There is a water leak in the kitchen, a drain in the bathroom is clogged, do you need to install a toilet, sink and more? All these issues require urgent solutions. Professional plumbing services to help you! Calling a plumber at home in Moscow from our company means getting high-quality plumbing services inexpensively and on time.
Not sure how to call a plumber at home? Call us! A plumber on call will come to you in 30 minutes completely free of charge. Leave a request and expect a plumber.
How to solve plumbing problems?
There are three options for solving a plumbing problem: do it yourself, contact the housing office or call a plumber at your place of residence from our company. The first, of course, is the most budgetary option. But it requires you to understand this area, have free time, as well as the availability of special tools and spare parts. The second option implies a lot of inconvenience. A utility worker may only come to you during business hours, which may not coincide with yours. And if you have a force majeure in the evening, at night, on a weekend or a holiday? For example, a drainpipe burst, a sewage system clogged, a toilet cistern does not work, and more? There is a way out - contact us and order plumbing services urgently! We work around the clock, without breaks and weekends, and within a short time our specialist will be at your door. Plumbing services are provided with careful observance of the relevant regulatory documentation. Calling a plumber at home in Moscow with a guarantee for the work performed. Urgent repair, installation and dismantling of plumbing from market leaders!
We are a team of professionals; we have been working in the plumbing services market for many years. Our staff is qualified specialists who thoroughly understand both the plumbing and sewerage systems, as well as the latest generation of plumbing. Our masters are equipped with everything necessary, which allows them to ensure the speed of service, diagnostics and repair of plumbing equipment. Our Moscow plumbing emergency service promptly comes to you and solves plumbing problems with high quality around the clock.
We provide plumbing services not only to the owners of apartment buildings, but also to the owners of the private sector. Arrangement of an autonomous heating system is also our profile. Taking into account the individual characteristics of the structure, we are ready to offer various solutions to the problem for the rational heating of housing.
Services we offer:
- laying / replacement / cleaning of sewer pipes;
- installation of a water heater, boiler and heating radiators;
- installation of filter systems and pumping equipment;
- wiring of plastic and metal-plastic pipes;
- replacement of the siphon, fine or coarse filters;
- installation of meters for hot and cold water supply;
- connecting household appliances to water supply and sewerage;
- dismantling of plumbing equipment and more.
Plumbing services from us is the best solution for you!
Plumbing services - the work of professionals
Any plumbing work requires a professional approach. As practice shows, amateurish actions can only aggravate the situation. You should not equip, for example, a water heater on your own. We install boilers and boilers in accordance with the safety and operation rules of this equipment.
Do you need to carry out collector wiring of polypropylene water supply pipes or change the battery at the height of the heating season? No problem, call us! With the help of a pipe freezer, we will carry out all the work quickly and efficiently, without draining the water.
We also install hot tubs and jacuzzis. These activities, as a rule, are associated with dismantling works, with connection to sewerage and water supply. Our experienced craftsmen, taking into account knowledge, new technologies and modern tools, will always find the most practical solution for your situation. The appearance of a blockage in the pipeline is a reason to call a plumber at home.
5 reasons why you should choose us:
- we provide a full range of plumbing services;
- we guarantee the quality and efficiency of work;
- we fulfill our obligations;
- we issue a guarantee and documentary reporting;
- we approach each order individually.
The largest island in Africa is, of course, Madagascar.
Madagascar is not only the largest African island, but also one of the largest islands in the world - the fourth largest. The French called this island "Great" for its enormous size. It separated from the African continent more than 100 million years ago. And it seems that according to the testimony of some scientists, Madagascar is still moving away from the continent at an incredible speed - as much as 2 centimeters per century. The island is located in the Indian Ocean, off the eastern coast of Africa, and from which it is separated by the Mozambique Channel. The climate on most of the island is tropical, only in the extreme south of the island is subtropical. The length of the island is about 1600 kilometers, the width is over 600 kilometers, the area is 587 040 square kilometers - this is about twenty Moscow regions or the territories of France and Belgium taken together. The highest point of the island is the currently inactive volcano Marumukutru, whose height is 2876 meters, it is located in the Tsaratanana mountain range, in the north of the island. The Anjafi mountain plateau occupies the central part of the island. The mountainous terrain of the island is up to 2600 meters high, rich in minerals and metals: copper, iron, gold; vast coastal plains are marshy, and some of them are very fertile.
The fauna and flora of Madagascar is quite unique - it contains 5 percent of the plant and animal species in the world and 80 percent of them exist only on this african island... Because of this uniqueness, Madagascar is often referred to as the "small continent".
The state of the same name is located in Madagascar, with the capital in the city of Antananarivo, which occupies the territory of the entire island. The state was formed on June 26, 1960, declaring its independence from France. The area is 587,041 square kilometers - forty-fifth in the world. Population 20,042,552, 2008 estimate, 58th in the world.
Previously, there were several states on the island, but the most powerful and developed among them was the state of Imerina, founded by the Merinan people. The heyday of Imerin dates back to the 19th century. The name of this state indicates the place where it was located. Merina is translated into Russian as "higher". The kingdom was located on the High Plateau of Madagascar. At the beginning of the 16th century, Tananarive was founded - "the city of a thousand", which received such a name in memory of the many thousands of troops who annexed the land on which this city was built to the kingdom. The great ruler Ramboazalam, who ruled at the end of the 18th century, significantly expanded the boundaries of the kingdom, uniting under his rule many scattered early tribes. It is Rambozalame who owns the famous formula of a single Madagascar: "Our border is the sea." And soon the unification of the island took place, a state "from sea to sea" was created, which occupied the territory of the entire island. August 10, 1500 Portuguese Diego Diaz was the very first of the Europeans to "discover" Madagascar. Soon after him, the French, the British, and the Dutch flocked to the island.
In the 19th century, the state of Imerina achieved quite significant success. Even universal compulsory education was introduced. The level of education of the population in the country increased so much that the royal court dismissed heralds and hung their decrees on the walls of houses. Almost everyone could read them. The Malagasy state continued to develop, the first factories and metallurgical factories appeared on the island, the development of minerals began, periodicals were born, a network of medical institutions was created (in 1870 alone, more than 200 thousand people became their visitors). In 1876 - 6 years earlier than in France - free education was introduced in Madagascar. But, despite all this, Imerina could not withstand the onslaught of one of the largest imperialist powers. Relying on military force and using the divisions between the tribes, France annexed the island in 1896. Here we can see the fact that before the emergence of European "civilizers" on the island there was a highly developed state in which there already existed what was "super civilized" and "supercultural" - free and universal education, free medical care and almost universal literacy. The only thing in which the "civilized" Europeans, the French, clearly surpassed the "wild" African aborigines, is in military strength.
The main population of the island is Malagasy. They speak Malagasy. This language is also called Malgash, and it belongs to the Indonesian group of the Austronesian language family.
The Malagasy language has nothing to do with the surrounding African languages. It is the westernmost of the Malay-Polynesian languages \u200b\u200bbelonging to the Austronesian family. The Malagasy language is related to the languages \u200b\u200bof Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. The closest to it are the languages \u200b\u200bspoken on the island of Borneo. The basic vocabulary of the Malgash language is 90% identical to the vocabulary of the Maanyan language in the Barito River region in southern Borneo. This can only mean one thing, Madagascar was inhabited by people from those places. The reason for this colonization is not known for certain. Later migrants from distant island Borneo mingled with Arabs and East Africans. Malagasy has loanwords from Bantu, Swahili and Arabic, as well as from French and English. The language has a written literature since the 15th century and a rich tradition of oral poetry and legends.
Comorians, Chinese, Indians, Creoles, French and Pakistanis make up a fairly small percentage of the island's population.
52 percent of the population are adherents of local ancient traditional beliefs - this is animalism, fetishism, the cult of ancestors, the forces of nature and others, 41 percent are Christians, of which about half are Catholics and half are Protestants, 7 percent are Sunni Muslims - immigrants from Pakistan and the Comoros ... The beginning of the spread of Christianity is the 17th century. Most Christians at the same time profess local traditional beliefs.
From all of the above, I can conclude that the island of Madagascar is quite interesting and unusual place of our globe, with unique flora and fauna, and it is inhabited by people with a unique history and culture. In general, this is the place that is in no way inferior to the now popular places of tourism and recreation and is worth visiting. Moreover, since March 1, 2010, the Madagascar authorities have canceled visa fees for all tourists from Russia who come to the island for up to thirty days.
Africa is still full of mysteries today. This continent is washed by the waters of the Red and Mediterranean seas, as well as the Indian and Atlantic oceans. Its area is more than 30 million km². But this figure includes those adjacent to Black It is about the islands of Africa that I want to talk in more detail. They are like fragments of paradise scattered in the warm waters of the oceans. Each island is beautiful in its own way.
Madagascar island
Information about this bright exotic location many have learned from the children's cartoon of the same name. On TV screens, we saw funny fussy lemurs, greedy and gluttonous foss and other unusual heroes. The thing is that this island separated from Africa and India many millions of years ago, and a large number of endemic animals are concentrated here.
Madagascar, like many African islands, used to be a foreign colony. For a long time, the French ruled here. Today it is self-sustaining with a population of over 17 million.
Madagascar, like other islands in South Africa, is a unique holiday destination. After all, in fact, this is a huge open-air zoo. Here baobabs support the sky, and gentle waves tickle the golden sand of beaches, the total length of which exceeds 5 thousand km. The year here mainly consists of sunny days, and the water in the ocean is always warm. The wind has blown for only a few months. The dry season lasts from April to November.
Madeira Island
The island in the north of the Atlantic is also amazing. It is located on the African lithospheric plate and is geographically assigned to Africa. But it is so intertwined with Europe by cultural, ethnic and political roots that it has become a part of it.
The island is of volcanic origin with a subtropical and tropical climate. The air temperature here is 20-30 ° C, and the Gulf Stream provides warm water near the beaches. Madeira Island has a rich flora. There are also many endemics preserved here. About 20% of the island's area is occupied by laurisilva relict forests. The Madeira pigeon and many endemic insects are found here.
Madeira Island is an autonomous part of Portugal.
The Canary Islands are a volcanic archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. Geographically, these are the islands of Africa, but politically - autonomous community Spain. The largest of these is Tenerife.
Climate Canary Islands characterized as a tropical trade wind. It is hot and dry here, the proximity affects the eastern lands of the archipelago in general arid.
The Canary Islands have popular resortsgathering wealthy tourists from all over the world.
Bazaruto Islands
It is a unique archipelago of five islands off the coast of Mozambique. Here, among the orange trees, there are very expensive resorts, inscribed in the African flavor. Moreover, two of the five islands are considered uninhabited.
Archipelago Bazaruto - islands off the coast of Africa, declared a national natural park. Everything is protected here: salt lakes, coral reefs, and unique beaches... Holidays on the islands are imbued with incredible beauty and tranquility.
Zanzibar archipelago
Zanzibar is located near mainland Tanzania in the Indian Ocean. The largest islands of the archipelago are Pemba and Unguja. The climate here is warm and humid. The archipelago is famous for its unique white sand on its numerous beaches. There are also many endemic plants and animals preserved here. On the islands you can observe giant turtles, colorful butterflies and red monkeys.
You can relax in Zanzibar all year round... The air and water temperatures are very comfortable. Numerous African islands that make up this archipelago have convenient and well-developed infrastructure. Here you can find activities for every taste.
Unique natural sites - Madagascar Island. Rwenzori Mountains in Congo. Canary Islands.
20.02.2017 / 10:06 | Varvara Pokrovskaya
Madagascar island
The largest island in the Indian Ocean - Madagascar - is often called by geographers "the continent in miniature". This is explained, firstly, by the extraordinary variety of its landscapes, and secondly, by the peculiar animals and floradistinguishing it from nearby Africa and from other parts of the world.
The combination of tropical rainforests, tall grass savannas and even semi-deserts, mountain ranges, plateaus and coastal plains, extinct volcanoes and coral reefs, swampy lagoons and mangroves, monsoon and trade winds determines the existence of a wide variety of landscapes on the island, and animals and plants of Madagascar a quarter of which are found only here, are not at all similar to African ones, and if they have relatives, it is usually in Indochina and Indonesia, and even in South America.
Madagascar is a mountainous country. Almost half of it is occupied by the High Plateau, which stretches across the entire island from north to south. On the east coast, where the trade winds bring moisture from the Indian Ocean, it rains, stormy and abundant, almost every day. Due to the accompanying strong wind, the storm jets are directed almost horizontally, and no umbrellas and awnings save them from them. Strictly speaking, a distinction is made between a wet season and a dry one. But the last one, lasting from May to November, differs only in that occasionally there are days without precipitation. In July, at the height of winter, the thermometer reads plus sixteen, and in February the temperature reaches thirty-four degrees.
Evergreen forests of ferns, tamarind, palms and other tropical trees entwined with vines and decorated with bright orchids grow on the steep slopes of the plateau. There are many valuable tree species in these forests. Different types of rosewood, for example, have lilac, pink and even black wood. There are also rubber plants here. And from the resin of the copal tree, varnish is made.
But of all the trees in Madagascar, the most famous is rabala. In appearance, it looks like a banana, only the banana leaves grow directly from the ground, and the Ravenala has a real trunk, from the top of which, like the spokes of a wheel, huge leaves torn by the wind around the edges diverge. Where the cuttings of the leaves gather towards the trunk, there are special containers containing several liters of water. Having met ravalala, a weary traveler can always quench his thirst. No wonder it is also called the "tree of travelers". The vines of Madagascar are unique. The pod of one of them, entada vines, reaches two meters in length and one and a half in width! Several of these pods, split in half, serve as a perfect roof for a hut. Vines are used to make ropes, baskets and mats. And of some, especially durable ones, they build houses, since they are the only plants on the island that are not touched by termites.
In the west, where the mountains do not allow rain clouds, savanna reigns, and in some places, in the south - a hot semi-desert, since rainfall is rare here and falls only in winter. In the dry season, not a drop of moisture is spilled for months, and the temperature rises to forty degrees! Forests in the west are found only in river valleys, and the savanna is overgrown with brush-like grass, and only here and there small baobabs and fan palms rise. Trees in the western part of the island shed their leaves for the winter so as not to evaporate moisture during dry seasons.
The fauna of Madagascar in its originality can be compared only with the Australian one. The main treasure of the island's fauna is, of course, lemurs. These funny animals, reminiscent of a cross between a monkey and a cat, live in forests and are nocturnal. They have large, glowing eyes and a shrill voice reminiscent of the moody cry of a child.
The largest of the lemurs is the indri. They are easily tamed, and the inhabitants of the island - the Malgash - often use them for hunting instead of dogs. Another genus of lemurs, with a fox head and a long tail, are poppies. They are very lively and mobile, keep in flocks and are often seen in the evenings, when they jump through the trees in search of tasty fruits. The complete opposite is the fat loris. This clumsy and clumsy baby is slow, like an Australian koala. Aye-aye, or aye-aye, is also interesting - an evil flat-headed lemur with huge ears and a long tail. He lives in bamboo forests, feeds on the core of bamboo and sugarcane, and also does not disdain beetles and larvae. With its long fingers, the ai-ai easily extracts the contents from the trunks of bamboo and reeds. This gourmet is very afraid of light. As soon as the sun rises, he falls asleep, thrusting his head between his legs and wrapping it in his long tail.
The Malgashes consider lemurs to be sacred animals. There is a legend that once upon a time they were people, and then, living in the forest, overgrown with wool and turned into animals. Meeting a lemur in the forest, hunters always politely greet him, and animals that accidentally fall into a trap are certainly freed and set free.
Of the predators on the island, only the reddish-black fossa, the ferret cat, is found. It is about the size of a large dog, but is small in stature, since its legs are short. The Malgachs are very afraid of fossa. There are many legends and hunting stories about her bloodthirstiness and strength.
It is found in Madagascar and the mongoose is the main fighter of snakes. And in the mountain forests live shy and timid eared hedgehogs - tenrecs. These rather large (rabbit-sized) animals emerge from their burrows only at dusk and busily start looking for food - small insects. In winter, they hibernate.
The bird world of Madagascar is bright and unusual. It is home to green parrots, bright red cardinals, blue doves and kingfishers, sultan chickens, ibises and guinea fowls. Once upon a time, the island was inhabited by huge, similar to giant cassowaries, epyornis birds. The growth of these giants reached five meters! They became extinct quite recently, since Marco Polo mentioned them in his book. And later, in the 18th century, sailors sailing to the island heard the cries of these birds. A giant epyornis egg in volume was equal to 150 ostriches. The Malgashes made vessels out of them that could hold eight liters of water each.
There are no venomous snakes in Madagascar, and the only truly dangerous animals here are crocodiles. They are literally teeming with the marshes and lakes of the island.
And among European collectors, the amazingly beautiful butterflies of Madagascar are especially honored. Goliath, the largest of them, can easily be mistaken for a bird. It is a brown butterfly with a pink belly. Urania is surprisingly picturesque, rightly considered the most beautiful butterfly in the world. Her wings seem to shimmer with all possible colors. The Madagascar butterfly is also striking with a bizarre pattern on the wings.
There are a lot of chameleons of various sizes on the island. Due to their unattractive appearance, the Malgash consider them to be vicious and harmful creatures, although in fact they are of great benefit, exterminating flies and other annoying insects. The chameleon is, in fact, a relative of lizards, but nature clearly deprived him of his agility. Sometimes it seems that in his veins is not blood, but wood glue - his movements are so viscous. And only the tongue of the chameleon is thrown forward with lightning speed when the prey is within reach. The chameleon is known primarily for its extraordinary ability to change color to match the color of the surrounding background, which makes it absolutely invisible in the forest.
The unusual animals and plants of Madagascar are widely known, but there is an amazing place in the west, the nature of which even the inhabitants of the island know little about. This is the Bemaraja Plateau, located in the Manambolo River Basin off the coast of the Mozambique Channel. Everything is amazing here: fantastic relief, animals and plants, perhaps the last untouched corner of the wild nature of Madagascar has been preserved here.
The Bemaraha limestone plateau rises 400 meters above the Manambolo Valley. The river cut through it a grand gorge with white layered walls. And around the gorge is ... stone forest! Intricately carved by karst processes, rocky ridges - karr - bristled with thousands of sharp peaks, between which the water made deep cracks, and turned each boulder into a sharp jagged sword. A huge rocky labyrinth is practically impassable: limestone towers and walls, overgrown with thorns, formed a network of natural bastions throughout the plateau, reliably protecting it from newcomers.
The Bemaraha area is poor in rainfall: the dry season here lasts up to eight months. And in fractured limestones, even the moisture that was brought by rare rains quickly goes into the depths, so only plants well adapted to drought can survive here. Ebony, for example, turns green only during the rainy season, and stands naked the rest of the time, saving water. And the baobab, on the contrary, accumulates water in its clumsy and powerful trunk, up to nine meters in thickness, and thanks to this it survives in the dry season.
Bizarre creatures inhabit the stone forest of Bemarach. It is an armored chameleon that resembles a small dragon or dinosaur with its spiny spines on its ridge and pointed bumps on its head. There is also a kind of Madagascar rat with big ears. If you do not notice the long tail, it may well be mistaken for a rabbit. And on the trees that have grown in the crevices of the rocks, aeons and poppies live, enlivening the desert rocky landscape with their funny jumps and shrill screams.
Groups of remnant rocks formed by karst processes are also found in other places in the world, for example, in the Qingling region of China or in Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. But there these limestone pillars and towers always have a rounded or flat top. And only here, in Madagascar, such an amazing spiky stone forest arose. The attractiveness of this corner also lies in the fact that not a single person has yet been in the depths of the plateau, and what discoveries await scientists there, one can only guess. The nature of Madagascar still keeps many secrets that will be revealed only to inquisitive travelers who managed to overcome all the difficulties that arise before the pioneers of the mountains, jungle and mysterious rock labyrinths of this unique island.
Rwenzori mountains
Between the Central African lakes Edward and Albert, where the equator line crosses the border of Congo and Uganda, there is one of the most mysterious mountain ranges of our planet - Mount Rwenzori.
Until 1888, not a single European saw them. And even after the famous traveler Henry Stanley discovered them for science, few were able to admire their sparkling snowy peaks. The fact is that three hundred days a year the Rwenzori massif is covered with clouds, and in the remaining two months it opens only briefly at dawn or at dusk to the gaze of travelers passing at its foot.
When in 1906 an Italian expedition made the first map of these places, it turned out that Rwenzori mountains stretching for one hundred and twenty kilometers from northeast to southwest are the highest mountain range in Africa. As many as nine peaks rise more than four kilometers, and the highest of them - the Margherita peak - reaches five thousand one hundred meters and is the third highest on the continent. (After the lonely Kilimanjaro volcano and Mount Kenya south of Rwenzori.)
Since the time of Ptolemy, European and Arab geographers have written about the existence of the mysterious Moon Mountains in the center of Africa. It was believed that it was in them that the sources of the Nile were located. However, it took almost two thousand years to confirm this assumption. Moreover, already in the 20th century, five well-equipped expeditions that visited lakes Albert and Eduard could not find Ruwenzori, although it would seem that from such a distance it is no more difficult than noticing the Eiffel Tower from the Seine embankment. Dense clouds interfered, completely hiding the gigantic mountain range from researchers.
And only Stanley's perseverance, patience and observation allowed him on the third attempt (!) To finally open the elusive ridge. This is how he himself describes this "hunt for Rwenzori":
"... Returning from Lake Albert in December 1887, we suddenly noticed that two huge truncated cones appeared on the horizon to the south of us. It seemed to us that their height should be from three to four kilometers. We christened them" Gemini "and strongly became interested in them, believing that there should be a very picturesque area next to them.
Returning to the lake in April 1888, we did not see the "Gemini", but on May 25, when we walked two hours away from the lake, our eyes suddenly saw a huge snow-white mountain, with a central massif about fifty kilometers long; on both sides of this mountain there were two mountain ranges, one and a half kilometers below it. On that day, all this was visible for several hours in a row. But the next day, the vision disappeared, there were no tracks to be seen, neither the Twins, nor the snow ridge.
Returning to Albert for the third time, in January 1889, we stopped in a local village for two and a half months, but saw nothing during all this time. However, one fine day, as usual, looking at the place where the snow ridge should have been, we waited for it: all the mountain ranges at once emerged from behind their cloud cover, and dozens of pairs of eyes eagerly glared at this wondrous sight.
The upper part of the ridge, clearly divided into many pyramidal peaks, belted from below by a wide strip of milky-white fog, against the background of blue skies of extraordinary purity and transparency, seemed as if floating in the air, like that "Island of Bliss", rushing between heaven and earth, about which an old legend tells. As the sun tilted westward, the mist belt disappeared, and the ghostly vision was attached to a chain of mighty foothills. Although we were a hundred kilometers from the mountains, through binoculars it was possible to make out strips of forests and individual tree groups growing either on wide ledges or along the edges of a cliff overhanging a deep abyss. I thought that this must be the mountains of the Moon that Ptolemy once wrote about.
One must think that the transparency of the atmosphere is a rare phenomenon in the local area, and if we were here in passing, like other travelers, then, in all likelihood, Rwenzori would remain in obscurity for a long time. "
By the way, the Semliki River, flowing at the foot of these "Lunar Mountains", flows into Lake Albert, as well as the main source of the Nile - the Victoria Nile. From here, already under the name of Albert Nile, the future great river rushes north to meet the Blue Nile. So the ancient geographers were right: one of the sources of the Nile is indeed located in this mountain range.
Unlike Kilimanjaro and Kenya, the Rwenzori Mountains are not volcanic in origin. This is a huge granite block, lifted four kilometers up along a giant fault in the earth's crust, called by geologists the Great African Rift. The long and deep African lakes of Nyasa, Tanganyika, Kivu, Edward and Albert are located along the line of this arcuate fault, and on its sides the mountain ranges of Kitengere, Malimba, Marunga and Mitumba, as well as the cones of the Sapitva and Karisimbi volcanoes, rise to a three-kilometer height.
In the language of the Bakongo people living here, Rwenzori means "Rainmaker". Indeed, the high mountain range stands as a mighty obstacle to the winds bringing moisture from the deep Congo basin. Climbing up the slopes of Rwenzori, humid air cools and clouds appear that rain down almost every day.
At the foot of Rwenzori there are vast savannas, overgrown with two-meter tall elephant grass. Here is the expanse of buffaloes, elephants and rhinos, herds of antelopes, giraffes and zebras graze here and cheetahs, lions and hyenas hunt for game.
From a height of two kilometers, lush rain forests begin, where, in addition to the usual forest inhabitants of equatorial Africa, there are also such rare animals as the pintail squirrel, which uses a sharp bone thorn on the lower surface of its tail when climbing trees, or the Ruvenzor otter shrew, in contrast to preferring to live in rivers and streams and having webbed feet.
There is also a huge Cape otter, almost one and a half meters long, and a forest boar - the largest living in Africa. This one meter tall animal weighs up to one hundred and sixty kilograms, and hunting it is far from a safe occupation. But the most unusual appearance is the three-horned chameleon living on Rwenzori. Superstitious blacks are afraid of him, considering him a messenger of misfortune.
The largest bats in the world - flying dogs - with a wingspan of more than a meter live in caves and tree hollows. And of the dangerous predators high in the mountain forests, only the leopard climbs, causing fear to the numerous monkeys inhabiting these places.
From three to three and a half kilometers on the slopes of Rwenzori there is a belt of semi-forests, strange in appearance, half-shrubs, densely covered with lichens. They are formed by thickets of treelike heather, reaching monstrous size in this humid and hot atmosphere. Here, in general, everything grows to gigantic proportions: grass, flowers, and ferns. Even earthworms on Rwenzori are finger-thick and a meter or more long.
Even higher, there is a zone of mountain meadows, where the traveler will meet with the main decoration of this fantastic botanical kingdom. The modest flowers of the senesia (wild rose), which reach a height of twenty to thirty centimeters in our country, here become real five-meter trees, striking with the whimsicality of their black stump-trunk, crowned with a bunch of half-meter leaves.
Here the modest northern lobelia reaches the same enormous size, turning on the slopes of Rwenzori into a giant green rosette lying on the ground, from which a two-meter, candle-like inflorescence rises upward.
These striking, unmatched plant giants rise among green meadows dotted with blooming violets, cuffs and lilies, and in some places animated by mighty thickets of two-meter horsetails.
Such a landscape, reminiscent of shots from films about the conquest of alien worlds, can be found in only two other places on Earth - on the slopes of Kenya and Kilimanjaro.
Climbing another half a kilometer, the traveler finds himself above a strip of continuous clouds. The bright sun floods with its rays a completely unusual alpine landscape for Africa, as if transferred here from somewhere from Mont Blanc. Above - jagged ridges, eaten away by glacial circuses, sharp pyramidal peaks, snow fields sparkling with pristine whiteness and bluish tongues of glaciers. Below are deep valley trenches plowed by glaciers and countless mirrors of small and large glacial lakes, which reflect the fanciful "candelabra" of giant Senetsia and slender "candles" of giant lobelias that perfectly complement this picturesque landscape.
The eternal snow and glaciers of the highest peaks of Rwenzori feed many fast streams with cold clear water. Merging, they form a little lower, in the forest belt, swift noisy rivers rushing down the steep rapids and rolling along the bottom a mass of stone fragments. Such streams are capable of cutting deeply into the slopes of the mountain range. The gorges up to a kilometer deep dissect the Rwenzori slopes into many separate blocks, giving the ridge a ribbed appearance. On the western side, where the massif drops off to the valley with a steep cliff, the rivers rush down onto the plain with foaming streams of waterfalls three or four hundred meters high.
However, to admire all this beauty, you will have to climb almost four kilometers. From below, he risks not seeing the mountains at all through the cloudy cloak in which Rwenzori wraps himself. But the difficulties of climbing are instantly forgotten when the view of the traveler opens up a majestic panorama of the transcendental ridge covered with eternal snows.
At one time, Stanley described the feelings of a person who saw Rwenzori:
"It happens that half an hour before sunset, the wind drives away clouds, and then one peak after another appears in the blue sky, one after another is exposed powerful peaks, snow-white fields and the entire undulating mass shines in its full splendor until twilight deepens and the dark night will cover it with an even darker tent.
These short - too short - minutes, when you look at the magnificent "Rainmaker", as the Bakongo call their fog-shrouded mountain, fill the viewer with such a feeling as if he looked into the open skies. "
Canary Islands
To the west of the coast of Morocco in the Atlantic Ocean stretches for four hundred and fifty kilometers from west to east, a ridge of seven volcanic islands. This archipelago, friendly, picturesque and diverse, has been called the Canary Islands since ancient times. Such a not very pleasant name (canis in Latin - "dog") was given to the islands by the famous Roman scientist Pliny the Elder, who claimed that huge dogs were supposedly found there. Later it turned out that the great naturalist was wrong, but the name has already stuck. And although the fertile islands off the coast of Africa were given at different times many other, more romantic names: "Islands of Eternal Spring", "Enchanted Islands", "Isles of the Blessed", "Champs Elysees" and even "Gardens of the Hesperides", nevertheless, on the maps these islands to this day remain under the first "dog" name.
Inhabited and developed by people five thousand years ago, the archipelago became known to the Phoenicians in the XI century BC. A thousand years later, the Romans landed here, and in the XIV century, Spanish caravels appeared off the coast of the islands. A hundred years later, having broken the resistance of the local Guanches, Spain finally took possession of the archipelago, and to this time they belong to her.
It is clear that over the five hundred years of economic development of the Canary Islands by the Spaniards, the nature of the archipelago has changed a lot. mountainous terrain turned out to be inconvenient for the establishment of plantations, and their flora and fauna were not so badly affected.
The most famous, largest and most noticeable (in the literal sense of the word) island in the Canary Islands is Tenerife. Its main attraction - the Teide volcano, towering three thousand seven hundred meters above sea level - is visible from approaching ships almost two hundred kilometers away.
The vague outlines of a huge mountain, now appearing and then disappearing in the translucent haze of morning fog, have influenced the imagination of sailors since ancient times. Peak Teide was admired by Columbus and Cook, Bellingshausen and Humboldt. And in January 1832, the English ship "Beagle" approached the shores of the archipelago, on which the young naturalist and future creator of the theory of evolution Charles Darwin set off on his famous round-the-world voyage. Here is what he wrote in his diary:
“On January 6th we reached Tenerife ... The next morning we saw the sun emerge from behind the bizarre cliffs of Gran Canaria and suddenly illuminate the Tenerife Peak, while the low parts of the island were still hidden behind curly clouds. It was the first of those delightful days that I will never forget. "
The first known eruption of Mount Teide occurred in 1492, exactly the same year Columbus visited Tenerife. The volcano then showed its activity more than once: its eruptions took place in 1706 and 1909. The funicular nowadays allows the traveler to easily climb to the edge of the crater and look into the black and gloomy volcanic basin, on the edge of which a young cone, which grew in 1909, rises.
The hollow, bearing the expressive name of Caldera de las Cañadas ("caldera of abysses"), strikes with bizarre forms of solidified lava flows and minerals of various colors, among which tachinastes flowers rise here and there, similar to huge candles.
Although much of the island has long been turned into banana plantations and orange groves by the Spaniards, in the northeast of Tenerife, near its capital Santa Cruz, there is a large forest area that occupies the mountain slopes off the coast. In the dry and hot climate of the Canary Islands, this dense, gloomy and cool forest, in which the Canary pines, laurels and such native northern birches grow side by side, seems to be a green oasis next to the hot beaches and dry rocky slopes of Teide. At the edge of the forest, a serpentine mountain road leads to an open area, to a high coastal cliff - Pico de Inglés. From its kilometer height, the traveler has a view of endless ocean distances and golden beaches, high cliffs and green groves of the coast.
If Tenerife with its mild and warm climate is called "the island of eternal spring", then the easternmost of the Canary Islands, Lanzarote, would be rightly called the "island of fire-breathing mountains". On this small island, sixty kilometers long and fifteen kilometers wide, nature has brought together as many as three hundred volcanoes!
The last time the island erupted was in 1824. Then, along the fault line crossing the island, one after another, three volcanoes arose and began to throw ash and lava at once: Tao, Tinguaton and Negro. But this formidable picture could not be compared with the firestorm that raged in Lanzarote a hundred years earlier. In the fall of 1730, thirty craters simultaneously began spewing hot ash and rivers of liquid lava, sowing death and devastation in the vicinity. The monstrous eruption lasted for six years and covered a third of the island's territory with a gray lifeless cover of basalts.
The local priest then kept detailed records of what was happening. Here is an excerpt from this peculiar "chronicle of fiery years":
"Near Timfaya, the earth split and a huge fire-breathing mountain grew. The formidable performance lasted three weeks. A few days later, other craters opened and splashed out lava, which buried the villages of Timfaya, Rodeo and Mancha Blanca. On September 6, a high rock, deflecting a lava flow, changed it direction from north to northwest. This led to the destruction of the villages of Maretes and Santa Catalina. On September 11, new fiery crevasses opened. Liquid lava flooded the city of Maso, and six days later it reached the coast and poured into the sea with a roar, scattering terrifyingly beautiful cascades sparks ... "
After such a long rampage of the fire element, the appearance of the island has completely changed. Fields and vineyards, the richest villages were destroyed. In the center of the island a dark ridge of volcanic cones has grown, reminiscent of the mountains of the moon.
Nowadays, the whole central and western part Lanzarote residents call it Mal-Pais ("Bad Country"). Dark colors dominate here, you will not hear bird singing, here the formidable volcanic ridge of Montaña del Fuego ("Fiery Mountains") rises above a lifeless valley. The landscape of these places makes a strong impression: destroyed volcanic cones, blue-black ash fields, rusty-red crater walls oxidized by volcanic heat and mountains of gray slag ...
Huge vents gape, but not a single crater smokes, breathes fire. Not a single cloud of steam or smoke rises over Montaña del Fuego. But quite shallow under the outer layer of volcanic rocks, the bowels of volcanoes still glow with heat, and a traveler who finds himself in Lanzarote can easily be convinced of this.
On the crest of one of the craters, an enterprising Canarian has set up a restaurant where the floor slabs are hot to the touch, and the chef fries eggs, placing a frying pan right on a pile of volcanic sand. For fun, the owner of the establishment throws an armful of brushwood with a pitchfork into a two-meter hole. Not even a minute passes before a fire flares up there. And nearby you can admire a man-made geyser. It is enough to pour a bucket of water into a pipe dug into the ground, and almost immediately steam bursts out of it, and then a stream of boiling water, soaring up to a height of four meters.
It is not difficult to travel around Lanzarote by bus, but it is more interesting to do it on horseback on a camel. The road paved through the created here National park, leads along a frozen lava lake to a long chain of craters bordered by slag piles and frozen lava fountains, which are called "chornitos" here.
Still, the main attraction of the volcanic island is the Cueva de los Verdes cave. This largest lava cave in the world stretches for six kilometers. Some of its halls reach fifteen meters in height and twenty-four in width. One of them even has a concert hall.
The cave is located in the north of the island, under the lava fields of the Korona volcano. The river of molten basalt continued to flow beneath the cooled and solidified outer layer of lava from the lateral Corona crater downhill into the sea, forming a natural tunnel with bizarre wall and roof shapes. From the Mal-Pais plateau, a narrow path leads the traveler into a gloomy deep depression. Behind a high dark entrance, it first runs along a tunnel heading towards the sea, then turns west into a narrower passage and reaches the deepest part of the cave, which is forty meters below the surface.
All the way the tourist is accompanied by soft electronic music, reminiscent of the ringing of glass drops. Searchlights illuminate the passages and halls, illuminate the oxide-stained arches and hanging lava pillars - a kind of volcanic stalactites that cast intricate shadows.
The cave has two tiers, the upper one being wider and more spacious. After several ascents and descents, the traveler finally arrives at the concert hall. The impression of underground music exceeds all expectations: the porous walls of the lava cave create perfect acoustics.
On way back the tourist will come across a small lake near the path, filled with sea water seeping through the cracks. Small crabs live in the underground reservoir, which have become absolutely white in the darkness of the cave. And in a wide funnel at the exit from a mysterious cavity, where the sun's rays fall from above, you can sit in a cozy cafe, thinking about the terrible cataclysms that have created this unusual underground volcanic world.
The other large islands of the Canary archipelago - Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Palma - have retained little of their pristine nature. The first of them is the kingdom of hotels and beaches, the second, thanks to the efforts of people, has become practically treeless, and its landscape does not please the eye of the traveler. As for the island of Palma, it was badly damaged by the eruption that happened quite recently, in 1971.
But the small mountainous island of Homera, located south of Tenerife, has hardly changed since the time of the Spanish conquest. There is not even an airport here, and most tourists come here only on excursions.
The mighty Garajonei mountain range rises above the island for one and a half kilometers. Six deep gorges radiate from it to the coast. Two-thirds of the entire territory of the island of Homer is covered with virgin forests of laurel, waxweed and tree heather. The laurel forests growing on the northern slopes are of particular value. Lush with a fringe of moss and lichens, the huge trees look "fluffy", and a solid carpet of ferns complements the pristine look of these ancient forests that covered vast areas of the Mediterranean and North Africa millions of years ago.
In laurel forests live rare and cautious Canary pigeons, giving themselves away only with gentle cooing, as well as the most famous feathered inhabitants of the islands - canaries, whose singing is heard from all sides.
Once upon a time, the Guanches lived on Homer - the indigenous inhabitants of the archipelago, who appeared here thousands of years before our era. The island's rugged, rugged terrain has forced them to develop a unique way of communicating. Being on opposite sides of the gorge, the Guanches could converse in a special whistle language - silbo. This unique language allowed messages to be transmitted over a distance of up to a kilometer.
Such an unusual language has been found on our planet only in one more place - in one of the mountain villages of Turkey. Silbo has survived to this day, and you can still hear two shepherds whistling across the canyon on Homer, making an appointment or broadcasting the news.
Another source of pride for Homer refers not to botany or linguistics, but to history. The great Columbus was here more often than on other islands of the archipelago. From 1492 to 1502, he visited the island of Homer as many as four times, the reason for which, it is believed, was his romantic infatuation with the local beauty, the Marquise of Monya. The house where the navigator stayed has now become the Columbus Museum. The future conqueror of the Aztec empire, conquistador Hernan Cortez, also visited the island on his way to America.
It is interesting to explore the island of Homer not only on foot or on horseback, but also from the sea. From the boat you can see the main wonder of the Homeric coast - the rock of Los Organos. It is a steep wall made up of thousands of hexagonal basalt columns that rise from the waves of the sea like the pipes of a giant organ.
The abundance of sun and warmth in the Canary Islands is not that boring, but requires a change of scenery from time to time. And in search of variety every year, up to half a million tourists pass along the shady forest roads of the island of Homera. Nevertheless, there are still many untouched corners on it, and this most quiet and green island remains a true oasis of the unchanged nature of the Canary archipelago.
A traveler who has visited the Canary Islands will certainly tell his friends about climbing Mount Teide and the stunning views that open from there to the vast by the name of Homer ...
AFRICA
Level I tests
1. The largest island off the coast of Africa:
a) Comoros b) Madagascar c) Sumatra d) Sri Lanka
2. Choose the correct answers.
1. The relief of Africa is dominated by:
a) lowlands b) hills and plateaus c) low mountains d) high mountains
2. Higher part of Africa:
a) northern and western c) southern and eastern b) northern and eastern d) southern and western
3. In the eastern part of the mainland there are:
a) the largest plateau on earth b) the largest mountain range on earth
c) the largest lowland on earth d) the largest fault on earth
3. The highest peaks of Africa - Kilimanjaro and Kenya - are located:
a) on the East African plateau
b) in the Atlas mountains
c) on the Ethiopian Highlands
d) in the Drakensberg Mountains
4. The hottest place in Africa:
A) Tripoli city c) Somalia peninsula b) Congo depression d) Sahara desert
5. The source of the Nile is:
a) Lake Victoria c) Mediterranean Sea b) Lake Tanganyika d) Kagera River
6. Choose the correct answers.
a) Congo c) Niger b) Nile d) Zambezi
3. The largest lake in Africa:
a) Chad c) Tanganyika b) Nyasa d) Victoria
4. The deepest lake in Africa:
a) Victoria c) Tanganyika b) Nyasa d) Rudolf
7. Choose the correct answer. Savannah plants are:a) rafflesia, ficus, oil palm b) roridula, baobab, doom palm
c) ebony, banana, vines d) date palm, velvichia, aloe
8. Choose the correct answer. The inhabitants of the equatorial forests are:
a) elephant, ostrich, lion b) camel, scorpion, hyena
c) giraffe, zebra, rhino d) okapi, gorilla, leopard
9. The shortest people on Earth are those living in Africa:
a) Tuaregs c) pygmies b) Masai d) bushmen
10. The most ancient state of Africa and the world:
a) Egypt b) Ethiopia c) Libya d) Zambia
Level 2 tests
Distribute extreme points Africa by their location:
a) northern | c) western | d) eastern |
|
Cape Agulhas 2. Cape Ras Khafun 3. Cape Ben Sekka (Ras Engela) 4. Cape Almadi
2. Determine which mountain systems correspond to the following peaks:
Kilimanjaro | Peak Margherita | Ras Dashen | |||||
A) Atlas B) Ahaggar C) Darfur D) Rwenzori E) Tibesti G) Ethiopian Highlands
E) East African plateau
3. Choose the correct answer.
1. Which of the following highlands not located in Africa? - a) Ahaggar c) Tibet b) Tibesti d) Ethiopian
2. Which of the following mountain systems is not in Africa? - a) Atlas c) Draconian b) Hindu Kush d) Cape
3. Which of mountain peaks is not in Africa? - a) Mont Blanc b) Ras Dashen c) Kenya d) Toubkal
4. Which of the volcanoes not applicable to Africa? - a) Cameroon b) Karisimbi c) Kilimanjaro d) Etna
4. Determine which minerals are rich;
1. North Africa - a) gas c) copper ores b) gold d) oil
2. South Africa - a) oil b) diamonds c) gold d) phosphorites
5. Why is Africa the hottest continent?
1) It is washed by the warmest oceans of the Earth - Indian and Atlantic.
2) In Africa lie largest deserts Lands, including the Sahara.
3) Most of the mainland lies between the tropics.
4) In Africa, there are no high mountains with snow-capped peaks and a cold climate.
6. Select wrong statement about rivers and lakes in Africa.
2) Congo is the only large river that crosses the equator twice.
3) Niger is a river in the Indian Ocean basin. 4) Lake Victoria has no permanent shores.
5) Tanganyika is the deepest lake on the mainland. 6) The most high waterfall Africa - Augrabis.
7) Victoria Falls was discovered by the great English traveler D. Livingston.
7. Determine in which natural zone these plants are found.
equatorial forests | ||
Acacia Aloe Banana Baobab Velvichia Wild Watermelon Ceiba Lianas Ficus Oil Palm Aloe Dum Palm Rafflesia Date Palm Ebony
8. Determine in which natural area these animals live.
equatorial forests | ||
Antelope Camel Cheetah Gorilla Giraffe Zebra Pygmy Hippo
Black-eared pig Lion Leopard Fennec fox Marabou Nectarium Rhinoceros
Scorpion Elephant Ostrich Termites Chimpanzee Okapi
9. Match a pair: people living in Africa - habitat:
Madagascar | Cape Mountains | Ethiopian highlands | Kalahari | gulf of Guinea coast |
|||
Amhara Afrikaners Bushmen Hottentots Yoruba Malagasy Pygmies Tuaregs 10. Which of the African countries can I say ...
Level III tests
1. Select geographic objectsassociated with the Great African Rift:
a) Atlas Mountains f) Ethiopian Highlands b) Lake Nyasa g) Drakensberg Mountains c) Lakes Chad h) Red Sea d) Nile i) Ahaggar Highlands e) Lake Tanganyika j) Zambezi
2. Match a pair: a traveler-discovery or a journey.
Phoenicians | V. da Gama | Ibn Battuta | D. Livingston | G. Stanley | V. V. Juncker |
||||
opened the Cape of Good Hope
explored the Niger river basin
discovered that Lake Chad is closed
made the first voyage around Africa
first crossed the Sahara
discovered the Kagera river and the Rwenzori massif
from sailed the Nile to Punt
sailed around southern Africa
discovered Victoria Falls
explored the Nile-Congo watershed
3. Determine which term or concept these definitions correspond to:
reserve | desertification | |||||||
Tropical steppe with tall grasses and rare trees
Strong and hot desert wind carrying clouds of sand
The spread of the desert as a result of unreasonable human economic activity
Plants that live on the trunks of other trees and use moisture and nutrients from host plants and air
Disruption of the continuous distribution of rocks as a result of the movement of the earth's crust
Part of the territory where the entire natural complex is protected in its natural state
A desert area with abundant moisture and rich vegetation
Natural area with hot dry climate and sparse or absent vegetation
Drying riverbeds in North Africa
4. Select which of the following national parks are located in Africa:
a) Kafue b) Wood Buffalo c) Serengeti d) Tsavu e) Banff f) Etosha Pan
g) Taimyr h) Galapagos i) Kruger j) Ngorongoro
5. Determine which natural zone the given statements correspond to.
equatorial forests | tropical deserts |
|
They occupy almost 40% of the mainland area.
Located in the river basin. Congo and along the coast of the Gulf of Guinea.
They occupy almost a third of the mainland, especially in the northern part.
Precipitation occurs throughout the year, especially in the afternoon.
Clouds are rare.
There are two seasons - wet and dry.
Fertile and humus-rich red-brown soils.
There are practically no soils.
Multi-tiered forest vegetation.
Grass dominates, trees and shrubs grow along rivers or singly.
Vegetation is concentrated in oases.
The most common trees are the baobab and the umbrella acacia.
The most valuable plant is the date palm.
There are many trees with valuable timber.
The richest and most diverse animal world on the ground.
Animals can go without water for a long time or run long distances in search of it.
Many animals live on trees
6. Determine which of the following countries are located in Africa:
a) Albania b) Algeria c) Botswana d) Guatemala e) Denmark f) Cameroon g) Kenya h) Laos i) Mongolia j) Tunisia
ProgramState standard on the appropriate level general education: - certificate ... d) Antarctica b) Africa e) South America c) Eurasia f) North America AFRICA 1. Mostlargeisle at shoresAfrica: a) Comoros ... each of them. Test
