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Mount Kilimanjaro

Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, stands at 5,895m and will take you 6 days to conquer.

Kilimanjaro is the highest point in Africa. This volcanic massif stands in splendid isolation above the surrounding plains, with its snowy peak looming over the savannah. Kilimanjaro National Park covering an area of some 75,575 ha protects the largest free standing volcanic mass in the world and the highest mountain in Africa, rising 4,877m above surrounding plains to 5,895m at its peak. With its snow-capped peak, the Kilimanjaro is a superlative natural phenomenon, standing in isolation above the surrounding plains overlooking the savannah.

The mountain has five main vegetation zones: savannah bushland at 700-1,000 m (south slopes) and 1,400-1,600 m (north slopes), densely populated submontane agroforest on southern and south-eastern slopes, the montane forest belt, subalpine moorland and alpine bogs. Above this is alpine desert. The montane forest belt circles the mountain between 1,300 m (about 1,600 m on the drier north slopes) to 2,800 m. Forests above 2,700 m are within the National Park.

According to a 2001 study there are 2,500 plant species on the mountain, 1,600 of them on the southern slopes and 900 within the forest belt. There are 130 species of tree with the greatest diversity being between 1,800 and 2,000 m, as well as 170 species of shrub, 140 species of epiphyte, 100 lianas and 140 pteridophytes.

The mountain is encircled by mountain forest. Numerous mammals, many of them endangered species, live in the park.

Part of the Kilimanjaro area was reclassified as a national park in 1973 and designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987.

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