Mt Kilimanjaro at 5,895m is the highest point in Africa and is unique for being the tallest free standing mountain in the world and can be climbed by ordinary folks without any specialist mountaineering equipment. It rises from the relatively flat African plains with no adjoining mountain ridges. It's nearest neighbour, Mt Meru 4,562m can be sighted easily from the western and southern flanks of Kili. Other high points followers may compare are Mt Cook in New Zealand at 3,754m and Mt Kosciuszko in Australia at 2,228m. My previous highest climb was Kala Patthar @ 5,550m in the Himalayas in April 2009.
From Wikipedia :"The meaning and origin of the name Kilimanjaro is unknown. It is thought to be a combination of the Swahili word Kilima, meaning "mountain," and the KiChagga word Njaro, loosely translated as "whiteness," giving the name White Mountain. The name Kibo in KiChagga means "spotted" and refers to rocks seen on snowfields. The name Uhuru translates as "freedom," a name given to commemorate Tanzanian independence from Great Britain in 1961.
Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa and fourth highest of the Seven Summits, is considered the tallest freestanding mountain in the world, rising 15,100 feet (4,600 meters) from base to summit.
Kilimanjaro is composed of three distinct volcanic cones: Kibo 19,340 feet (5,895 meters); Mawenzi 16,896 feet (5,149 meters); and Shira 13,000 feet (3,962 meters). Uhuru Peak is the highest summit on Kibo's crater rim
Kilimanjaro is a giant stratovolcano that began forming a million years ago when lava spilled from the Rift Valley zone. The mountain was created by successive lava flows. Two of its three peaks—Mawenzi and Shira—are extinct while Kibo, the highest peak is dormant and could erupt again. The last major eruption was 360,000 years ago, while the most recent activity was only just 200 years ago. Kilimanjaro has 2.2 square kilometers of glacial ice and is losing it quickly due to climate change. The glaciers have shrunk 82% since 1912 and declined 33% since 1989. It may be ice free within 20 years, dramatically affecting local drinking water and crop irrigation
While it is inactive, Kilimanjaro has fumaroles that emit gas, mainly sulphur in the crater on the main summit of Kibo. Scientists concluded in 2003 that molten magma is just 400 metres (1,310 ft) below the summit crater. Several collapses and landslides have occurred on Kibo in the past, one creating the area known as the Western Breach"
Kilimanjaro is sited just south of the equator and is not far from the Rift valley. It was first conquered on 6 October 1889 by a German, Hans Meyer though in those days, much greater snow made the ascent more difficult than today.
Trekking is not cheap due to high daily park fees and the number of crew you must take with you. Moshi and to some extent Arusha are full of trekking agencies offering trips up the various routes to the summit.
The following are the official park fees for Kilimanjaro:
- Rescue fee US$20 per Kilimanjaro trek
- Kilimanjaro National Park entry fee US$60 per day
- Hut fee (Marangu Route only) US$50 per night
- Porter/guide entrance fees US$1 per person per trip
- Camping fee US$50 per night.
I took an extra day with a stop at Shira 1 between Big Tree and Shira Camp 2
I took the Lemosho route up the mountain which starts on the western side and traverses the Shira plateau to join the Machame route about half way into the trek. This is one of the longer routes and I chose this to have the greatest chance of avoiding the dreaded AMS ( acute mountain sickness ) and be fully acclimatised before attempting the summit.From Kilimanjaro by Henry Stedman
Air composition is always the same at 20% oxygen and approx 80% nitrogen so it is not the lack of oxygen in air that's the problem at altitude but the lack of air pressure. The atmospheric pressure drops by about 1/10 th for every 1,000m of altitude. Thus the air pressure at the top of Kilimanjaro is approximately 40% of that found at sea level. In other words, though each breathe inhaled is 20% oxygen, just as at sea level, it becomes much harder to fill your lungs since the atmosphere is not pushing so much air into them. As a result, every time you breathe on Kibo you take in only about half as much air, and thus oxygen, as you would if you took the same breathe on the coast. This can, of course, be seriously detrimental to your health; oxygen is, after all, pretty essential to your physical wellbeing. All your vital organs need it, as do your muscles. They receive their oxygen via red blood cells, which are loaded by your lungs and then pumped around your body by your heart, delivering oxygen as they go.Problems arise at altitude when that vital of organs, the brain, isn't getting enough oxygen and malfunctions as a result; because as the body's central control room, if the brain malfunctions, so does the rest of you, often with fatal consequences.
Fortunately, your body is an adaptable piece of machinery and can adjust to the lower levels of oxygen you breathe in at altitude. Unconsciously you will start to breathe deeper and faster, your blood will thicken as your body produces more red blood cells and your heart will beat faster. As a result, your essential organs will receive the same amount of oxygen as they always did. But your body needs time before it can effect these changes.
Statistically, men are more likely to suffer from AMS than women, with young men the most vulnerable. The reason is obvious. The competitive streak in most young men causes them to walk faster than the group; that, and the mistaken belief that greater fitness and strength will protect them against AMS.
Again from Wikipedia :
"High altitude or mountain sickness is defined as a collection of nonspecific symptoms that can resemble a case of flu, carbon monoxide poisoning or a hangover caused by high altitudes. It is hard to determine who will be affected by altitude-sickness, as there are no specific factors that compare with this susceptibility to altitude sickness. However, most people can climb up to 2500 meters (8000 ft) normally.
Generally, different people have different susceptibilities to altitude sickness. For some otherwise healthy people, acute mountain sickness (AMS) can begin to appear at around 2000 meters (6,500 ft) above sea level, such as at many mountain ski resorts, equivalent to a pressure of 80 kPa. AMS is the most frequent type of altitude sickness encountered. Symptoms often manifest themselves six to ten hours after ascent and generally subside in one to two days, but they occasionally develop into the more serious conditions. Symptoms include headache, fatigue, stomach illness, dizziness, and sleep disturbance. Exertion aggravates the symptoms.
High altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) and cerebral edema (HACE) are potentially fatal problems that may occur at high altitude. AMS, retinal hemorrhage, and peripheral edema are less severe high-altitude ailments. The rate of ascent, altitude attained, amount of physical activity at high altitude, as well as individual susceptibility, are contributing factors to the onset and severity of high-altitude illness.
Altitude sickness usually occurs following a rapid ascent and can usually be prevented by ascending slowly. In most of these cases, the symptoms are temporary and usually abate as altitude acclimatisation occurs. However, in extreme cases, altitude sickness can be fatal.
Headaches are a primary symptom used to diagnose altitude sickness, although a headache is also a symptom of dehydration. A headache occurring at an altitude above 2,400 meters (8000 feet = 76 kPa), combined with any one or more of the following symptoms, can indicate altitude sickness:
- Lack of appetite, nausea, or vomiting
- Fatigue or weakness
- Dizziness or light-headedness
- Insomnia
- Pins and needles
- Shortness of breath upon exertion
- Persistent rapid pulse
- Drowsiness
- General malaise
- Peripheral edema (swelling of hands, feet, and face). "
From my experience on the Everest base camp trek, I knew the following would assist in acclimitisation :
- No alcohol
- Drink as much water as possible..as much as 5 litres per day though as we were camping this time, I had to balance water intake at the end of the day with the thought of having to get out of a warm sleeping bag and tent to pee in freezing conditions at night.
- Drink garlic soup daily...not heard of on Kili so I took my own supply of dried garlic and drank with hot water each day. ( this may have been my secret factor !!! )
- Ascend slowly..in Swahili.."pole pole"..if you want to avoid being poorly poorly
- Have acclimitsation spells ( or days ) where you climb high sleep low.
- Eat and dress well
- Take Diamox
The last factor is contentious. Taking the drug Diamox or acetazolaide. Apparently this works by acidifying the blood, which stimulates breathing, allowing a greater amount of oxygen into the bloodstream. I took this with me to Nepal but didn't use. This time, on my guides advise, I started taking Diamox and then reduced it to ½ dose ½ way into the trek and stopped the day before the final ascent. It does have side affects and in my case, my fingers occassionally tingled as well as my heels as I arose after resting. You will find people on the mountain with a wide range of opinions on the pros and cons of the drug but as one of the key objectives of having a guide is to get you ready for high altitude, I determined that his advise would "guide" me. He also suggested I stop taking my anti-malarial medication which introduced a small risk but mosquitos had been rare so far in Tanzania.
