Rising over 16,000ft from the surrounding plains to a peak of 19,340ft, Kilimanjaro is Africa’s highest mountain.
As described by Ernest Hemingway "as wide as all the world, great, high and unbelievably white in the sun, was the square top of Kilimanjaro", The Kilimanjaro is one of the most impressive sights in Africa, visible from as far away as Tsavo and Amboseli National parks in Kenya.
Mount Kilimanjaro is comprised of 5 very distinct vegetation zones of approx 1000m each that have formed because of the mountain's location sitting just south of the equator and it's extreme height. These zones are; farmland zone, forest or jungle, heather and moorland, highland desert and the summit zone.
The fertile Lower Slopes are cultivated and support a dense population. This region is mostly used for coffee production, in fact some of Africa's best coffee comes from the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro! Bananas are also grown on the lower mountain, a large number of which are used for the production of banana wine and beer. Wild flowers are also prolific in this area.
The Montane Forest Zone covers the lower slopes between altitudes of 1800m and 3000m. Because most of the rain on the mountain falls in the south and the east, jungle is much thicker here than to the north on the Kenyan side of the mountain. The heavy rainfall and biological diversity supports a fair amount of wildlife. There are several types of forest antelope. Monkeys (both Blue and Colobus) are prevalent on certain routes and while olive baboons, leopards, mongooses, elephants, bushbabies, black rhinoceros, giraffes and buffaloes are known to visit the mountain's slopes they are rarely seen. Butterflies are numerous, though birds may be difficult to see except at dawn and dusk. Wildlife is best visible above the thinner jungle on the Rongai Route and on the edges of the Shira Plateau.
Between 3000m and 4000m lies the Moorland Zone. The slopes are covered in heath-like vegetation and an abundant array of wild flowers. There are not many large mammals on the moorland but Klipspringer are abundant. The views are totally stunning. Above the forest the daytime temperature can soar above 40oC yet and drop below 0oC at night. Coupled with increased winds and decreased rainfall, giant heathers, wild grasses and a rocky trail replaces the trees and mud of the forest. Some of the heathers can grow to over 10m in height, dwarfing a person but as altitude increases the flora is reduced in size and grasses become much more predominant. Large fields of wild flowers cover sections of the mountain and clouds float at human eye level.
Above an altitude of 4000m it becomes very dry, classified as semi-desert with an annual rainfall of less than 250mm. In this Alpine Zone the ground often freezes at night but it still gets very hot during the day, with temperatures sometimes exceeding 30oC. These conditions mean that few plants can survive. Six species of moss and several lichens are endemic to this area. Past Volcanic activity is well visible here. From small stones to huge boulders, volcanic rock stretches as far as the eye can see. Close enough to the cone of Kibo there is the vast glaciers that cling to the deep gorges on the slopes and the breaches in the crater rim where molten lava punched through during ancient eruptions. This is one of the most dramatic landscapes human ever witness.
The Arctic Zone starts at an altitude of 5000m. Virtually no rainfall and little permanent life make for quite a barren landscape.
Ice in patches appears at the lower section of this zone and soon in large fields through the summit glaciers. On the rare occasions when it does precipitate the porous, volcanic rock absorbs the moisture in an instant. The inner and outer craters of Kibo, a 120m deep ash pit and the Great Northern Glacier are the most notable features of the summit while the peak of Mawenzi is just visible to the east behind the crater rim and to the north Kenya spreads out on the horizon.
It is unknown where the name Kilimanjaro comes from, but a number of theories exist.
Its believed that Kilimanjaro breaks up into Kilima (Swahili for "hill- a little mountain") and Njaro, whose supposed origin varies according to the theory—for some it's an ancient Swahili word for white or for shining, while for others it has non-Swahili origin, e.g. Kichagga word jaro meaning caravan. The problem with all these theories is that they can't explain why the diminutive kilima is used instead of the proper word for mountain, mlima. A different approach is to assume that it comes from the Kichagga kilmanare or kileajao meaning "which defeats the bird/leopard/caravan". However this theory can't explain the fact that Kilimanjaro was never used in Kichagga before in Europe in the mid-1800s.
Mount Kilimanjaro is in the shape of a mountainous volcano; it is formed by material being thrown up by the volcano vent, which then piles around the vent in the shape of a cone. Mount Kilimanjaro is made up of tephra, i.e. it has a cinder cone. They are made up of blobs of congealed lava and particles. When the mountain erupted millions of years ago, the gas-charged lava would be blown violently into the air, then breaking into smaller fragments which would solidify and fall as cinders. This left Mount Kilimanjaro with a bowl-shaped crater.
While the volcano appears to be dormant on the inside, events on top of the mountain draw global attention. The top of the mountain has seen a retreat of the most recent covering of glaciers, with the most recent ice cap volume dropping by more than 80%.
There are several routes by which to climb Mt Kilimanjaro, namely, Marangu, Rongai, Lemosho, Shira, Umbwe and Machame. Of all the routes, Machame is by far the most scenic albeit steeper route up the mountain, which can be done in 6 or 7 days. The Rongai is the easiest camping route and the Marangu is also easy.
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