
may never have heard about the Mountains
of the Moon.
Pietro
Averono
Cultural
Officer
Italian
Embassy
|
