We hear it all the time: “when is the absolute best time to climb Kilimanjaro?” Not to be fence-sitters but: whenever? There absolutely is a worst time to attempt your trek; in fact, there are two of them: April/May and mid-November through mid-December. During those times the entire country receives serious rainfall (especially during April, when the heavy rains come)
Whether you’ve been dreaming of climbing Kilimanjaro for years, or have just recently decided to make the trek, we are excited to help you summit Uhuru Peak! The Kilimanjaro climb is a challenging, life changing, and wisdom imparting experience that will provide a lifetime of incredible memories. Need inspiration to get you started? Here…
There are a lot of ways to measure a mountain’s prowess. Overall height is a common yardstick (and hopefully not determined BY a yardstick), as is technical difficulty, but there’s one measure all but the most mountain-obsessed may not have heard of: topographic prominence. Topographic prominence is the height between the summit and the lowest contour line circling the mountain in question and no other higher mountain.
The Jambo Song is sung by your guides and porters after a successful trek, it’s an exuberant, joyful song, accompanied by clapping and the voices of the entire crew. But if you knew what it meant, you might realize it’s not ALL sunshine and smiles…
Many trekkers know of Kilimanjaro’s fiery past; the three peaks—Shira, Mawenzi, and Kibo—were once all active volcanoes. Over thousands upon thousands of years, they erupted continually, building the mountain ever-higher, until one by one they went extinct: first Shira sputtered out, then Mawenzi. Kibo, ever the overachiever of the bunch, decided to keep its options more open; the tallest of Kili’s peaks is considered dormant, but not dead.
But there’s one part of a Kilimanjaro hike that many people don’t fully prepare for (maybe because it’s not that much fun to talk about it): the ways that altitude can affect you on the mountain. Specifically, the effects it may have on your digestion.
Perhaps unsurprisingly , Africa’s most famous mountain has long-since been merchandised, and one of the most beloved products to bear its name is Kilimanjaro Premium Lager. The country’s best-selling beer, Kilimanjaro is basically the Budweiser of Tanzania. A similarly light, fizzy lager (best served ice-cold), “Kili” is a favorite at just about every bar around the country.
A climb up Kilimanjaro isn’t just a physical challenge, it’s a botany lesson; as you travel through the various climate zones, the flora changes dramatically, from fields of coffee in the foothills to tiny patches of the hardiest lichens near the top.
Ngorongoro once rose much, much higher than the 7500 foot rim. Photo: Andy Biggs Today, the Ngorongoro Crater’s rim rises just 7,500 feet above sea level; visitors might experience chilly nights, and anyone peering from the rim down to the crater floor, which sinks 2,000 feet below, might have a momentary sense of vertigo…but then…
The snows of Kilimanjaro are almost as famous as the mountain itself. Global warming is almost certainly speeding up the glaciers’ demise, but it doesn’t appear to be the only cause of the melting.