Mount Kilimanjaro, 19,336 ft

THE HIGHEST PEAK OF AFRICA MOUNT KILIMANJARO NATIONAL PARK

Kilimanjaro, the name itself is a mystery weather in clouds. It might mean Mountain of Light, Mountain of Greatness or Mountain at Caravans, or it not. The local people, the Wachagga, don’t even have a name for the whole massif, only Kipoo (and now known as Kibo). For the familiar snowy peak that stands imperious, overseer of the continent, the summit of Africa.

Kilimanjaro, by any name, is a metaphor for the compelling beauty of East Africa. When you see it, you understand why. Rising in absolute isolation, at 5,895 meters (19,336 ft), Kilimanjaro is Africans highest mountain and one of the worlds most accessible high summit, a beacon for visitors from around the world. Most climbers reach the Crater rim with little more than a walking stick, proper clothing and determination. Those who reach Uhuru Point, the actual summit, or Gillman’s Point on the lip of the Crater, will have earned their climbing certificate and their memories.

But there is so much more to Kilimanjaro than her summit. A journey up her slopes takes you on a climatic world tour from tropics to the arctic. The grassy and cultivated lower slopes turn into lush rain forest, inhabited by elusive elephant, leopard, buffalo and antelope, higher still, heath and moorland, covered with giant heathers, becomes surreal alpine and, finally, ice, snow and the magnification beauty of the top of the continent.