| Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest (5895 metres) and most
celebrated mountain in Africa. Looming some 4900 metres above the
plains that spread out from its base, the mountain dominates its
surroundings. Composed of three separate volcanoes, massive and complex
Kilimanjaro covers an area 6100 kilometres long and 65 kilometres wide.
The volcanoes, whose lava fields overlapped and partially obliterated each
other, began erupting approximately 2 million years ago. At the center is
the culminating massif known as Kibo, which is permanently snowbound,
flanked by the lower summits of Mawenzi to the east and Shira to the west.
The peaks of Kibo and Mawenzi are joined by a broad saddle 11 kilometers
long. Because of Kilimanjaro's great height, the mountain influences its
own weather. Winds incoming from the Indian Ocean are deflected upward by
the slopes and drop their moisture as rain and snow. This moisture results
in a variety of vegetative zones that contrast dramatically with the
savanna grasses and semidesert scrub on the surrounding plains. The
mount's lower slopes, probably once forested, have been cleared for the
cultivation of coffee, corn, and other crops. At higher elevations
(approximately 3000 metres) lies a belt of tropical rain forest that
gives way to grasslands and moorlands. This belt, in turn, is replaced by
high-altitude desert ( at approximately 4400 meters). At the highest
elevations is a zone of permanent ice and snow that is responsible for the
name Kilimanjaro, which in Swahili means "the mountain that
glitters." |
East