KILIMANJARO CLIMB TANZANIA

                           Mt. Kilimanjaro 



It's the highest mountain in all of Africa at over 19,000 feet. For months, the months I'd spent surveying the elephants of Africa for my first book, I'd laid eyes on this huge mountain, all the while never thinking I'd ever climb it. The book complete, it finally dawned on me, climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. So for 8 days, I climbed and traversed the mountain on the quiet Northern Circuit Route. 



On August 16th, 2021, I stood on the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro and looked out over the expansive plateau that makes up its topside. Visible from the viewpoint were several of its ice features, the glaciers and icefields.


At one time, the entire top of the mountain was covered in a sheet of ice. But over the past one hundred years or more, the ice has melted and melted away quickly. Scientists estimate that at the present rate, all of the ice features on Mt. Kilimanjaro will have disappeared by the year 2050.  So in addition to the gratitude I felt for reaching the top of this great mountain, I was grateful for the night I spent sleeping on its top, and the presence of its dwindling glaciers nearby.


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