Mount Moco

Where is Mount Moco?

Mount Moco is part of the Bié Plateau.

You will find it in: Angola.

Summit: 12.467° S, 15.167° E

The story behind it

Mount Moco lifts itself out of the high grasslands of central Angola as a rounded hump of hard old rock, worn smooth by wind and rain over an enormous span of time. Because it stands so high, the nights are cold and damp here, and clouds catch on the summit while the plains below stay dry and warm. In the folds of the slopes grow the last patches of mountain forest in the country, dark green islands of tangled trees, mosses and ferns. Birds live in that forest which are found almost nowhere else, so scientists and birdwatchers climb the mountain with notebooks instead of ropes. Villages lie at the foot of the slopes, where people farm maize and beans, and the walk to the top follows cattle paths through the tall grass.

Find it on the globe

Mount Moco 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.