The Rwenzori Mountains, which were described in a BBC Travel article as Africa’s surreal ‘Mountains of the Moon’, are a range of mountains located along the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Formed about three million years ago, the Rwenzori mountains are the highest non-volcanic, non-orogenic mountains in the world. The ranges consist of six massifs separated by deep gorges: Mount Stanley (5,109 metres (16,762 ft)), Mount Speke (4,890 metres (16,040 ft)), Mount Baker (4,843 metres (15,889 ft)), Mount Emin (4,798 metres (15,741 ft)), Mount Gessi (4,715 metres (15,469 ft)) and Mount Luigi di Savoia (4,627 metres (15,180 ft)). Mount Stanley, in particular, has several subsidiary summits, with the Margherita Peak being the highest, rising to 16,795 feet (5,119 m) between Lake Albert to the north and Lake Edward to the south on the Uganda-Congo border. It was first climbed in 1906 by an expedition led by Luigi Amedeo Abruzzi and was named after Queen Margherita of Italy. The upper regions of the mountain are permanently snow-capped and glaciated.

The Virunga National Park in eastern DR Congo and Rwenzori Mountains National Park in southwestern Uganda are located within the Rwenzori mountain ranges. The ranges are also known for their vegetation, including tropical rainforest. The range supports its own species and varieties of giant groundsel and giant lobelia, and most of it is now a World Heritage Site.

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