Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro is one of the largest stratovolcanoes in the world, and began forming about a million years ago. It is 19,340 feet (5,895 m) into the air, it stands head and shoulders with the clouds and is the neighbor of the mountain Meru. Mount Kilimanjaro is also the tallest free standing mountain in the world and it is also the highest point in Africa. Mount Kilimanjaro has seven distinctive peaks, but the highest peak out of all of them is the Uhuru Peak. The lower areas of the mountain are dominated by evergreen forests. At approximately 3,000m up the landscape starts to change into a shrubs setting. Around 4,000m the landscape becomes very rocky. Finally the top is snow capped with many large glaciers. It is a composite volcano that includes layers of lava, tephra, and volcanic ash. The volcano in inactive as of right now with no known history of eruptions. The mountain features a year round snow-topped peak. The snow caps are diminishing very quickly, having lost over 80 per cent of them since 1912, due to climate change. It is expected that the snow-caps could be entirely gone by 2020.
Wildlife
Yes, wildlife does live on Mount Kilimanjaro, a lot in the forests that cover the lower slopes.But spotting animals on Kilimanjaro is not as easy as you might think. For all certain purposes, it would be better to plan on experiencing the trek and the views rather than encounters with wildlife. Even though in the forest areas of the mountain there are reports of baboons, civets, leopards, mongooses, colobus monkeys, honey badgers and servals, but are rarely seen. Eland and African hunting dogs are one of the most exciting animals that have been spotted. A frozen leopard was spotter once or twice in 1926, there have been two more sightings since. Kilimanjaro is totally overrun with people, so of course animals like to hang out where people don't.
By exploring the Ngorongoro Crater or Serengeti, you will have a much better chance to experiencing interactions with wildlife. |
The Best Way to Experience the Mountain
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Of course the best way to learn about the mountain up close and personal is to
experience it yourself. By taking a journey up the mountain. Since Kilimanjaro isn't very small and definitely not the easiest to get around , it will take an average of a week to get to the top of the mountain. It isn't a good idea to head out alone on this wonderful journey, so of course you'll need a guide. The best place take on the mountain, is by taking a trip to Kilimanjaro National Park. You must take notice before climbing the mountain, that you may experience, sickness due to how high it is, migraines, shortage of breaths, some elements of hypothermia. Also you have to make sure that your physical ability is very good. Facts: - Over 20,000 people attempt to climb Mount Kilimanjaro a year. - There are six established routes that climbers can take up the mountain. The most popular is the Marangu Route, which has been dubbed the “Coca-Cola” route. - Around 10 people die each year trying to climb the mountain. - The oldest person to summit Mount Kilimanjaro was an 87 year-old Frenchman named Valtee Daniel. - Mount Meru is an unofficial training ground for climbers preparing to take on Africa’s tallest point. - On June 29, 2009 eight blind climbers made it to the top of the mountain in an effort to raise funds for 52 blind babies in Arizona. - Famed humourist Douglas Adams, author of the legendary Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, once ran up the mountain dressed in a rhinoceros suit. |