Thabana Ntlenyana
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Thabana Ntlenyana (Template:Respell)<ref>Template:Cite Collins Dictionary</ref> is the highest mountain in southern Africa. It stands Template:Convert tall within the Maloti Mountains that crest Lesotho.<ref name="Mo01">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp The peak's name means "beautiful little mountain" in the Sesotho language,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> from thaba (mountain), the diminutive -na, and ntlenyana (beautiful). Thabana Ntlenyana is ranked 11th in the world by topographic isolation.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Geography
Thabana Ntlenyana is situated on the Mohlesi ridge, north of the treacherous Sani Pass.<ref name=Mo01/>Template:Rp The peak is climbed as part of a "Grand Traverse" of the Maloti, which follows a large system of peaks within the Maloti (Maluti) and the broader Drakensberg.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Thabana Ntlenyana, like the broader highlands around it, is made of amygdaloidal flood basalt that formed during the Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic epochs.<ref name="sumner">Template:Cite journal</ref> Nearby the mountain are the headwaters of the Orange River, which runs approximately Template:Convert to the west before draining into the Atlantic Ocean. Together with its main tributary, the Vaal River, the Orange River's catchment spans around Template:Convert of land across Southern Africa.<ref name="britannica">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Ecology
The high-elevation treeless areas in the Drakensberg like Thabana Ntlenyana are categorized by the World Wide Fund for Nature as part of the Drakensberg alti-montane grasslands and woodlands ecoregion.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> This ecoregion is characterized by high elevation and high rainfall, but also by cooler temperatures than more equatorial montane areas. Rainfall comes in summer, often exceeding Template:Convert per year. Snowfall can occur in winter. Temperature varies from Template:Convert to Template:Convert, with an average of Template:Convert.<ref name="sanbi2">Template:Cite book</ref>
Vegetation in the Maloti is known to vary with the surface geomorphic features beneath it, such as the soil's grain size, carbon content, and depth.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Flora communities are composed largely of tussock grasses and ericoid shrubs. Some of the most prevalent grass, sedge, and ericoid species are Merxmuellera disticha, M. drakensbergensis, Poa banana, Carex clavata, and Scirpus falsus.<ref name="sanbi2" />
The unique faunal communities of the Drakensberg grasslands have not yet been fully described by the scientific community. However, a 2001 study surveyed avian populations on Thabana Ntlenyana in particular. It found relatively low species diversity (23 spp.), with about a dozen living at the summit and more living in the peak's foothills. The majority of breeding pairs recorded were insectivores, with the remaining mostly being granivores. The most dominant species across Thabana Ntlenyana was the Cape bunting (Emberiza capensis). At the summit, the African stonechat (Saxicola torquata), sickle-winged chat (Cercomela sinuata), and African pipit (Anthus cinnamomeus) dominated, while the lower foothills were home to more of the sentinel rock thrush (Monticola explorator), Drakensberg siskin (Pseudochlor. symonsi), and Drakensberg rockjumper (Chaetops aurant.).<ref name="kopij">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Access
The peak is often climbed from Sani Top Chalet or from Vergelegen Nature Reserve.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The first recorded ascent by Western-tradition mountaineers was achieved in March 1951 by a South African-English team of leader Desmond Watkins, surveyors Barry Anderson and Roy Goodwin, mountaineer C. W. Jorgensen, and least three other assistants, described by Jorgensen only as "cooks, bottlewashers and scarecrows."<ref name="jorgensen">Template:Cite journal</ref>
