National Parks Africa » Kilimanjaro National Park

Kilimanjaro is a huge mountain but the park that protects its upper reaches is really quite small, only 756 square kilometres (292 square miles). It was established in 1973 and ranges in altitude from 1,000 metres (3,280 feet) to 5,895 metres (19,340 feet) at Kibo peak, the highest point in Africa. The lower slopes are protected by being both a forest and game reserve. The park may be expanded in the future but now has several corridors or rights of way through the forest. The alternative routes to the peaks follow these lush forest corridors.

The peaks:
Kilimanjaro is composed of three extinct volcanoes: Kibo, Mawenzi (5,145 metres/16,890 feet) and Shira (4,002 metres/13,140 feet). Kibo, being highest, is the peak that most visitors wish to climb. The top is breathtaking, not only because it is a Long, steep climb at very high altitude but also because the views from Kibo are stunning. From the rim you can survey (weather permitting!) a vast surround of plains and other Rift Valley mountains (most notably Mount Meru to the west). Looking inward one sees the ash cone and, around the interior, sparkling glacier ice carved by wind and rain and melted by the sun into fantastic shapes. The exhilaration of having successfully reached the top adds to the sense of being on Africa’s highest point.

Most people reach Kibo by way of a well-planned route along the eastern slopes. There are chalets and huts along the way, providing food and rest at each night’s stop. From the park gate at Marangu there are two trails; one directly up a fairly open ridge; the other through forest with monkeys and birds Hartlaub’s turaco is especially easy to see. The trails join well before reaching the first huts at Mandara at 2,700 metres (8,856 feet).

On the second day one can visit Maundi Crater, one of the many little “parasitic cones” that deck the flanks of the mountain. Here you can see the huge creamy protea flower in its native habitat. Also along the way are great hagenia trees with clusters of dark red flowers, bright green hypericum bushes with large yellow flowers, and the dramatic red or yellow spikes of poker flowers. A common bushy tree that might look familiar to visitors from northern climes is the giant heather with delicate little white flowers.

The trail continues across valleys and streams and emerges finally on to the upper moorlands where one is greeted by the strange forms of Senecio and lobelia trees. The high moor and grassland is decked with beautiful grasses, flowers and birds. The air is crisp, the views splendid; the altitude here is not yet high enough to spoil your enjoyment of this delightful walk.

The second set of huts at Horombo, 3,807 metres (12,500 feet) are located on the slope above a particularly pretty and interesting valley. From here there are trails to less-visited areas of Kilimanjaro, such as the circuit route, Mawenzi and Mawenzi Tarn. Since the number of bunks is double that of the other hut complexes it is worth staying an extra day to explore this striking and beautiful area lying just below the “altitude sickness” zone.

Once above the heath and moorland, the climb ceases to be a major wildlife experience. Even so, there are still many fascinating sites: compact everlasting plants with pretty, hardy blooms, intrepid spiders hunting among rocks that bear lichens perhaps hundreds of years old. And there are the transients across The Saddle: tracks of eland, leopard or African hunting dogs and lovely butterflies blown high on the wind, or croaking white-naped ravens soaring above your head.

After crossing the rocky, bare Saddle between the flattened peak of Kibo and the jagged peak of Mawenzi, there is a rise that leads to Kibo Hut at 4,721 metres (15,500 feet). Here climbers usually spend the third night—short though it is! Ordinarily, you are roused just after midnight in order to get to the top of Kibo at dawn while the scree is still frozen and there is time to get all the way back down to Horombo Hut.

The long hike, usually in the dark, means one foot ahead of the other up numerous switchbacks to Kibo’s summit there are really two: Gillman’s Point at 5,681 metres (18,650 feet) is a few hundred metres lower and a couple of kilometres closer than Uhuru Peak, Kibo’s highest point at 5,895 metres (19,340 feet). There’s not much wildlife up here, but early explorers found a leopard frozen on the rim and others were pursued by a pack of hunting dogs. Most people reach either of the two peaks of Kibo then head back down, stopping at Horombo overnight, bypassing Mandara and reaching the Marangu Gate by afternoon. Thus the total hike takes about five days.

Mawenzi, a ragged cone of hard but crumbling lava can be seen across The Saddle from Kibo. It tempts only the hard-core rock climbers and some havemet their death there. There are several climbing routes up Mawenzi and four major alternative routes to the top of Kibo: Mweka, Umbwe, Machame and Shira. Each route has its own distinctive character.

Shira peak, on the west side of Kibo, is hidden by the bulk of the mountain. It is much eroded, hardly more than a shallow crater with some higher edges and forms a broad plateau. Shira is by far the most beautiful side of Kilimanjaro and has the advantage of being accessible by four wheel drive vehicle, along a track which climbs from wheat farms and plantation forest through natural forest to moorland. From the plateau formed by the old Shira volcano one can climb further on to the flanks of Kibo from the west and join the circuit trails, or continue on up to the peak by way of the Great Western Breach or Barranco.

Shira plateau has wonderful and plentiful plant life and some large mammals as well; common duikers, small herds of eland and even the odd stray lion or leopard. The scenery is magnificent and currently unspoiled by the clutter of accommodation or the litter of myriad climbers.

Plant life:
Kilimanjaro is one of the best places in the world to see how plant life changes with altitude. Lush rain forest gives way to highland desert further up the mountain. Besides freezing and desiccation caused by the increase in altitude, daily fluctuations in temperature and intense radiation mean that some days plants have ice crystals instead of water at their roots with hot sun on the leaves. As the soil unfreezes, the roots can be disturbed by soil movements and the leaves can dry out.

Only about 50 kinds of hardy plants survive above 4,000 metres (13,120 feet) on Kilimanjaro. Besides the lichens and mosses that cling to rocks and soil there are several flowering plants. Tussock grasses survive by growing in a clump, the old leaves forming a cushion that insulates the roots and retains moisture. Leaves are long and thin to reduce evaporation.

Giant senecios and lobelias survive by insulating their trunks with their dead leaves. They also produce a sort of “anti-freeze” fluid in their leaves and have tiny, protected flowers.

Easy access:
Kilimanjaro National Park is one of the most accessible parks in Tanzania. It has a good tarmac road from Moshi, the town at the mountain’s foot, to Marangu, the main entry gate. Moshi itself lies on the main road and railway from Dares Salaam to Arusha and is 56 kilometres (34.7 miles) east of Kilimanjaro International Airport. Roads go to all points except the northern side (which borders on Kenya and is currently closed to climbers).

Climbing the mountain by routes other than the main Marangu route requires prior clearance from the park headquarters at Marangu.

The best weather for climbing is January, February or September and the mountain is best avoided in April and May. Rainfall varies between 1,500 mm. (58.5 inches) at the park boundary to 100 mm (3.9 inches) at the top.