About Kilimanjaro

MOUTAIN TREKKING

Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcanic mountain, highest in Africa and highest free standing mountain in the world.

GEOLOGY:

Kilimanjaro is composed of three distinct volcanic cones: Kibo 5,895 m (19,341 ft); Mawenzi 5,149 m (16,893 ft); and Shira 3,962 m (13,000ft). Uhuru Peak is the highest summit on Kibo’s crater rim.

Kilimanjaro is a colossal stratovolcano that was formed a million years ago after lava spilled from the Rift Valley zone. Two of its three peaks, Mawenzi and Shira, are extinct while Kibo (the highest peak) is dormant and could hit the roof again. The last major eruption is dated to 360,000 years ago, while the most recent activity was recorded 200 years ago. Although it is dormant, Kibo has fumaroles that emit gas in the crater. In 2003, scientists reported a molten magma just 400 m (1,310 ft) below the summit crater. Several collapses and landslides have occurred on Kibo in the past, one creating the area known as the Western Breach.

THE NAME

It is unknown where the Kilimanjaro originated, but a number of theories exist. The name was adopted in 1860 by Europeans explorers; they reported that it was a combination of Swahili words for “Kilima” and “Njaro” which denotes “a hill, little mountain” and “white or shining” respectively as one of the mostly commonly referred of the theories. The name “Kilima” is agreed in its meaning but the “Njaro” another explanation from the chagga ethnic tribe; the word “Njaro” is a corrupted Jaro word from the Kichagga language means “caravan”.

An alternative theory is that on November 10, 1848, the German missionary Rebmann wrote in his diary:”This morning we discerned the Mountains of Jagga more distinctly than ever.” Jagga was the corrupted pronunciation of Chagga by Europeans. Kilimanjaro may also be the European corrupted pronunciation of the Chagga phrase that “Kile-lema-irho”, meaning “we failed to climb it” in Kichagga. If so, Kile-lema-irho/Kilimanjaro would have been the Chagga way of explaining to “kyasaka” (newcomers) when they asked them about the shining mountain top of Kibo and Mawenzi Peak.

In the 1880s, the mountain, at that time spelled Kilima-Ndscharo in German following the Swahili name components, became a part of German East Africa after Karl Peters had persuaded local chiefs to sign treaties (a common story that Queen Victoria gave the mountain to her grandson Kaiser Wilhelm II is not true). When in 1889 Hans Meyer reached the highest summit on the crater ridge of Kibo, he named it “Kaiser-Wilhelm-Spitze” (“Kaiser Wilhelm peak”). That name was used until 1918, when after World War I the German colonies were handed over to the British Empire. When Tanganyika gained its independence in 1961, this summit was named “Uhuru peak”, meaning “Freedom peak” in Swahili.

CLIMBING HISTORY

The pioneer European explorer who attempted to climb Mt.Kilimanjaro was a German officer named Baron Carl Claus von Decken in 1861. Then a young British geologist Richard Thornton (1838-1863) made a first attempt to climb Kibo and managed to reach no farther than 2,500 m (8,200 ft). Von Decken together with Otto Kersten gave it a second trial a reached a height of 4,280 m (14,000 ft) in 1862.

In 1887, during his first attempt to climb Kilimanjaro, the German geology professor Hans Meyer reached the base of Kibo, but was forced to retreat due to lack of climbing gears to match the deep snow and ice on Kibo. The following year, Meyer planned another attempt with cartographer Oscar Baumann, but the mission was aborted due to consequences of the Abushiri Revolt. Meyer and Baumann were captured and held hostage, they were freed after a ten thousand rupees ransom had been paid.

In 1889 Meyer and renowned Austrian mountaineer Ludwig Purtscheller for a third attempt. Their climbing team included two local headmen, nine porters, a cook, and a guide. After Meyer and Purtscheller pushed to near the crater rim on October 3, exhausted from hacking footsteps in the icy slope, they reached the highest summit on the southern rim of the crater on Purtscheller’s 40th birthday, October 6, 1889. They were the first to confirm that Kibo has a crater, which was filled with ice by the time. After descending to the saddle between Kibo and Mawenzi, their next attempt was to climb the more technically challenging Mawenzi next, but managed to reach a 5096 m high subsidiary peak (later to be named Klute Peak) before retreating due to illness. On October 18 they reascended Kibo to enter and study the crater, cresting the rim at Hans Meyers Notch. In total, Meyer and Purtscheller spent 16 days above 4,200 m during their expedition.

In 1989, the organizing committee of the 100-year celebration of the first ascent decided to award posthumous certificates to the African porter-guides who had accompanied Meyer and Purtscheller. One person in pictures or documents of the 1889 expedition was thought to match a living inhabitant of Marangu, Yohani Kinyala Lauwo. Lauwo did not know his own age nor did he remember Meyer or Purtscheller, but he remembered joining a Kilimanjaro expedition involving a Dutch doctor who lived near the mountain and not wearing shoes during the 8-day affair. Lauwo claimed that he had climbed the mountain 3 times before World War I. The committee concluded that he had been a member of Meyer’s team and therefore must have been born around 1871.Lauwo died on 10 May 1996, thus reconstructed world-record age of 124 or 125 and is now even often suggested as co-first-ascendant of Kilimanjaro.

TREKKING:

There are six official trekking routes 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 managed in six or seven days. The Rongai is the easiest and least scenic of all camping routes with the most difficult summit night and the Marangu is also relatively easy, but accommodation is in shared huts with all other climbers. As a result, this route tends to be very busy, and ascent and descent routes are the same.

It is advisable for trekkers to the summit undertake appropriate preparation for the climbing gears and their physically capability. The Himalayas or Andes are more technical challenging than Kilimanjaro, but the high elevation, low temperature, and occasional high winds make this a difficult and dangerous trek. Acclimatization is vital as the summit is well above the altitude, which high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) or high altitude cerebral edema (HACE) can occur. Even then most veteran trekkers suffer some degree of altitude sickness such as discomfort, typical breath shortage, hypothermia and mild headaches.

UNIQUE VEGETATION:

Kilimanjaro has an enormous biodiversity while low in endemic species. However endemics include the giant groundsels in the bunchgrass tussock grasslands, and other flora adapted to living in alpine plant conditions.

Kilimanjaro has a large variety of forest types over an altitudinal range of 3,000 m (9,843 ft) containing over 1,200 vascular plant species. Montane Ocotea forests occur on the wet southern slope. Cassipourea and Juniperus forests grow on the dry northern slope. Subalpine Erica forests at 4,100 m (13,451 ft) represent the highest elevation cloud forests in Africa. In contrast to this enormous biodiversity, the degree of endemism is low. However, forest relicts in the deepest valleys of the cultivated lower areas suggest that a rich forest flora inhabited Mt Kilimanjaro in the past, with restricted-range species otherwise only known from the Eastern Arc Mountains. The low degree of endemism on Kilimanjaro may result from destruction of lower elevation forest rather than the relatively young age of the mountain.

Another feature of the forests of Kilimanjaro is the absence of a bamboo zone, which occurs on all other tall mountains in East Africa with a similarly high rainfall. Sinarundinaria alpina stands are favoured by elephants and African Buffalos elsewhere. On Kilimanjaro these mega herbivores occur on the northern slopes, where it is too dry for a large bamboo zone to develop. They are excluded from the wet southern slope forests by topography and humans, who have cultivated the foothills for at least 2000 years.

This interplay of biotic and abiotic factors could explain not only the lack of a bamboo zone on Kilimanjaro but also offers possible explanations for the patterns of diversity and endemism. If true, Kilimanjaro’s forests would serve as a striking example of the large and long-lasting influence of both animals and humans on the African landscape.

MOUNTAIN ZONES:

Below are the five zones from the lowest to the highest altitude along with the average annual precipitation, zone characteristics, and the current weather in each particular zone.

Bush Land Zone:

Altitude: 2,600 to 6,000 ft (800 to 1,800 m)

Precipitation: 20 to 70 in (500 to 1,800 mm)

Cultivated land, grasslands and populated human settlements characterize this zone.

Rain Forest Zone:

Altitude: 6,000 to 9,200 ft (1,800 to 2,800 m)

Precipitation: 79 to 40 in (2,000 to 1,000 mm)

The forest receives rain annually, supporting a variety of plants and wildlife while clear nights can produce low temperatures.

Heath Zone:

Altitude: 9,200 to 13,200 ft (2,800 to 4,000 m)

Precipitation: 51 to 21 in (1,300 to 530 mm)

This semi-alpine zone is characterized by heath-like vegetation and abundant wild flowers. The unique Senecio trees are copious.

Alpine Desert Zone:

Altitude: 13,200 to 16,500 ft (4,000 to 5,000 m)

Precipitation: 10 in (250 mm)

The alpine desert receives little water and correspondingly sparse vegetation. The temperature can vary from over 100 degrees Fahrenheit during the day to below freezing at night.

Arctic Zone:

Altitude: 16,500+ ft (5,000+ m)

Precipitation: <4 in (100 mm)

Characterized by ice and rock, there is virtually no plant or animal life at this altitude. Nights are extremely cold and the day’s unbuffered sun is powerful. The oxygen level is half that of sea level.

DAILY ROUTINE:

The daily routine rarely changes when climbing Kilimanjaro, although your guide may request an early or late start depending on the route and weather conditions. You will be woken around 7am each morning with a hot cup of aromatic tea or coffee, and will have around 30 minutes to pack most of your things and prepare for breakfast. After breakfast, you will have plenty of time to freshen and prepare to heading off for your daily trek at around 9am.

Morning treks are usually around 3-4 hours, and there will be plenty of water breaks along the way. You will be served lunch on route anywhere between 12:30 and 14:00, before continuing on to base-camp. You can expect to arrive at base-camp late afternoon (between 15:00 and 17:00), and will have time to rest and freshen up in your tent before dinner at around 19:00h. Summit night is slightly different, in that you will eat dinner earlier (around 18:00h) and return to your tent to sleep before being woken at 23:00h for tea and biscuits before setting off at around midnight.