The numbers people ask for: how high, how wide, how old, how many climb it, and why it stands alone. Clear answers, one fact at a time.
Kilimanjaro is 5,895 metres high, which is 19,341 feet. It is the highest mountain in Africa, the highest free-standing mountain in the world, and one of the Seven Summits. This page gives the numbers people ask about, and a little of the story behind each one.
Places Kilimanjaro
Known as the “Coca-Cola” route, the Marangu route is a classic trek on Mount Kilimanjaro. It is the…
Places Kilimanjaro
The Marangu route is one of the most popular routes to the summit of Kilimanjaro.
Places Kilimanjaro
Six days on the Machame route, camping throughout. The shortest Machame itinerary, with a steeper daily…
Places Kilimanjaro
Seven days on Machame, with the Barranco to Barafu leg split over two days, so the day before the summit…
Places Kilimanjaro
The Rongai route is the only route that approaches Kilimanjaro from the north, close to the Kenyan…
Places Kilimanjaro
Eight days on the Lemosho route, starting in rainforest on the mountain's western side, with the longest…
Most high mountains are peaks in a range, and their height is partly borrowed from the mountains around them. Kilimanjaro is not. It rises alone from a plain that sits at about 900 metres, so from base to summit it climbs nearly 5,000 metres on its own. That is the meaning of free-standing, and Kilimanjaro is the highest free-standing mountain in the world.
It is why the mountain looks the way it does from the road: a single enormous shape on the horizon with nothing beside it, snow at the top, cloud around the middle, farmland at the foot. And it is why the climb passes through five climate zones in a week. You go from the tropics to the arctic without leaving one hill.
Kilimanjaro is three volcanoes in one. Shira, the oldest, collapsed long ago and is now the broad plateau on the western side that the Lemosho route crosses. Mawenzi, to the east, is a jagged mass of eroded rock with a summit at 5,149 metres that needs technical climbing and is rarely attempted. Kibo, in the middle, is the youngest and highest, and its rim is where Uhuru Peak sits.
Kibo is dormant, not extinct. Its crater still holds an ash pit that smells faintly of sulphur. Nobody expects it to erupt, but the geology is not finished.
The Seven Summits are the highest mountains on each continent. Kilimanjaro is Africa's, and by height it sits fourth of the seven, behind Everest, Aconcagua and Denali.
It is also by far the easiest of the seven to climb, because it needs no technical skill. That makes it the one most people start with, and for many the only one they ever do. Anyone planning the full set usually begins here.
Somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000 people attempt Kilimanjaro each year, depending on the year and who is counting. Most come in the two dry seasons, and most take Machame or Marangu.
Behind those climbers are far more crew. Three or four porters, guides and cooks per climber means well over a hundred thousand mountain jobs a year, most of them held by people from the villages around the mountain. For the Kilimanjaro region the mountain is an industry, and a large one.
At 5,895 metres the air pressure is about half what it is at sea level, so each breath brings in about half the oxygen. That is the number that matters most to a climber, more than the height itself.
It is why summit night is so hard, why the routes are built around days, not distance, and why the guides walk so slowly. Every other page in this cluster comes back to it. The height is impressive. The thin air is the thing you have to manage.
The park covers about 1,668 square kilometres and was established in 1973. It became a World Heritage Site in 1987.
The lowest gate, Marangu, is at about 1,860 metres. The highest camp on most routes, Barafu or Kibo Hut, is at about 4,600 to 4,700 metres. So a typical climb gains about 4,000 metres over five or six days and loses it again in a day and a half.
The summit is about 330 kilometres south of the equator. The nearest large city is Arusha, about 130 kilometres to the west. The international airport is about 45 kilometres from Moshi at the mountain's foot.
And the name: nobody is sure what it means. Mountain of Greatness, Mountain of Whiteness and Mountain of Caravans have all been suggested. The Chagga people who live on its slopes have names for the peaks but not for the whole mountain.
Kilimanjaro
Six routes go up Kilimanjaro. They differ in days, scenery, crowds and how well they help you get used to the altitude. This page…
Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro is a walk, not a climb. The altitude, the cold on summit night, and the length of the days make it hard. This page…
Kilimanjaro
Altitude sickness is why people turn back on Kilimanjaro. This page explains what it is, what it feels like, how to lower your…
Kilimanjaro
Wake-up tea at six, breakfast, walk, lunch, walk, camp by mid-afternoon. Here is how a day on the mountain runs, from the first…
Kilimanjaro
Three cooked meals a day, snacks on the trail, and more of it than you expect. This page covers what the crew cooks, how, and why…
Kilimanjaro
A Kilimanjaro climb is carried by a crew that outnumbers the climbers. Here is who they are, what they do, how they are…
Kilimanjaro
You do not need to have climbed a mountain before. Most people on Kilimanjaro have not. This page covers what a first-timer needs…
Kilimanjaro
Three months of regular walking, some hills, a loaded daypack, and two long days back to back. Here is a training plan that…
Kilimanjaro
You leave camp at midnight, climb for six hours in the cold and dark, reach the roof of Africa at sunrise, and then descend for…
Kilimanjaro
Tents on every route but one, huts on Marangu, and a high camp on bare rock the night before the summit. A tour of the camps…
Kilimanjaro
Daily health checks, trained guides, emergency oxygen, and a park rescue system. Here is how safety works on the mountain, and…
Kilimanjaro
Warm forest, cold nights above 3,000 metres, and a summit that can be twenty below with wind. The weather on the mountain, zone…
Kilimanjaro
Every month on the mountain, in one place: weather, crowds, summit snow and which route works best. Pick your dates from this.
Kilimanjaro
The porters carry your main bag. Each day you carry a small pack with water, layers, snacks and a few essentials. Here is exactly…
Kilimanjaro
Your insurance must cover trekking to 6,000 metres, and many ordinary policies stop far lower without saying so. The warning…
Kilimanjaro
Fly into Kilimanjaro International, stay in Moshi or Arusha, and drive to the gate on the first morning. Here is how the arrival…
Kilimanjaro
Three points on the crater rim count as the summit of Kilimanjaro. Here is where each one is, what it takes to reach it, and why…
Kilimanjaro
Two landmarks on the southern routes that every climber asks about. One is a scramble with your hands. The other is the day that…
Kilimanjaro
Nobody climbs Kilimanjaro unaccompanied, but plenty of people arrive alone. Private climb or join a group, what each costs you…
Kilimanjaro
There is ice on the equator, and it is disappearing. What the glaciers are, why they exist, how much has gone, and what you…
Kilimanjaro
The questions people ask before they book a climb, in one place, with short honest answers and links to the pages that go deeper.
Kilimanjaro
Most climbers add a safari, and the order, the rest day and the route between mountain and parks decide how well the two fit. A…
Kilimanjaro
Meru is 4,566 metres, four days, and an hour from Arusha. Climbing it first is the best acclimatisation there is. This page…
Wildlife
Where the wildebeest herds are through the year, and what that means for when to travel.
Planning
What to bring on safari and up Kilimanjaro, and what you can leave behind.
Planning
Most visitors need a visa, and most can get one on arrival or online in advance. What the visa covers, what to bring to the desk…
Planning
Park fees are the largest fixed cost of any safari or climb, and they are the same for every operator. Who sets them, how they…
Planning
Fly into Kilimanjaro International for the northern circuit, Dar es Salaam for the south, Zanzibar for the beach. Airports…
Planning
A permanent lodge, a tented camp, a mobile camp that follows the migration, or a tent you camp in yourself. Each level described…
Planning
Tipping is customary in Tanzania and it is a real part of what your guide and camp staff earn. Who to tip, how it is usually…
Planning
Malaria, yellow fever, the routine jabs, and the small things that spoil a trip. What to discuss with your doctor or travel…
Planning
Tanzanian shillings for small things, US dollars for the big ones, and cash for almost everything outside the cities. How money…
Planning
An enquiry, a conversation, a draft itinerary, a quote, a deposit, and then the details. What happens between your first message…
Planning
Early mornings, long quiet stretches, a vehicle that becomes home, and hours that pass in a way nothing else does. What the days…
Planning
Medical cover with a high limit, evacuation from the bush, cancellation, and the activity clauses. What a safari policy has to…
Places
A national park on the doorstep, a crater lake, coffee farms, the markets and Mount Meru. The best ways to spend a day or a half…
Places
Materuni waterfall, Kikuletwa hot springs, Marangu, Lake Chala and the coffee cafés. What to do with a day or two in Moshi before…
