Beauty & Adventure of Mount Kilimanjaro

Kilimanjaro Mount The roof of Africa

Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa’s highest mountain and one of the world’s most iconic peaks. Rising abruptly from the open plains, covered with snow and frequently fringed by clouds, it is one of Africa’s classic images and one that stunned the geographers and explorers of the 19th century: lying so close to the equator, how could the mountain contain snow?”

WHAT REASONS INSPIRE PEOPLE TO SCALE KILIMANJARO

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MOUNTAIN CONQUERED MANY YEARS AGO? OUR WRITER GERVASE TATAH EXPLORES THE MOTIVES THAT DRAW PEOPLE TO KILIMANJARO, RIGHT FROM THE DAYS OF HANS MEYER.

It is now one hundred and twentyƂXG[GCTUUKPEGVJGƂTUVUWEEGUUHWNexpedition to the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro. The mountain was conquered in October 1889 after almost 40 years of attempts by western climbers to explore the mountain in FKHƂEWNVGZRGFKVKQPUYJKEJKPENWFGFmen like: Johannes Rebmann (1848), Baron von der Decken (1861 and 1862), Charles New (1871), Harry Johnston (1883) and Hans Meyer (1887- 1889). 36 Dar Life I AUGUST 2020

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The presence of a snow-capped mountain in Africa, became known to Europeans in 1848 when the German missionary Johannes Rebmann explored this part of East Africa. However, reports from the explorer that there was a snow-capped mountain in Africa, so close to the Equator, was not believed until Hans Meyer and the Austrian mountaineer Ludwig Purtscheller climbed the mountain to the summit, ending a four- decade struggle among European explorers to reach the summit ƂTUVCPFRTQXGKVUUPQYU from Leipzig in Germany. He made four attempts to Kilimanjaro beginning in 1887 when the routes to the peak were not known, when the alpine forests round it was much thicker, and when its snow was much, much more prevalent on the slopes than it is today. Hans /G[GToUEQPSWGUVKPFGGFYCUFKHƂEWNVand historical.

Interestingly today, since Hans Meyer’s climb in 1889, the mountain still attracts climbers across the globe as if it is another beginning of discovery. Until today the attempt to climb Kilimanjaro is still the greatest challenge for adventurers wishing to reach the highest point on the African continent. But what really attracts people from every corner of the world, and from every age-set, to climb Kilimanjaro? $[CPFNCTIGVJGTGCTGƂXGIQQFreasons that inspire people to climb Kilimanjaro:

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highest free-standing mountain in the world. It is a free-standing mountain because it is not a part of a mountain range; it just rises abruptly from the open plains to kiss the clouds with a snow-capped peak at an elevation of 5, 895m (19,340 feet).

1. Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcano but not an extinct one. The most recent activity was about 200 years ago; the last major eruption was 360,000 years ago. Ominous rumbles can sometimes be heard –and gases emerge from fume holes in the crater. 2. Almost every kind of ecological system in the world is found on the mountain, right from tropical crops on the cultivated slopes, to the lush alpine forest inhabited by wild animals. Above the forest lies the moorland zone where a cover of heather, giant lobelia and huge, cactus-like plants grow. Then there is an almost-lunar landscape, the saddle, which stretches between the two peaks of Kibo and Mawezi.

The saddle is just a desert vainly dotted with moss and lichen. Then, ƂPCNN[VJGNCUVXGIGVCVKQPIKXGUYC[to a winter wonderland of ice and UPQYsVJGOCIPKƂEGPVDGCWV[QHthe roof of the continent. 3. Kilimanjaro is one of the world’s most accessible high summits: With the help of porters and a guide it is possible to walk all the way to the summit of Kibo without specialized mountaineering equipment, or experience, and Kilimanjaro can be EQPSWGTGFD[CP[TGCUQPCDN[ƂVperson. Most climbers reach the crater rim with little more than a walking stick, proper clothing and determination. The whole climb PQTOCNN[VCMGUƂXGQTUKZFC[UCPFKPXQNXGUHQWTQTƂXGQXGTPKIJVUVC[Uin mountain huts or tents. 4. The highest point on the mountain, and indeed the whole of Africa, is Uhuru Peak on Kibo. The peak provides views of spectacular glaciers and a yawning wide crater. Also on Kibo is the slightly lower peak of Gillman’s Point. These are the goals for most climbers. And those who reach Uhuru, the actual summit, or Gillman’s Point on the lip of the ETCVGTGCTPEGTVKƂECVGUCVVJGGPFof their expedition for their brave endeavours to walk to the Roof of Africa. AUGUST 2020 Dar Life 37