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. [...]
In September this year two men from Northern Ireland became the first to serve fish and chips at Kilimanjaro's Barafu Camp, a dizzying 4662m (15,295ft) above sea level. Alan Hanna, who runs Pitstop Fast Food in Kilkeel and Malachy Mallon, who owns Dungannon's Dolphin Takeaway, set up what is believed to be the world's highest [...]
A six-year-old boy has become the youngest person ever to climb Kilimanjaro. Coaltan Tanner, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the US, reached the summit on 22 October 2018 at 11.40am. He was born on September 18th, 2012, meaning he was just six years, one month and a few days when he made it to Uhuru [...]
Looking to climb Kilimanjaro next year, but having trouble settling on a date. One of the best ways to choose when to climb is to see what astronomical events are happening over the next 12 months and see if you can time your trek to coincide with one. After all, there are few things more [...]
A Scottish woman is believed to have become the world's first quadruple amputee to have reached the summit of Africa's Highest mountain. Corinne Hutton reached the top on Friday, 5 October, as part of a team of 11 people raising money for the amputee charity Finding Your Feet. Corrine, who originally hails from Renfrewshire but now [...]
Has Kilimanjaro's most popular route become too popular? For over a decade now the Machame Route has been Kilimanjaro’s most popular trail. According to the most recent figures given to us by KINAPA, 20,339 trekkers used the Machame Route in their attempt to reach the summit in one year. That figure represents a massive [...]
We have had reports recently that KINAPA, the Kilimanjaro National Park Authorities, have started to enforce certain rules that had previously been, if not exactly ignored, then certainly regularly flouted. One of these rules states that children under 10 are not allowed to go to the summit, but only to 3100m. Although this rule has [...]