The Mount Stanley Expedition

The Goals of The SOLIO Mount Stanley Expedition

The Rwenzori Mountain Range contain 80% of the permanent ice on the African continent. Over the milleniums the ice melt of the glaciers of the Rwenzoris have contriubuted to the great Central African lakes of Edward, Albert, Victoria, Tanganiyka and Kivu, as well as the rivers of Semliki, Katonga, Nkusi, Kafu and the Congo. As the wars that have plagued the continent in the past were waged over land rights, diamonds and oil as the conflict in Sudanese Darfur region exemplifies, we predict that unless we all work together future global conflicts could well be waged over access to fresh water.

Though annual rainfall supplies the bulk of the water for the lakes and rivers of Africa, if the glaciated peaks that comprise the Rwenzori Mountain Range melt as they are projected to do within the next twenty years, the 'mountains of the moon' will turn to sheer rock. This occurence could possibly alter centuries old cultures that live in the deep valleys of the Rwenzoris. As the lakes and rivers of Central Africa lose their secondary source of water, survival of the people, their cutlure, the wildlife and the landscape will be in jeopardy. Therefore The SOLIO Mount Stanley Expedition's stated goals are:

To witness firsthand the impact of climate change/global warming upon the glaciers of the Rwenzori Mountain Range and the wonderful indeginous people that live within their shadows
To pursue Sir Christopher Ondaatje postulated theory in his book 'Journey To The Source of the Nile' that if explorer Samuel Baker had travelled to the southern shore of Lake Albert that he might have argued that the Semliki River and the runoff from the glaciers of the Rwenzori Mountains were the true source of the Nile River
To have an expeditionary team attempt a summit of Margherita Peak on Mount Stanley
To uniquely explore and to adventure as an expeditionary team