Tanzania gives go ahead to controversial scheme Over the past decade or so there has been one rumour about Kilimanjaro that has refused to go away. The rumour is that there will be a cable car being constructed near the Machame Route. It is a rumour that has been fuelled by successive directors of Kilimanjaro [...]
Penalties for those arriving in Tanzania with plastic bags We have been advised that Tanzania is, from the start of next month, banning plastic bags from entering the country. This does of course have huge ramifications for Kilimanjaro trekkers, many of whom use plastic bags to keep their clothes and other items separate in their [...]
Climbing Africa’s highest mountain unaided Can you carry your own bags up Kilimanjaro? By coincidence, over the past few weeks we’ve received several emails on a very similar subject. All of the correspondents want to climb Kilimanjaro. But none of them want all the fuss that goes with it. In other words, they want a [...]
Want that iconic shot of Kilimanjaro? Then visit Kenya's Amboseli National Park It’s all Toto’s fault. In their chart-topping hit from the 1980s, the lead singer of the Canadian dad-rock outfit crooned the line ‘Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti’. To those who know their geography, such a scenario is absurd and [...]
The best and worst campsites on Kilimanjaro By our reckoning there are around 25official campsites on Africa’s highest mountain, as well as several unofficial ones that are still used regularly by tour operators but which have yet to receive official sanction from the park authorities, KINAPA. Admittedly, the locations of the campsites on Kilimanjaro are [...]
Can you climb up Kilimanjaro without a crew? It's a question I still get asked several times a year: Is it possible to just turn up at the foot of Kilimanjaro with a rucksack full of camping gear, food and warm clothes, and head up the slopes to the top? The people who ask this [...]
Climbing Kilimanjaro during the rainy season Whether to do it, how to do it, and what to expect April and May is traditionally the low season on Kilimanjaro, and few people climb at this time. There's a good reason for this, of course: these two months are usually when the 'Long Rains' happen - the [...]
A new guide to the flowers of Kilimanjaro! For years, people like myself who are a little (OK, very) obsessed about Africa's Highest Mountain have been crying out for a field guide to Kilimanjaro's flora. Why? Well, the climate and conditions on Kilimanjaro are so varied, as anybody who has already climbed it will know. [...]
Homophobia in East Africa Can being gay really stop you climbing Kilimanjaro? I was prompted to write this article after we had been contacted by a gay travel agency from California, who were looking to climb Kilimanjaro later this year. Amongst the usual fears they had about altitude sickness and the safety procedures on the [...]
A guide to climbing Mount Meru And why everyone should climb Kilimanjaro's little brother Mount Meru, which overlooks the city of Arusha from the north, about 60km from Kilimanjaro, is used by many trekkers as a warm-up trek to Kilimanjaro. In other words, it acts as an hors d’oeuvre to the main course of Kili. [...]