20 Fascinating Facts about
Mt Kilimanjaro
There are a couple of
things most travellers will already know about Mt Kilimanjaro: the fact that it
is situated in the northern portion of Tanzania, within the Kilimanjaro National Park; the fact that it
covers an area of 100 metres long and 65 metres wide; or the fact that it is
Africa’s highest mountain. Most adventurers will also know that Mount
Kilimanjaro is made up of three volcanic cones (Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira) and
is itself a dormant volcanic mountain. However, this certainly doesn’t mean you
know ‘pretty much all there is to know’ about the spectacle that is Mount
Kilimanjaro. So, for your reading pleasure, here are twenty facts about the
majestic Mountain that you probably didn’t know.
1. Mount Kilimanjaro is
the highest free-standing mountain in the world at a spectacular height of
5,895 metres above sea level. (Mount Everest is just more than 2,950 metres
higher!)
2. The last major volcanic
eruption from Kibo took place more than 360,000 years ago.
3. The last volcanic
activity of Mount Kilimanjaro occurred 200 years back, resulting in the ash pit
that climbers today can see from Uhuru Peak.
4. Since 1912, Kilimanjaro
has lost 82% of its ice cap, and since 1962 it has lost 55% of its remaining
glaciers – all due to climate change.
5. There are seven
official routes on Mount Kilimanjaro, six of which are used for ascent
(Machame, Umbwe, Marangu, Shira, Lemosho, Rongai), and one of which is used for
descent only (Mweka).
6. Approximately 35,000
people attempt climbing Kilimanjaro each year, of which only two thirds are
usually successful. This is mostly due to altitude-related problems, forcing
some climbers to turn back.
7. Hans Meyer (a German
geologist), Ludwig Purtscheller, and a local named Lauwo were the first people
ever to have reached the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro in October of 1889. (It is
possible that the mountain had already been conquered earlier by locals, but
was never documented).
8. Spanish mountain
runner, Kilian Jornet, made the fastest ascent up the mountain in September
2010, at just 22 years of age. He reached the top of the Mountain in a
startling 5 hours, 23 minutes and 50 seconds.
9. The youngest person to
have climbed Mt Kilimanjaro is currently Keats Boyd from Los Angeles, who
reached the summit in January 2008 at the age of 7. (This is even more
impressive due to the fact that Boyd somehow managed to dodge the minimum age
rule for young climbers, which is 10 years old).
10. The oldest person to
have reached Kilimanjaro’s summit is Martin Kafer at 85, followed by his wife,
Esther at 84. The Canadian-Swiss couple reached the Mountain’s summit in
October 2012. (There are some who say the oldest person to have summited Mt
Kilimanjaro was Frenchman Valtee Daniel, his climb was not independently
verified and didn’t have sufficient documentation to be verified – i.e. Logbook
notes, photographs, and film).
11. It is estimated that
around 3-7 people die trying to climb Mount Kilimanjaro each year. The causes
vary from altitude-related sicknesses or AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness), to
accidental falls, to hypothermia. Sometimes porters die due to the onset of
malaria during the trek. And strangely enough, one climber also died on the
Mountain in early 2013 by being struck by lightning.
12. Almost every person to
have summited the Mountain has recorded their thoughts about their achievement
in a book that is stored in a wooden box at the top of the Mountain.
13. Virtually every type
of ecological system can be found on this mountain, including cultivated land,
rain forest, heath, moorland, alpine desert, and an arctic summit.
14. In 2008 it was
announced by the Tourism minister of Tanzania that 4.8 million indigenous
trees will be planted around the base of the Mountain, aiding in preventing
soil erosion and the protection of water sources.
15. South African-born
inspiration, Bernard Goosen, managed to conquer the Mountain twice in a
wheelchair! His first summit took place in 2003 and lasted for nine days. His
second occurred four years later, taking him only six days to complete the
trek. Goosen was born with cerebral palsy, but determinedly used a modified
wheelchair (mostly without assistance) to scale the Mountain.
16. In January 2010,
actors Jessica Biel and Emile Hirsch, along with rapper Lupe Fiasco, joined the
Summit on the Summit group’s expedition to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. The
purpose of the voyage was to raise awareness of the lack of clean drinking
water for millions around the world.
17. Out of every 1,000
tons of water that trickles down the Mountain, approximately 400 of them come
directly from ice caps.
18. The first summit up
Mount Kilimanjaro happened in 1889 and took around six weeks in comparison to
the five or six days in which the average climber can complete it in today.
19. A porter from the very
first successful summit lived to see the 100th celebration of the climb at an
incredible 118 years of age!
And our personal favorite:
20. Douglas Adams, the
late famous author of the legendary Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series,
took part in a Mt Kilimanjaro hike dressed in a rhinoceros suit for the British
charity organization, Save the Rhino International.