WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT KILIMANJARO MOUNTAIN.

Mount Kilimanjaro , is nicknamed the roof of Africa and is proud to be the highest mountain in Africa. The mountain is located in northeastern Tanzania, near the border of Kenya.

Kilimanjaro was first climbed in 1889 by German geographer Hans Meyer and Austrian mountain climber Ludwig Purtscheller, long before W. H. Tilman and C. Houston made the first ascent from the south of Everest in 1950. 
Ever since it has been a coveted climb by tourists and professional climbers around the world.

Mount Kilimanjaro is actually a dormant volcano. Its two peaks stand about 11 km (about 7 mi) apart and are connected by a broad ridge. The highest peak, Kibo, rises to 5895 m (19,340 ft) above sea level, and the summit of Mawenzi is 5149 m (16,892 ft) above sea level.

Although Kilimanjaro is only 3 degrees south of the equator, an ice cap covers the crater of Kibo year-round.
This mountain and it's ice cap was the inspiration for Ernest Hemingway's famous novel:  "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" (1938).
Beautiful and majestic...Kilimanjaro looms and proud and beckons you to watch the sun rise over Africa from its' peak.

Glaciers

constantly evolve. They melt and shrink in dry season but regenerate in the wet. However, since 1912, Kilimanjaro has lost 82% of its ice cap, and 55% of its remaining glacier fields since 1962. Scientists predict all ice on the mountain may disappear within the next 20 years.

Kilimanjaro

supports five ecosystems: savanna bush land, sub-montane agro-forest, montane forest belt, sub-alpine moorland and alpine bogs, and the alpine desert and the arctic zone.Climbing it is simply is virtual world climatic tour.

The youngest person

to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro is Keats Boyd, at the tender age of 7 years old. The Los Angeles resident reached the summit on the 21st January 2008

Three volcanic cones

make up Kilimanjaro: Kibo is the summit; 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 . Tanganyika later joined with the islands of Zanzibar to form Tanzania.

More Facts

The fastest ascent and descent of Mount Kilimanjaro was by Spanish mountain runner, Kilian Jornet in September 2010. At the time, the Spaniard was 22 years old. He reached the summit in a record time of 5 hours, 23 minutes and 50 seconds – beating the previous ascent record from Kazakh mountain runner, Andrew Puchinin, by one minute! However, it doesn't end there. After reaching the summit, Kilian then ran down the mountain to base camp reaching it in a total time (up and down) of 7 hours and 14 minutes. This incredible feat smashed the previous ascent and descent record set by Simon Mtuy of 8 hours and 27 minutes!

The youngest person to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro is Keats Boyd, at the tender age of 7 years old. The Los Angeles resident reached the summit on the 21st January 2008.

Richard Byerley was 'officially' the oldest person to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro. Byerley reached the summit in October 2010 at the ripe old age of 84 years and 71 days. However, his record was incredibly surpassed by Martin Kafer (85) and his wife Esther (84) in October 2012. The Canadian-Swiss couple now hold the record as the oldest man and oldest women to climb Kilimanjaro. Esther's achievement surpassed the previous oldest woman to reach the summit, Bernice Bunn, who climbed to the Roof of Africa at age 83.