Mount Kilimanjaro

The snowy volcano on the equator

Kilimanjaro is Africa's highest mountain — 5,895 metres — and it's a volcano! It stands near the equator, in the hot savanna, yet its summit has snow and glaciers. Climbing it, you pass through 5 climates: rainforest, grassland, desert, then ice — like travelling from the equator to the North Pole. Sadly, its glaciers are melting.

Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) is 5,895 m — Africa's highest point and the world's tallest free-standing mountain (not part of a range). It has three volcanic cones: Kibo (dormant), Mawenzi and Shira (extinct); the last eruption was 150,000–200,000 years ago, but gases still vent in Kibo's crater. Its altitude zones: farmland (800–1,800 m), montane forest, moorland (giant groundsels), alpine desert and icy summit. The summit glaciers have shrunk 85% since 1912 and may vanish by the 2040s. 50,000 people climb it each year — technically easy, but altitude sickness is dangerous. The Chagga people grow coffee on its slopes. A UNESCO site (1987).

Fun facts

• Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in the world that isn't part of a range.
• Climbing it you cross 5 climate zones — from equator to pole.
• Kilimanjaro's glaciers have shrunk 85% in 100 years.