Kilimanjaro. Alex Stewart

that also appear on the maps are marked in the route descriptions in bold.

      The introduction to each route includes a box summarising the route. The ascent route summaries show both the time spent on the ascent route and the minimum total number of days you will spend on the mountain (ie cumulative time spent on the ascent, summit ascent and descent routes) if you choose to take that particular ascent route. The time shown in the summit ascent and descent route summaries reflects only the time spent on that route.

      An indication of how long each daily section takes is found in the summary of the daily schedule. The times quoted are average walking times only and will not correspond to everyone’s experiences, but are intended as a rough guide. These approximations refer to the actual time spent walking and do not take into account breaks, photographic opportunities or any other delays.

      The altitude gain and loss figures refer to the difference between the start and finish points. The altitudes noted are taken from as reliable a set of sources as possible. There are wildly differing estimates of the height of each feature, and even of the summit, and the altitudes quoted here may not be in accordance with each map or every guide. The distances mentioned are also at best estimates that will provide as accurate an impression of the ascent of the mountain as possible.

      Route finding is not a problem in this neck of the woods (Machame Route)

THE STORY OF KILIMANJARO

People of the region

      Mount Kilimanjaro erupted from the savannah approximately one million years ago as the result of a series of cataclysmic earth movements associated with the formation of the Rift Valley. Geologically speaking, this is recent and means that the volcano is one of the youngest in Africa and would have been formed during the time that hominids were on the earth. In fact, Kilimanjaro is likely to have been seen by at least four different Homo species including H. erectus and H. ergaster, the forerunners of the Neanderthals. Once Kilimanjaro’s slopes had become safe to inhabit, they would have supported early hunter-gatherer tribes. The extensive network of springs and streams, in conjunction with the temperate climate and bountiful supplies of food and wood, would have made this a highly desirable location for early man.

      However, little of great anthropological or archaeological antiquity has been found on the mountain itself. Primitive stone bowls fashioned from lava have been discovered on the lower western slopes of the mountain, leading archaeologists to conclude that hunter-gatherer tribes based themselves here from around 1000BC onwards. However, there is little evidence available to conclusively prove what sort of life these tribes may have enjoyed.

      Waves of people migrated across Africa. First Cushites entered the region from the southern highlands of Ethiopia and spread across and settled on the plains and highlands of Tanzania. It is thought that these early agriculturalists may have been responsible for some of the irrigation channels found on Kilimanjaro. Within the last few thousand years, Bantu people from West Africa and Nilotic people from the Nile Basin migrated to this region. These groups are represented around Kilimanjaro today by two tribes: the Chagga and the Maasai.

      View across the exposed Saddle to the Kibo massif (Rongai Route)

      The Chagga

      The Chagga live around the southern slopes of Kilimanjaro, right up to the national park boundary. They currently constitute the third largest tribal group in Tanzania, numbering over 800,000 people. They are also known as the Chaga or Shaka, and sometimes the tribe is referred to as the Wachagga (the prefix ‘wa’ meaning ‘the people of’).

      The Chagga are descended from a variety of groups who migrated to the foothills of Kilimanjaro and took possession of the fertile mountain slopes several hundred years ago. The tribe was composed of around 400 main clans, most of which were descended from the Kamba, a Bantu-speaking people. They have since intermingled with the Taita, Maasai and other peoples.