The Great
Rift Valley was formed
around 35 Mill. years ago by the tectonic rifting of the African
contintental plate from the Arabian plate. About the same
time the African plate collided with the Eurasian plate and
the Alps were formed. The Rift Valley stretches 6000 km from
Syria through the Red Sea, down to the Mozambique. The width
varies from 30 to 100 km. In Kenya the deepest point is north
of Nairobi in the Naivasha / Nakuru region where the ground
is punctuated with dormant volcanoes such as Longonot, Suswa
and Menengai, and numerous smaller ones such as the Delameres
Nose near Elementaita. A balloon flight in the area reveals
the bizarre volcanic landscape which is believed still to
be changing and finally splitting the African Continent into
2 by the expansion of the Red Sea into a new ocean.
