Historic Kilimanjaro

There probably are not that many military history enthusiasts likely to read this, but for those among you who would make the pilgrimage to Gettysburg, to the beaches of Normandy or the islands of the South Pacific, then Kilimanjaro is about as interesting a battle site as you could hope to find anywhere…

World War One only probably has a handful of years left before its slips completely beyond the realm of living memory. Among those like me who have gleaned the story through History Channel or snippets of information that I have picked up in my travels, it might come as a surprise to know that some of the most iconic battles of the War were fought in the area immediately surrounding Kilimanjaro.

As one example, Ndarakwai Camp in Western Kilimanjaro, a popular apre climb safari destination, has a number of old trench systems that served both the British and the Germans in the campaign for control of the country during the difficult years of 1914 – 1918.

The nation of Tanzania began life as an outpost of the German colonial empire. It was known then as German East Africa, or Tanganyika, and was a close neighbor to Kenya, or British East Africa, which at that time also included Uganda. When war broke out between Britain and Germany in 1914, it was not long before war broke out between German and British East Africa. The railway line from Mombasa to Nairobi and beyond became the focus of German attacks, and later the railway line from Moshi to the Indian Ocean port of Tanga became the German line of retreat once the colony had been invaded.

The Kilimanjaro district, with its coffee farms, pleasant climate and clean altitude had long been the main focus of white settlement in German East Africa. Besides this the geography of flat plains interspersed with low and isolated hills was the perfect defensive landscape for both sides. A number of important battles were fought east and west of Kilimanjaro, and the towns of Moshi and Arusha the headquarters of the German High Command.

Another interesting aspect of the War in East Africa was that it was fought by British and Commonwealth forces. This by definition meant fighting men drawn from every colony or former colony (except America) in the Empire. Much of the heavy fighting was done in the early stages by men of Indian origin, and in later stages by local black levies and various native colonial regiments from all over the continent.

You would definitely draw blank looks from your climb or safari guides in Tanzania if you brought up the subject of World War One around the campfire or in the mess tent. The subject is not widely taught and the old battle sites are neither preserved nor marked in any particular way. However a little bit of background reading, and a keen sense of geography, will help you pick out some of the more notable sites on Google Maps which in turn will lead you to them. A good place to start is at Ndarakwai Camp where their chief game scout Thomas is surprisingly knowledgeable about the colonial coming and goings in the region.

In a land where the last vestiges of colonial history have been scrubbed off the landscape, it is sometimes interesting to imagine a place like Tanzania as a pawn in the global/strategic games of a by-gone era. Scratching around the battle sites of the period is definitely something worth doing if you get a chance…

If you are interested in the battlefields of East Africa, and you would like some pointers drop me a line…

By Peter Baxter | Permalink | 6 comments | January 1st, 2010
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Kilimanjaro Flights - Find Cheap Flights to Kilimanjaro

Cheap Kilimanjaro flights are not easy to come by.

Kilimanjaro has it's own international airport, Kilimanjaro Airport, but it's tiny and not many airlines fly to it.

The major airlines offering flights to Kilimanjaro airport are the African Air Tanzania, Air Kenya, Ethiopian Airways and the European KLM.

But Kilimanjaro airport is not the only international airport in Tanzania...

If you want to relax on the beaches in Zanzibar after your climb, like most travellers do, or if you want to combine your Kilimanjaro climb with a safari in Tanzania or Kenya, then consider flying to or from Dar es Salaam or Zanzibar in Tanzania, or even in Kenya. Those flights will work out cheaper.

Budget travellers and backpackers with more time and money should definitely check out all those options carefully. A bus trip is not the most comfortable way to get around Tanzania, but it's an adventure in itself and a cheap one as well.

You can use Kayak.com to compare prices for different airlines, and find cheap flights from 100+ sites with one click.

If time is at a premium, or if you are flying to Tanzania solely to climb Kilimanjaro, then a flight to Kilimanjaro airport is the best option.

Kilimanjaro airport is located half way between Arusha and Moshi, about 50 km from each. It doesn't get much more convenient than that!

Kilimanjaro flights from Europe are the most convenient of all. KLM fly the route Amsterdam - Kilimanjaro -Dar es Salaam daily.

Any Kilimanjaro flights from other continents involve a change of airlines once in Africa.

Ehtiopian Airways offer Kilimanjaro flights at good prices from Addis Ababa via Nairobi. (They also fly to Europe and a handful of other international destinations.)

Kenya Airways offer flights to Kilimanjaro from Nairobi three times a day. The flights are operated by Precision Air, a young and dynamic Tanzanian airline with competitive prices. I can recommend them. Precision Air also operate flights from Dar es Salaam or Zanzibar to Kilimanjaro.

The other local carrier is Air Tanzania who operate Kilimanjaro flights from Johannesburg in South Africa and also connecting flights from Kilimanjaro to Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar.

If you are booking your Kilimanjaro climb through an overseas agency they can usually also arrange your flights for you. But do check the prices and options yourself as well.

In my experience it works out cheaper if I do it myself, and not only because agencies charge commissions.

An online broker specialising in cheap flights can usually come up with a better offer. One handy website that scours all of those booking engines for you is Kayak:

At Kayak you can find cheap flights from 100+ sites with one click. It searches over 100 travel sites for flights and consistently brings back the lowest prices.

Good luck with your search for a cheap Kilimanjaro flight!

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Kilimanjaro Wildlife - The Animals Of Mount Kilimanjaro

Kilimanjaro wildlife is elusive...

Yes, wildlife does live on Mount Kilimanjaro, especially in the forests that cover the lower slopes.

But spotting animals on Kilimanjaro is not as easy as you might think.

If you want one of those classic pictures with elephant or giraffe in front of Kibo peak, then you better book a safari in Amboseli National Park in Kenya, not a Kilimanjaro climb in Tanzania...

Mind you, Amboseli lies at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, towards the north. If you climb Kilimanjaro on the Rongai route you may get lucky, as on rare occasions some of the wildlife does venture up Kilimanjaro...

But if you want to climb a mountain and see lots of wildlife, go and climb Mt. Meru in Arusha National Park (not far from Kilimanjaro National Park).

On the slopes of Mt. Meru you are guaranteed to see giraffe, warthog and water buffalo, colobus monkeys, blue monkeys, bush buck and dik dik, many, many birds... With a bit of luck even elephants or hyaenas. You are accompanied by an armed ranger, because even though leopards are notoriously hard to see, on Mt. Meru there is the very real possibility to meet one!

And wildlife on Kilimanjaro? Well, eland and African hunting dogs are amongst the most exciting creature that have been spotted. Once or twice... A frozen leopard was found in 1926 and there have been two more sightings since. I guess it is not toally impossible that one day someone might see one again, but don't hold your breath...

Kilimanjaro is totally overrun with people, and as a rule animals like to hang out where people don't.

Let's be realistic and look at some pictures of the Kilimanjaro wildlife that you CAN expect to see:

Just look at that tail... Black and white colobus monkeys are really good looking monkeys, spectacular even. They are comparatively shy companions, but you do have a very good chance of spotting them in the forest above the Mandara Huts (Marangu route) and at the start of the Lemosho/Shira and the Rongai route.

Getting close enough to them to get a good photo, especially in the challenging light of the dense rainforest, that's a different issue. (It seems easy when looking at the photo on the left, but that picture was taken in a wildlife park. The photo on the right is from Kilimanjaro.)

As you can see, blue monkeys are by no means blue... These fellows are fairly common and not worried about people at all. A big number of them hang out around the Mandara Huts on the Marangu route. That's why they call the patch of forest above the Mandara Huts the monkey forest...

Well, and that is probably the most conspicuous Kilimanjaro wildlife you will come across. Unless you get excited by the mice that live at the Horombo Huts... (They are four-striped grass mice and don't mind sharing their living space with humans.)

Beyond that there are small lizards (of which I currently don't have any photos) and then there are the birds...

Malachite sunbird on a protea, Animals of Kikimanjaro, photo by Stig Nygaard.

This is a male malachite sunbird. The plainer female is shown in the photo below.

Get a guide to point out their voice to you, and you will often hear them before you see them. Sunbirds are plentiful on Kilimanjaro, in all areas where lobelias and proteas grow, which is the heath and moorland.

A particular good place to see them is the Karanga Valley, which you will cross if you climb on the Lemosho, Shira or Machame Route.

The plainer female sunbird, also on a protea flower, Kilimanjaro wildlife photo by Stig Nygaard.

The photo below shows a variable sunbird. You may spot those on Mt. Meru or maybe on safari in Tanzania, but unfortunately not on Kilimanjaro...

The Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Kilimanjaro animals, photo by Stig Nygaard.

The silvery-cheeked hornbill is a rather large bird that lives in the forest, but also around houses and plantations. It likes to eat fruit...

You may see them on Kilimanjaro, but you may also see them on the grounds of your hotel like we did.

White-necked Raven, Kilimanjaro wildlife photo by MBoy68.

White-necked ravens are big birds with large, strong, scary looking beaks. They hang around the campsites and huts on Kilimanjaro (and Mt. Meru), scavenging and hoping for scraps.

Just so I can also post some photos of more typical African animals, here are some wildlife pictures from Mt. Meru...

If you climb Mt. Meru (which by the way is a great warm up and acclimatization trek before climbing Kilimanjaro) then you will walk across a plain known as "the little Serengeti". Both that plain as well as the forest above it are very, very rich in wildlife, and the vegetation on the slopes is spectacular, too.

Little Serengeti was named for the similarity of the vegetation on the plains and also for the abundance of wildlife. This photo shows a group of water buffaloes, but as you walk across the plain you will also see big numbers of warthog and giraffe.

Giraffe prefer their vegetation a bit taller so they don't get sore necks when feeding. And you will walk right between them.

Water buffalo and ranger on Mt. Meru

At the top of the page I mentioned that on Mt. Meru you need to be protected by an armed ranger. Here you can see why. The biggest danger on Mt. Meru are not the leopards but the water buffaloes.

A charging leopard can usually be discouraged with a shot into the air. It's not so easy to stop a charging buffalo. The rangers do not want to kill any animals, but with buffaloes they sometimes have no choice.

By the way, that buffalo was grazing happily and didn't care about us at all. The ranger is just showing off again. Geez, did he love his gun...

Ranger with buffalo skull on Mt. Meru

(Pictures of Kilimanjaro vegetation zones and flora coming soon.)

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About Altitude Sickness

If you are planning to climb Mount Kilimanjaro you will sooner or later hear about altitude sickness.

For those unfamiliar with the ins and outs of altitude illness, here are answers to the most common questions regarding mountain sickness.

High Altitude: 1500 - 3500 m (5000 - 11500 ft)Very High Altitude: 3500 - 5500 m (11500 - 18000 ft)Extreme Altitude: above 5500 m (18000 ft)

Altitude sickness is a range of symptoms that can occur when someone ascends to a high altitude too rapidly, without sufficient acclimatization.

The body can adjust to the reduced air pressure at higher altitude, but only at a rate of about 300 m (1000 ft) altitude gain per day. If you ascend faster, and everybody climbing Kilimanjaro will, then you may develop altitude sickness.

There are three main forms of altitude sickness:

AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) is very common when climbing Kilimanjaro.

HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema) is a fluid build up in the lungs.
HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema) is fluid build up in the brain.
Both HAPE and HACE are potentially fatal but are thankfully extremely rare during a well planned Kilimanjaro climb.

What exactly causes the individual symptoms of altitude sickness is still not fully understood. If you want to know more details, there is a link to an excellent tutorial at the bottom of this page.

There is also a range of other symptoms you are likely to experience during a Kilimanjaro climb due to the altitude. They are considered normal and shouldn't worry you:

You breathe faster,you are out of breath sooner,you may experience periodic breathing at night (where you stop breathing for up to 15 seconds, and then breathe very fast to make up for it, scary but harmless),you may wake up frequently at night,you need to urinate a lot more often.

None of those symptoms are altitude sickness.

The symtpoms of AMS are headaches, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, sleeplessness, fatigue, dizzyness. Everybody can expect to experience at least some of these symptoms in a mild form.

The most obvious symptoms for HAPE are extreme breathlessness, even at rest; rattling breath, coughing with pink froth and blue lips or finger nails.

HACE becomes apparent as a lack of coordination, inability to walk in a straight line, confusion and irrational behaviour (to the point of not acknowledging the symptoms).

The symptoms of acute mountain sickness as described above are self limiting and not dangerous. In fact, your guides may tell you during the briefing not to worry, that it is totally normal to be throwing up repeatedly during that last final push top the summit. Nice...

However, if you do experience symptoms, your guides should also keep monitoring you, because AMS can progress to one of the more severe forms of altitude sickness.

HAPE and HACE are potentially fatal! Make sure that you always remain in contact with your guides and let them know exactly how you are feeling. Also keep an eye on your climbing partners, since people suffering from these severe conditions may not be able to correctly assess their own condition.

Anybody experiencing symptoms that could indicate HAPE or HACE needs to descend IMMEDIATELY or they will die.

But please don't panic now. As I said above, these conditions are extremely rare, provided you act sensibly when on the mountain. What I mean by sensibly is explained on the page about preventing altitude sickness on Kilimanjaro.

Anybody can get altitude sickness. There is no way to predict how your body will react if exposed to high altitude without proper acclimatization.

Susceptibility to altitude sickness is random. Fitness is no protection. People who are extremely fit and exercise a lot get it just a easily as couch potatoes. There are many stories that indicate they may be even more susceptible! (Maybe because the fitness gives a false sense of security.)

Men appear to be more susceptible than women, especially young and fit men. (Competitiveness and the desire to show off plays a part in this. Men will often ascend faster. Too fast.)

Older people seem to be less susceptible. (Older people will ascend more slowly, and nothing protects you better from altitude sickness than ascending slowly.)

Highly susceptible people can experience symptoms from 2500 m (7000 ft) onwards, in rare cases even below that. The chance of developing AMS increases with the height but the rate of altitude gain is even more important.

Mt. Kilimanjaro is 5895 m (19340 ft) high. Pretty much everybody on a Kilimanjaro climb will experience some symptoms of altitude sickness during that last push to the summit.

There are other factors that increase the likelihood of altitude sickness, apart from the absolute height itself:

Rate at which a height is achieved (the faster you ascend the bigger the risk of developing symptoms, this factor is more important than the absolute height itself!)Time spent at height (symptoms start appearing within 6-10 hours though they can be delayed)Physical exertionDehydration

Symptoms of acute mountain sickness typically take one or two days to disappear. If you keep ascending they may not go away. For most people the symptoms come and go during the day, disappear over night, only to come back the next day as the climb continues.

AMS can be very unpleasant, but with the right preparation and at a sensible pace, most people can climb to at least the last camp below the crater rim (around 4700m). It's that last push to the summit where AMS becomes the make it or break it issue.

How to prevent altitude sickness when climbing Kilimanjaro

Highly recommended further reading:
Altitude Illness Explained: a tutorial for non-physicians.

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