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As
wide as all the world, great, high and
unbelievable white in the sun, was the
square top of Mount Kilimanjaro”, so
wrote Ernest Hemingway (The Snows of
Mount Kilimanjaro). At an Altitude of
5.895 meters above sea level, Mount
Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in
Africa, the highest free standing
mountain in the world and one of the
largest volcanoes to burst through the
earth’s crust. The base of this immense
mountain measure 50x80 km and the
outstanding features are its three
 major
volcanic centres. Shira in the west
(4.260 meters), Mawenzi in the east
(5.280 meters) and the snow capped Kibo
in the middle (5.895 meters). In the
space of a few days, normally 3 days of
climb and 2 days of descent, the climber
can pass from the Equator to Arctic,
through tropical rain forest, moorland,
alpine desert to snow and ice. The
summit of Kilimanjaro can be reached by
any reasonable fit person, with the
assistance of a guide and porters, via
the gentle Marungu route. The youngest
to make it was eleven years old, the
oldest seventy four. Apart from its
dramatic geological features and the
beautiful mountain vegetation, Mount
Kilimanjaro is also notable for its
birdlife, which is plentiful in the rich
forest zone. Elephant, buffalo, eland,
Abott’s duiker, bushbuck, baboon, blue
as well as colobus monkey and even
leopard can be seen. There is also a
wide array of butterflies, moths and
other insects. The mountain can be
climbed anytime of the year although it
is often wet in the rain forest during
the rainy season in April and May. The
best period is from August to November.
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