We left Arusha very early in the morning and drove towards Kilimanjaro National Park for around two hours. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage site; it is home to Mt. Kilimanjaro (5,895 m), Africa’s highest mountain and one of the continent’s most magnificent sights. We didn’t have time for a week-long hike to the peak, so we spent just one day exploring the rainforest, where we took a short hike from Marangu Gate at 1,860 m to 2,306 m. After a few days around, we can confirm that the best views of a snowcapped mountain on the equator are really from Amboseli National Park in Kenya. We paid 150 USD for a car from Arusha and 430,000 TZS for a permit for two, plus an additional 40,000 TZS for a mandatory guide.
Kilimanjaro is also one of the world’s highest volcanoes, and it’s the highest free-standing mountain on earth, rising from cultivated farmland on the lower levels, through lush rainforest to alpine meadows, and finally across a lunar landscape to the twin summits of Kibo and Mawenzi. Kilimanjaro’s third volcanic cone, Shira, is on the mountain’s western side. The lower rainforest is home to many animals, including buffaloes, elephants, leopards and monkeys, and elands are occasionally seen in the saddle area between Kibo and Mawenzi.
