Monte Binga

Where is Monte Binga?

Monte Binga is part of the Chimanimani Mountains.

You will find it in: Mozambique.

Summit: 19.777° S, 33.062° E

The story behind it

The rock of Binga is quartzite, an old sandstone baked hard until it shines almost white in the sun, and the ridge it forms marks the border between Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Instead of forest, most of the mountain wears short grass, with heath bushes, proteas and papery everlasting flowers in the hollows. Clouds from the Indian Ocean pile up against the slopes, so the grass stays wet, springs are everywhere, and nights on the top can be surprisingly cold. Baboons bark from the boulders and klipspringers stand still on the edges of the cliffs. The area belongs to the Chimanimani reserve, and walkers who cross it usually sleep in caves or tents, because there are no huts and no roads up. The climb is long rather than difficult, and guides know where the streams can be crossed.

Find it on the globe

Monte Binga is there as a small peak with its own shape — a horn, a ridge, a volcano — standing on the surface. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.