When you drive to Ngorongoro and the Crater Highlands the route passes through dry savanna country for a couple of hours. In the distance the vast massif of the Highlands finally looms into view above the dry plains. But along that route and hidden in plain view are several nondescript mountains far off to the West. Because they are far away they appear to be insignificant. But get closer to them and you find that they are huge. What makes them so interesting is that in the mornings they are always capped by clouds and because of this these mountains have wet, densely forested summit plateaus that are inhabited by buffalo, leopard, zebra and other big animals. Burko is one of these mountains and it has all the mystique of the dinosaur inhabited plateau in Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World.
I love Pliny the Elder's (AD 23-79) Latin description of Africa, Ex Africa semper aliquid novi, which translates as "Always something new out of Africa!" This is where Karen Blixen got title for her book 'Out of Africa ". For me Burko personified the truth behind Pliny's observation. In 2011 Clarissa and I climbed Burko on the recommendation of a friend who lived in Northern Tanzania for decades. True to form there is always something new out of Africa and we were amazed at what we found at Burko. For more about this climb and to see a Burko painting click HERE