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Information on Parks
Mt. Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro is Africa's highest mountain, rising 19,341 feet above sea level situated in north-eastern Tanzania between the town of Moshi and the Kenyan border.
The first people to announce they had conquered Kilimanjaro were Hans Meyer and Ludwig Purtscheller from Germany who made it to the top of Kibo, Kilimanjaro's highest peak in 1889. There they planted the German flag and named the summit Kaiser Wilhelm Spitze in honour of their king. This name can still be found on some maps of Kilimanjaro.
The Forest Reserve, which is also a Game Reserve, was established in 1921; the Park was established in 1973 and officially opened in 1977 and in 1989 the Park was declared a World Heritage Site by the World Heritage Convention.
Kilimanjaro stands a scant 205 miles south of the equator, on the northern boundary of Tanzania. Its location on an open plain close to the Indian Ocean, and its great size and height strongly influence the climate, vegetation, animal life and the climbing conditions. Kilimanjaro is actually composed of three separate extinct volcanoes, believed to be last significantly active during the Pleistocene era. The smallest of the three craters is Shira at 12,999 feet(3,962 meters). Next comes Mawenzi at 16,896 feet (5,149 meters) and then the highest, Kibo, at 19,341 feet(5,895 meters). The summit crater at Kibo measures an awe-inspiring 1.5 miles across and is connected to the Mawenzi summit by an 11 mile wide saddle
Kilimanjaro towers above the Great Rift Valley, possible birthplace of humankind and the site of the Leakey's research in the Olduvai Gorge. This gives Kilimanjaro an awesome mystique. One can imagine the mountain towering above our ancestors, making an early, continual impression on the species. When you walk the mountain, you'll probably encounter some odd, purposeful arrangements of stone. Your guides will claim to not know what they mean. Perhaps they don't.
On Kilimanjaro, some mysteries may never be answered and its still remain the worlds most walk able summit
Flora And Fauna
The Kilimanjaro National Park comprises five distinct ecological zones - montane forest, moorland, upland moor, alpine bogs and alpine desert. Each zone has its own unique flora and fauna. Above 15,092 feet there is little vegetation or animal life, although the body of a leopard was found near the summit of Kibo in 1926 and mosses and lichens survive right to the summit. Some daisy-like Helichrysum newii have been seen over 18,700 feet.
Below this level, heath, scrub plants and grasses dominate, leading down to ferns and fern trees. On the drier northern slopes, cedar and olive trees flourish whilst the southern slopes feature the evergreen camphor tree and Podocarpus. The most commonly found animals above the tree line are antelopes - especially eland and grey duiker. Occasionally buffalo move up from the forest levels, as well as servals, beautiful long-legged wild cats.
At montane forest level, you will find baboons, monkeys and bushbabies, as well as the occasional leopard. Mongeese, dikdiks and chameleons are also common and there are a number of rare bird species too, including Abbots’s starling and sunbird
Routes
The Marangu route The Marangu route is by far the most popular and cheapest route up Kilimanjaro, a gentle ascent that gives spectacular views of the Mawenzi and Kibo peaks. The round trip should take approximately five days.
Machame Route
Surely the most beautiful route on Kilimanjaro - a slow ascent through forest land and beautiful flora to emerge onto the Shira plateau with extraordinary views of Kibo and the Western Breach. Because of its gentle ascent, this route gives climbers plenty of time to acclimatise and has the highest success rate of all routes on the mountain.
Mweka Route
The most direct and obviously the steepest. The highlights of this route are wonderful views of Kibo, the views over the vast expanse of open plains and the southern glaciers.
Shira Route
The Shira plateau is one of the most fascinating areas of the mountain and the climb can be done starting' halfway to the summit. The highlights of this route are the extraodinary large senecios which can reach up to 10 metres in height, Shira cone, which rises 200m above the plateau, and the Shira ridge which has sheer cliffs 400m high.
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