History of mount Kilimanjaro

History of Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro is situated in Tanzania near the Kenyan border, rising to an elevation of 5,895 meters above sea level. It’s the continent’s highest mountain and the tallest free-standing mountain in the world. It’s a dormant volcano with three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira.
There are five distinct vegetation climatic zones on Mount Kilimanjaro, ranging from bushland and cultivated zones at the lower slopes, tropical rainforests, moorland of the heather zone, alpine desert zone, and an arctic zone at the summit. The climb to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro is not difficult compared to other seven summits, but the main challenge for trekkers is altitude sickness, which can affect even people who are physically fit.
History of Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro is among the seven summits of the world, with the others being Mount Everest, Mount Aconcagua, Mount Denali, Carsten’s Pyramid, Mount Elbrus, Mount Kosciuszko, and Mount Vinson Massif.
Mount Kilimanjaro has been known to Africans ever since time memorial, but it came to be known to non-Africans since the 5th century. Herodotus and Aeschylus mention Egypt being nurtured by snows and a spring between two mountains, one of which was at the coastal region. Ptolemy made mention of a moon mountain and a spring lake of the Nile, which may have been Mount Kilimanjaro. Martin Fernandez de Enciso mentioned in his Summa de Geografia (1519) that west of Mombasa stands Ethiopian Mount Olympus and beyond are the Mountains of the Moon, believed to be the source of the Nile.
The local people, known as the Chagga, living on the mountain slopes, tell a legend story of how a man named Tone provoked their god known as “Ruwa” to bring famine on the land. The village people were not happy with his decision and threw him out of the village to be on his own. A solitary dweller, whose stones turned into cattle, took Tone with him but instructed Tone never to open the stable for the cattle to get out. However, Tone didn’t adhere to his instructions and opened the cattle. The speeding cattle threw up hills to run on, including Kibo and Mawenzi peaks, but Tone could not run anymore and fainted at Kibo.
Mount Kilimanjaro’s volcanic activity started about 750,000 years ago. Shira and Mawenzi are extinct, while Kibo is dormant and could still erupt in the future. The last major eruption of Kibo was between 150,000 to 200,000 years ago. According to a study in 2003, scientists reported that molten magma still flows just 400 meters beneath the summit.
Another version of a legend story is about a cow named Rayli that produces miraculous fat from her tail glands. Anyone intending to steal from Rayli would get a powerful blast blowing them to the slopes of the mountain. Another story also tells of ivory-filled graves of elephants on the mountain.
The first European explorers to attempt reaching Mount Kilimanjaro were Johann Krapf and Johannes Rebmann. Rebmann made the first mention of the Mountains of Jagga in 1848. Karl Klaus Von Der Decken and Richard Thornton made the first attempt to climb Kibo peak in 1861 but didn’t go beyond 2,500 meters due to bad weather. Karl Klaus Von Der Decken and Otto Kersten made another attempt in 1862 but only stopped at 4,300 meters.
The first European to reach the equatorial snows was missionary Charles New in 1871. Ludwig Von Hohnel and Samuel Teleki tried to climb the mountain, and Holnel reached 4,950 meters, and Ludwig continued to 5,300 meters in 1887. The following year, Hans Meyer managed to reach the lower ridge of the ice cap at Kibo and was forced to descend because he didn’t have the right equipment to get through the ice.
Otto Ehrenfied Ehlers and American naturalist Abbott attempted to climb the summit, but Abott abandoned the climb, and Otto continued and claimed to have reached the summit. However, faced with a lot of criticism, he withdrew his statement.
In 1889, Hans Meyer and Ludwig Purtscheller made another expedition to the summit well-prepared. They managed to reach the crater rim, stopping at the highest point on the southern side of the crater rim. They were the first to confirm that Kibo had a crater. They made another attempt to ascend and study the crater, accompanied by a local known as Mwini Amani who was from Pangani.
Eduard Hans Oeler and Fritz Klute made the first attempt to reach the highest point of Mawenzi peak in 1912.
When a 100-year celebration of the first ascent was organized in 1989, they decided to award Africans who accompanied Hans Meyer and Purtscheller during their ascent. Although they couldn’t locate them all, one person in the 1889 pictures matched a living inhabitant of Marangu known as “Yohani Kinyala Lauwo,” who recalled joining a Dutch doctor for an expedition. He also said that he had climbed the mountain three times without shoes before World War I.
As a result of climate change over the past years, the Kilimanjaro glaciers are disappearing. About 80% of Kilimanjaro’s glaciers have melted since 1920, and scientists predict there will be no more glaciers on Mount Kilimanjaro by 1960.
Mount Kilimanjaro National Park is open for visitors throughout the year, and the main activity done at the park is mountain climbing and hiking. The mountain can be climbed any time of the year, but the best months are during the dry season of December to February and June to September when the hiking trails are not slippery and wet, making it hard to get to the summit. The weather during the dry season is also clear, with spectacular views of the plains below while at the summit.
The time taken to hike Mount Kilimanjaro will depend on the route you choose for climbing and the pace at which you summit. There are 7 routes for tourists to choose from when they want to hike the mountain, and it takes 5 to 9 days to reach its summit.