Bolshoi Ustup (mountains) - where are the height, zone, coordinates, mainland and interesting facts located on the map

Mountains called the Big Escape represent a complex system. There are no analogues in the world to the Big Ledge, because this system acts as a separator of the intracontinental plateau, located between it and the lowlands of the coasts of two oceans (Atlantic and Indian).

Location and age of the Big Ledge

The Big Escape is one of the most ancient regions of our planet. It was formed during the existence of the mainland Gondwana. That was almost 120 million years ago.

Mountains Big Escape on the map

Coordinates of the mountain system:

32 ° 12'00 "south latitude;
22 ° 38'24 "East.

Some of the mountain formations that are under the sedimentary layers are more than two and a half billion years old. During the tertiary period, the time came for active tectonic processes that shook the entire Big Escape. This was the beginning of the formation of the modern landscape of the southern territories of Africa.

Relief of the mountain system

In Namibia, a mountain range stretches from north to south. It separates the Atlantic from the low coast. On the territory of the Big Ledge, the Namib desert passes in this section, then a significant increase in heights is observed. Thus, on this stretch of land in the Namib desert, they reach a mark of 600 meters, and after that they begin to reach 2,000 meters or more. In the mountains, there are plateaus, the famous Orange River, as well as a large cuest called Rotrand. In the east, the Big Escape demonstrates a decline, transforming into a hill, and becomes part of the Kalahari desert.

The location features of the Big Ledge are already an occasion to visit the mountains

In South Africa, the Big Lane passes along the border with neighboring Namibia and literally crashes into the canyon of the Orange River. The mountain range runs along several ridges, then goes through the Graaff Reinet mountains, stretching from south to east and further north, covering the territory of the Fish River Basin. The mountains reach their highest level in the area of the western slopes of the Dragon Mountains. Note that in addition to South Africa and Namibia, the Big Escape passes through the territory of Mozambique. There are also some sites in Zimbabwe.

Highest peak of mountains

The highest mountain is located in the Dragon Mountains section. Its name is Thabana-Ntlanyana. The spoken name of the mountain, with a height of 3,482 meters, has a very nice translation: "small and beautiful mountain." There are assumptions that in reality the peak is about 3 hundred meters higher, however, to date there are no exact studies that would confirm this assumption.
Thabana is located near the Kingdom of Lesotho (eastern sector), has a weak peak, bears the status of the highest mountain in the area of the volcano Meru.

Mineral territories

The territories that cover the Big Escape are rich in minerals. First of all, the development of ore minerals began:

Uranus.
Manganese.
Lead.
Zinc
Gold
Diamonds.
Platinum.

Thousands, millions and even billions of tons of fossils occur in the earth's thickness. One of the richest is the so-called Bushveld complex. Deposits of titanium, barite, thorium, lithium, graphite, silver and many other valuable minerals are located in South Africa.

Climate in the Big Ledge

Since the Big Escape covers vast territories, different climatic zones are observed in different parts of it. The Namib desert is recognized as the driest, but near Mozambique there is a subtropic zone. The highest mountain areas (Dragon Mountains) cover the savannah. There are many rivers in the south, a subtropical climate zone dominates here. A semi-desert climate is observed in the Kalahari region.

The Namib Desert has a relatively cold climate.

Namibia has a tropical desert climate. In the region of the northeast - subtropics. Cold snap occurs in April and August, while the hottest time is from September to March. In the desert, air temperature can drop to 10 ° C at night. On the coasts in the Atlantic region up to 6 ° C. In summer, the air temperature in the south can reach 30 ° C, in the northern areas it rises to 34 ° C. The coast is cooler, while in the Namib desert, a paradoxical temperature level is noted. With the dry climate prevailing here, Namib remains the coldest desert of the planet. Even in summer nights, frosts often occur.

Flora and fauna of the Great Ledge

You can evaluate the richness of the fauna of the Big Escape on the example of the Dragon Mountains. Here there are national parks in which they live

endemic animals. There are also birds, including a bald ibis. It can be found exclusively near the Cathedral Cave. The yellow-chested horse, cape vulture and other birds are recognized as disappearing. Of the rare animals, black wildebeest, oribi antelope, stand out. Of the exotic predators can be noted karakol, leopard, in the mountains there are also mongooses.

The Dragon Mountains and other vegetation-covered sections of the Big Escape on the territory of South Africa are considered one of the most picturesque on the whole continent. On a vast area you can find green meadows, areas with evergreen trees, rainforests. On the savannah territories, shrubs are mainly distributed.

In Namibia, the Big Lane, due to the climate, also demonstrates the richness of nature. However, vegetation is absent in the Namib desert area and acacia, spurge, aloe and others grow only next to the rivers. A completely different situation is observed in the north, where such typical representatives of Africa as elephants, lions, antelopes and giraffes live. Among the rare black rhinos are noted, on the hills you can meet hyenas, jackals and a rare gold-mole. Namib is not a dead desert, despite the lack of vegetation. Poisonous snakes live here, many rodents and insects, lizards. Birds nest near the coast, seals bask in the sun.

Natural objects of the area

One of the most famous natural sites of the Big Escape was the Orange River. It is one of the largest on the whole continent and originates in the Dragon Mountains. The river is completely dependent on the precipitation that feeds it year after year. When drought occurs, the level begins to decline sharply, however, with the advent of the rainy season, Orange demonstrates violent activity. The lower reaches are the most arid sections of the river. Orange is recognized as non-navigational, due to its large number of rapids and rapid course.

Another famous river is Limpopo, which flows through the territories of several countries at once. Limpopo gained its popularity due to the huge number of crocodiles living in its waters. Limpopo even mentioned Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky in his famous Aibolit. The movement of Limpopo is zigzag, and the river itself has a length of 1,750 km.

The famous Limpopo River

The Fish River is recognized as the longest in all of Namibia. Its feature is the flow through the desert regions. It passes, for example, through Kalahari. Fish is also not navigable, but thanks to it, a reservoir was created near several cities. The canyon of the same name is confined to the river, which is the largest canyon in Africa. The famous Fish River is considered one of the most popular natural sites of the continent, attracting thousands of tourists annually. A park has been established on the territory of the canyon, the most popular place is the Khobas camp site.

In truth, the Great Natural Lakes, which are located in Mozambique, are a great natural object. There are 7 lakes in total, some of which are very large. The Great African Lakes are extremely important for the local population, because they live in a lot of fish. This makes the region densely populated. The volcanic activity of these territories in the distant past contributed to the creation of excellent conditions for pastures. Despite the fact that this part is located in the equatorial zone, the region has a temperate climate. The Great African Lakes are not just a single system and an important natural site, but one of the parts of Africa, around which many tribes are concentrated. Of the many excursions across the African continent, visiting these places will be the most interesting for those who want to know the history of the formation of African peoples.

Tourism and Attractions of the Big Escape

It is impossible to appreciate the tourism potential of the Big Escape. In the Dragon Mountains, for example, reserves have been established that are visited by thousands of tourists every year. One of the iconic places was Royal Natal National Park, which is located in the Dragon Mountains. There are picturesque waterfalls, beautiful flora and fauna. Royal Natal includes the Santa Lucia Nature Reserve, which has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Also in the Dragon Mountains is the Golden Gate National Park. The park got its name thanks to one of the rocks, which seems to glow during sunset. Earlier, Bushmen lived here.

The mountains of the Big Lane are very picturesque

The rarest representatives of the fauna and flora are in the Ukhakhlamba-Drakensberg National Park. The entire territory of the park is located in the area of the Escape. This is the largest Dragon Mountains park, with more than 250 species of rare animals and plants.

In the Dragon Mountains there is an interesting cave, on the walls of which there are preserved petroglyphs. This is one of the oldest examples of cave painting. The drawings are considered excellent for that time, their complexity is unusually great. Petroglyphs depict hunting scenes and mysterious rituals, as well as deities. Some of the people have antelope heads. Petroglyphs are in a number of caves. They are also painted on the rocks. For example, on a rock called the Giant's Castle, about 500 petroglyphs are painted. The most ancient drawings date back 3,000 years. There are many versions of what exactly scenes with people mean, on the heads of which instead of human heads are the heads of antelopes. The main idea suggests that in this way the ancient African peoples depicted shamans.

Interesting facts about the mountain system

There are many interesting rocks on the territory of the Big Ledge. One of them is called the Helmet of the policeman and is named so because of its unusual shape. There are also remarkable forms of mountains, for example, Monks' hood.
Bushmen tribes are distributed not only in deserts, steppes, but also found in many other areas of Africa. Moreover, the word "Bushman" comes from the English "man in the steppe." Africans prefer not to use such words, which is associated with a negative attitude towards the colonists.

The most common ungulate is considered an antelope. This animal only seems fragile in appearance, in fact, it is able to adapt perfectly to temperature changes. With the onset of heat, her body heats up at 7 ° C, which helps to keep animal moisture. Male antelopes and roe deer are extremely aggressive animals. Defending the herd, they are able to violently attack the enemy, while their growth often does not exceed 70 cm. However, the antelope horns are so sharp that they can cause a mortal wound.
The famous Petroglyphs of the Dragon Mountains are considered extremely valuable, so the guides carefully monitor all the tourists who visit the caves. Even ordinary dust can harm cave paintings. Tourists are strictly forbidden to drink next to voodoo images, and sometimes even asked to cover their mouths with gauze.

The Big Escape is a huge mountain system. You can spend more than one week here and every day will be unforgettable. Each traveler who has arrived to conquer one of the most wonderful mountain systems of our planet will make many secrets and amazing discoveries.