About Mount Kilimanjaro

About Mount Kilimanjaro -Kilibound Adventures

 The Mount Kilimanjaro History :

Kilimanjaro Mountain is believed to be formed a million years ago. There three cones erupted as Shira was formed firstly about 500,000 years ago, followed by Mawenzi cone, both now extinct, and collapsed caldera. Supported on their foundation, Kibo cone continued to rise to become the famous ice-capped peak.

Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa continent as stands at 19,341 feet (5,895 meters). Kilimanjaro Mountain is a giant strato-volcano that began forming about a million years ago and is composed of many volcanic ash hardened layers, lava, pumice and tephra-fragmental material that is the fall-out from the volcanic eruption.

Mount Kilimanjaro is one of the seven summits that are the highest peaks in the seven continents is located in Tanzania in East Africa. Kilimanjaro lies within the 292-square-mile (756 square kilometers) Kilimanjaro National Park. Kilimanjaro rises from its base approximately 16,732 feet (5,100 meters) from the plains near the municipality of Moshi, making it the tallest free-standing mountain in the entire world.

There are three volcanic cones that makes up the Kilimanjaro, Kibo is the summit with 19,341 feet (5,895 meters), Mawenzi at 16,893 feet (5,149 meters), and Shira at 13,000 feet (3,962 meters). Uhuru Peak is the highest summit on Kibo’s crater rim. Uhuru, Swahili for “Freedom,” was named in 1961 when Tanganyika gained its independence and the country’s flag was taken to this peak. Tanganyika later joined with the islands of Zanzibar to form Tanzania.

Kibo peak (the highest peak) is merely dormant, so there is the possibility that it could erupt. The other two volcanic formations are extinct meaning that they are very highly unlikely to erupt. Estimates have the last major eruption on Mount Kilimanjaro was dated to 360,000 years ago, but volcanic activity on the Mountain was recorded just 200 years ago. While Kibo is dormant, gas is emitted into the crater, causing several collapses and landslides, with the most extensive ones creating the area known as the Western Breach. While it still covered with ice caps and glaciers at higher levels, global warming is quickly changing the climate and scientists expect the famed snows of Kilimanjaro to disappear sometime between 2023 and 2033.

Where the name “Kilimanjaro “Came from :

One conspiracy says that the “Kilimanjaro” name come from two Swahili words, first “Kilima” which means “mountain” and chagga word “njaro” which is translated as the whiteness of the snow at the mountain others says it’s a chagga word “kyaro” and not “njaro” .Another theory is that Kilimanjaro word is coming from a poorly European pronunciation of a chagga phrase which meant “failing to climb the mount”.

The Kilimanjaro Weather:

The climate of Kilimanjaro is clearly influenced by the height of the mountain, which allows the simultaneous influence of the equatorial trade winds and the high altitude anti-trades, and by the isolated position of the mountain. Kilimanjaro has daily upslope and nightly down-slope winds, a regimen stronger on the southern than the northern side of the mountain. The flatter southern flanks are more extended and affect the atmosphere more strongly.

Rainfalls:

Kilimanjaro has mainly two distinct rainy seasons though sometimes it’s may change, one from March to May and another around November and early December. The northern slopes receive much-less rain-fall than the southern ones. The lower southern slope receives about 800 to 900 millimeters (31 to 35 in) annually, rising to 1,500 to 2,000 millimeters (59 to 79 in) at 1,500 meters (4,900 ft) altitude and peaking “partly over” 3,000 millimeters (120 in) in the forest belt at 2,000 to 2,300 meters (6,600 to 7,500 ft). In the alpine zone, annual precipitation decreases to 200 millimeters (7.9 in).

Temperature:

It’s a forbidding, unwelcoming place. It’s very cold place to be, with breezy winds and the night-time temperatures well below freezing. As you set off for your summit attempt, there may be ice and snow underfoot, it’s  very-bitterly cold, even at mid-day and the sun’s radiation is grating.

The average temperature in the summit area is approximately −7 °C (19 °F). Night-time surface temperatures on the Northern Ice Field (NIF) fall on average to −9 °C (16 °F), with an average day-time high of −4 °C (25 °F). During nights of extreme radiation cooling, the Northern Ice Field can cool to as low as −15 to −27 °C (5 to −17 °F).

Snow:

Snowfall may occur at any time of year but this is mostly associated with the Northern Tanzania’s mainly two rainy seasons. Precipitation in the summit area occurs principally as snow and graupel of 250 to 500 millimeters (9.8 to 19.7 in) per year and ablates within days or years.

Vegetation at Kilimanjaro

The natural forests cover about 1,000 square kilometres (250,000 acres) on Kilimanjaro. In the foothill area of Kilimanjaro, maize, beans, sunflowers and, on the western side, wheat are also cultivated. There are remnants of the former savanna vegetation with Acacia, Combretum, Terminalia and Grewia. Between 3,300 feets and 5,900 feets, coffee seems to be as part of local plantations,

Records from the Maundi crater at 2,780 metres (9,120 ft) indicate that the vegetation of Kilimanjaro has varied over time. Forest vegetation retreated during the Last Glacial Maximum and the ericaceous vegetation belt lowered by 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) between 42,000 and 30,000 years ago because of the drier and colder conditions. The Tussock Grassland is an area on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro that contains many unique species of vegetation.

• Bushland / Lower Slope:800 m – 1,800 m (2,600 ft – 5,900 ft);
• Rainforest: 1,800 m – 2,800 m (5,900 ft – 9,200 ft);
• Heather / Moorland: 2,800 m – 4,000 m (9,200 ft – 13,100 ft);
• Alpine Desert: 4,000 m – 5,000 m (13,100 ft– 16,400 ft);
• Arctic: 5,000 m – 5,895 m (16,400 ft – 19,300 ft)

Special Memories at Kilimanjaro Mountain

You can create your special moment at Kilimanjaro Mountain with Kilibound Adventures just contact us directly and let us see how we can plan your event with the authorities, our aim is only to make your time unforgettable.

1. According to the Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA), the first wedding carried out on the mountain just below the summit took place on 21 September 2014, when an American lovebird’s couple exchanged their vows at Shira 2 Camp. Also in 2011, a couple exchanged their vows at the summit.
2. Also on 26 September 2014, a new world record for the highest-ever cricket match was set when a group of international cricketers played on a flat crater on the mountain at an elevation of 5,730 metres (18,800 ft).