What Is Hiding on Top of This Mozambique Mountain? | Mount Lico
Descrição
What is hiding on top of Mount Lico? In 2012, Julian Bayliss of Oxford Brookes University spotted a dark green patch on a rocky mountain in northern Mozambique on Google Earth. Nobody in the villages below remembered anyone climbing it. In May 2018 a 28-person team went up with ropes and found clay pots, animals that may be new to science and a new butterfly. Google Earth didn't show anyone what was up there. It showed them where to look.
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WHAT THIS SHORT SAYS
In 2012, Bayliss spotted Mount Lico on Google Earth: a rocky mountain in northern Mozambique with a dark green forest on top. He had found the forest on Mount Mabu the same way in 2005. Local people knew of no one in their lifetime who had climbed Lico. This time he flew a drone up to check, and the forest was real. In May 2018 a 28-person team reached the top, helped by two professional climbers, Julian Lines and Mike Robertson, who fixed ropes up a cliff of about 125 metres. On top, the team found frogs and lizards that may be new to science and a new butterfly. Near the start of a stream they also found clay pots, standing upside down. Bayliss suspects they were a religious offering for water. Who left them is not confirmed in the sources we found as of 8 October 2026. A 2024 study of the forest's soil found charcoal in all soil subsamples, from soils dated to the Middle Holocene: hidden, but not untouched. Mount Mabu became a community conservation area by a decree published on 24 August 2026.
THINGS TO KNOW
- Sources differ, so the film says "more than two dozen" and "over 100 metres": the team is 28 people (Alliance Earth, University of York) or "more than two dozen" (Mongabay); the cliff is about 125 metres (York, Alliance Earth, the climbers' blog) or more than 125 metres (The Conversation); Mongabay prints both 410 metres and 410 feet. "British" for the climbers is from Alliance Earth's photo caption.
- The frog and gecko are not confirmed new species: the paper calls the frog (Arthroleptis sp.) undescribed and says the gecko (Lygodactylus sp.) is either a range extension of L. regulus or undescribed. The new butterfly is from Mongabay; the butterfly on screen is our own illustration, not the real species.
- Satellite views are Google Earth Studio 3D imagery, a composite of different dates: not what Bayliss saw in 2012 and not the drone footage. The gold ring is ours and approximate.
- The pots (a drawing, not a photo of the real ones), the people icons, the cliff and rope sketch, the soil core, the butterfly and the maps are our own illustrations, not to scale. The text cards are our own summaries, not quotations.
- Narration is an AI voice and the music is AI-generated. Soft sound accents are synthesised for this channel.
SOURCES
- Mongabay (October 2018), Secrets revealed: Researchers explore unique, isolated forest in Mozambique: https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/secrets-revealed-scientists-explore-unique-isolated-forest-in-mozambique/
- Wikipedia, Mount Lico: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Lico
- Alliance Earth, Lico: Mountain of Mystery: https://allianceearth.org/mount-lico/
- University of York news (21 June 2018): https://york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2018/research/platts-lico-climb
- The Conversation, Why we explored an undisturbed rainforest on top of an African mountain: https://theconversation.com/why-we-explored-an-undisturbed-rainforest-hidden-on-top-of-an-african-mountain-98744
- DMM Wales blog by Mike Robertson, Monte Lico's rainforest lost world: https://dmmwales.com/blogs/journal/monte-lico-s-rainforest-lost-world
- Bittencourt-Silva, G. B., Bayliss, J. and Conradie, W. (2020). First herpetological surveys of Mount Lico and Mount Socone, Mozambique. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 14(2): 198-217 (e247).
- Courtney Mustaphi, C. J., Platts, P. J. et al. (2024). Tree demographics and soil charcoal evidence of fire disturbances in an inaccessible forest atop the Mount Lico inselberg, Mozambique. Plants, People, Planet 7(1): 229-244.
- Streamline (14 September 2026), Mount Mabu legal protection: https://streamlinefeed.co.ke/news/mozambique-grants-legal-protection-to-mount-mabu-butterfly-forest
IMAGERY AND PHOTO CREDITS
- Earth views: Google Earth Studio (imagery and data attribution shown on screen); a composite of different dates.
- Photographs of Mount Lico and of the stream on top: J. Bayliss; frog (Arthroleptis sp.) and dwarf gecko (Lygodactylus sp.): the paper's authors. All from Bittencourt-Silva, Bayliss and Conradie (2020), Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 14(2), CC BY 4.0, cropped (gecko panel letter removed). Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
- Pots, icons, cliff sketch, butterfly, soil core, rings and text cards: our own drawings.
More African geography, history and culture on Africa Sound & Story.
#MountLico #Mozambique #GoogleEarth #Exploration
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61595240720540 · Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/africasoundandstory/
WHAT THIS SHORT SAYS
In 2012, Bayliss spotted Mount Lico on Google Earth: a rocky mountain in northern Mozambique with a dark green forest on top. He had found the forest on Mount Mabu the same way in 2005. Local people knew of no one in their lifetime who had climbed Lico. This time he flew a drone up to check, and the forest was real. In May 2018 a 28-person team reached the top, helped by two professional climbers, Julian Lines and Mike Robertson, who fixed ropes up a cliff of about 125 metres. On top, the team found frogs and lizards that may be new to science and a new butterfly. Near the start of a stream they also found clay pots, standing upside down. Bayliss suspects they were a religious offering for water. Who left them is not confirmed in the sources we found as of 8 October 2026. A 2024 study of the forest's soil found charcoal in all soil subsamples, from soils dated to the Middle Holocene: hidden, but not untouched. Mount Mabu became a community conservation area by a decree published on 24 August 2026.
THINGS TO KNOW
- Sources differ, so the film says "more than two dozen" and "over 100 metres": the team is 28 people (Alliance Earth, University of York) or "more than two dozen" (Mongabay); the cliff is about 125 metres (York, Alliance Earth, the climbers' blog) or more than 125 metres (The Conversation); Mongabay prints both 410 metres and 410 feet. "British" for the climbers is from Alliance Earth's photo caption.
- The frog and gecko are not confirmed new species: the paper calls the frog (Arthroleptis sp.) undescribed and says the gecko (Lygodactylus sp.) is either a range extension of L. regulus or undescribed. The new butterfly is from Mongabay; the butterfly on screen is our own illustration, not the real species.
- Satellite views are Google Earth Studio 3D imagery, a composite of different dates: not what Bayliss saw in 2012 and not the drone footage. The gold ring is ours and approximate.
- The pots (a drawing, not a photo of the real ones), the people icons, the cliff and rope sketch, the soil core, the butterfly and the maps are our own illustrations, not to scale. The text cards are our own summaries, not quotations.
- Narration is an AI voice and the music is AI-generated. Soft sound accents are synthesised for this channel.
SOURCES
- Mongabay (October 2018), Secrets revealed: Researchers explore unique, isolated forest in Mozambique: https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/secrets-revealed-scientists-explore-unique-isolated-forest-in-mozambique/
- Wikipedia, Mount Lico: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Lico
- Alliance Earth, Lico: Mountain of Mystery: https://allianceearth.org/mount-lico/
- University of York news (21 June 2018): https://york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2018/research/platts-lico-climb
- The Conversation, Why we explored an undisturbed rainforest on top of an African mountain: https://theconversation.com/why-we-explored-an-undisturbed-rainforest-hidden-on-top-of-an-african-mountain-98744
- DMM Wales blog by Mike Robertson, Monte Lico's rainforest lost world: https://dmmwales.com/blogs/journal/monte-lico-s-rainforest-lost-world
- Bittencourt-Silva, G. B., Bayliss, J. and Conradie, W. (2020). First herpetological surveys of Mount Lico and Mount Socone, Mozambique. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 14(2): 198-217 (e247).
- Courtney Mustaphi, C. J., Platts, P. J. et al. (2024). Tree demographics and soil charcoal evidence of fire disturbances in an inaccessible forest atop the Mount Lico inselberg, Mozambique. Plants, People, Planet 7(1): 229-244.
- Streamline (14 September 2026), Mount Mabu legal protection: https://streamlinefeed.co.ke/news/mozambique-grants-legal-protection-to-mount-mabu-butterfly-forest
IMAGERY AND PHOTO CREDITS
- Earth views: Google Earth Studio (imagery and data attribution shown on screen); a composite of different dates.
- Photographs of Mount Lico and of the stream on top: J. Bayliss; frog (Arthroleptis sp.) and dwarf gecko (Lygodactylus sp.): the paper's authors. All from Bittencourt-Silva, Bayliss and Conradie (2020), Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 14(2), CC BY 4.0, cropped (gecko panel letter removed). Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
- Pots, icons, cliff sketch, butterfly, soil core, rings and text cards: our own drawings.
More African geography, history and culture on Africa Sound & Story.
#MountLico #Mozambique #GoogleEarth #Exploration
Palavra-chave: mozambique news
Comentários da comunidade
@PaxRomaus YouTube · 10/10/2026 · 👍 2
Why do modern humans find it so hard to believe that his IMMEDIATE ancestors were able to climb a mountain, even up sheer cliffs? Ropes, ladders, skill...
@gregoryschmidt1233 YouTube · 10/10/2026
Aliens. I saw it on History Channel.
@Peter-f5j6e YouTube · 11/10/2026
Easy. There's a secret internal spiral staircase. It's David Livingstone's fault. He all tricksy and sneaksy wouldn't put an X on his map to mark the entrance.