One particular formation on Kilimanjaro has been fascinating and awing climbers for decades, now: Lava Tower. The tower is around 300 feet tall, and previously, climbers were able to hike up it (a scramble that could be treacherous on icy days).
We sat down for a chat with James to learn about his life as a Thomson Safaris guide on Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Kilimanjaro is especially remarkable as an incubator for isolated, mutated, or rare species found almost nowhere else. One of the most striking of those species is the giant groundsel varietal Dendrosenecio kilimanjari.
On Kilimanjaro—where each day means physical challenges and adjustment to a new altitude, and your nights are spent in a sleeping bag instead of on a feather bed—getting all the sleep you need in order to reach the summit can be difficult. Luckily, the Thomson Safaris team has learned a few tricks on their treks that will help ensure you have more restful nights.
Porters carry not only trekkers’ luggage, they carry the sleeping, dining, and toilet tents; the chairs trekkers rest on in camp; the gear needed to cook up meals, and the food that goes into them. So how much does all that extra stuff come out to?
Partnering with SmartWool, Thomson Safaris Kilimanjaro trekker, Karen Capaldi, managed to gather 1,200 pairs of socks to donate to the Kilimanjaro Porter’s Assistance Project. We got in touch with Karen post-Kili to learn more about what led to this incredibly generous gesture.
We’ll admit it, we’re fans of Toto’s song “Africa,” too…which is why we wanted to help them get their facts straight in our infographic / lyricgraphic.
Hans Meyer was the first European to reach the summit of Kili, in 1889, but he certainly wasn’t the first to try. Before his successful summit, a string of daring adventurers attempted the climb, starting with…
Situated near the fault-line of two tectonic plates, Kilimanjaro began to build itself up around 750,000 years ago, via thousands of years of lava explosions from the volcanic cones of Shira, Mawenzi, and Kibo.
Thomson Safaris US staff headed to Thompson Island in the Boston Harbor Island for a summer outing.
