A journey to Mount Kilimanjaro is an exploration, not merely a climb. For some, the appeal is simple: it is the highest summit on earth that is accessible to any committed walker without technical skills or experience. A mere city-dweller may be able to reach "the roof of Africa". This is the allure of the highest free standing mountain in the world.
However, each walker faces a personal gamble, and the stakes are high: altitude symptoms are unpredictable. No amount of preparation can guarantee success. The only certainty is that everyone who takes up this challenge will reach deeply inside themselves during the ascent.
Reaching the summit is not the only goal: success lies rather in the quality of the attempt.Living a lot closer to nature than normally, you may explore your own motivation and recognize your dependency on others. On return from Kili, whether or not you summited, you will know more about your strengths and your weaknesses, and about your fellow humans, than before.
The natural world of this mountain is fascinating. In a landscape formed by ice and fire, the ascent takes you from tropical rain forests to arctic conditions among the summit glaciers. At sea level such contrasts would be 10,000 kilometres apart. On Kilimanjaro, you walk from equator to pole in a few days.
In temperate latitudes each season lasts for months. High on Kilimanjaro, winter drives out summer every night. This wild place is full of contrasts and extremes. Plants and animals struggle to survive in severe conditions of drought, arctic cold, and blazing sunshine. As you journey backwards in time, life-forms become simpler, species are fewer and survival is more precarious.
The mountain rises over three miles above the plain on which it stands, making it an outstanding landmark of East Africa.
- From the book "Explore Mount Kilimanjaro" by Jacquetta Megarry
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