The blue mountain with a cap of snow at the top and with the proud name Kilimanjaro rises above the semi-deserts of Northern Tanzania. This colossal volcano owes its name to the Swahili language, translated from it Kilimanjaro means “sparkling mountain”. All Africa is proud of the height of the mountain: after all, 5,899 meters. It covers an area of 97 by 64 km and is clearly visible from almost all points of the savannahs of Tanzania and Kenya - the sloping slopes rise to a flat peak, which is actually a giant hollow of the volcano.
Mount Kilimanjaro is made up of three separate volcanoes, united by a complex history. For example, one of them is connected with the most ancient volcano Shira, which lies to the west of Kilimanjaro. Once it was taller and seemed to collapse after another, very powerful eruption, leaving only a plateau 3,810 m high. The second oldest volcano, Mawenzi, now exists in the form of a peak adjacent from the eastern side to the main Mount Kilimanjaro. Its height is also rather big, it reaches 5,334 m. The youngest and largest of the three volcanoes is Kibo. The colossal Kibo caldera forms the characteristic flat top of Kilimanjaro.
They say that on very hot days from a great distance the base of the mountain ceases to be visible, then it seems as if a snowy peak soars in the air.
It is amazing how different the vegetation is on the slopes of Kilimanjaro and around it - the gigantic dimensions of the mountain form their own microclimate. The humid winds of the Indian Ocean, bumping into Kilimanjaro, leave here the brought water in the form of rain and snow, so at the foot of the mountain you can grow coffee and corn, and a humid tropical forest grows to a height of 3,000 m. Up to 4,000 m the mountain is decorated with beautiful alpine meadows, and even higher (from 4,400 m) they are replaced by alpine lichens and mosses. The top of Kilimanjaro is always snowy, but the snow and ice are melting. And the precipitation at the top is only 200 mm per year, this is not enough to compensate for the amount of water lost during snowmelt. It can be predicted that if similar rates of warming continue, Kilimanjaro will lose its ice cap by 2200. So you need to hurry to see this miracle in its full splendor!