Location: Tanzania, Africa
Height: 5,895 metres (19,340 feet)
Summit date: June 2003
Route taken: Shira route
Kilimanjaro was first summitted in 1889 by Hans Meyer, Ludwig Purtscheller, Yohanas Kinyala Lauwo. Now around 22,000 climbers reach the summit each year making it one of the most climbed mountains in the world.
Mt Kilimanjaro or “Uhuru Peak” is the tallest mountain in the world that you can walk up. There is no need for mountaineering skills, specialized equipment, or even previous climbing experience.
There are many different routes, each going through the different vegetations of rainforest, moorland and glaciers. The scenery is breathtaking on this nine day trek. The extinct volcano also rises over game reserves, which undoubtedly make it a unique and impressive mountain adventure. At the summit there is a sign, which says, “You have reached the highest point in Africa”, alongside the Tanzanian flag.
Chicks’ reflections: “Standing on the rooftop of Africa was humbling. You appreciate man’s insignificance in the scheme of things, and your own limitless power and utter smallness at all the same time. You recognise the intricacy and beauty of the world. We walked for eighteen hours that day.”