Mount Kilimanjaro

Mount Kilimanjaro is a stratovolcano – a term for a very large volcano made of ash, lava, and rock. Shira and Mawenzi Peaks are extinct volcanoes, meaning that there is no activity underneath these cones. In short, they are cut off from their supply of lava.

However, Kibo Peak is considered a dormant volcano; it can erupt again! If a volcano hasn’t erupted in the last 10,000 years, but scientists think it will erupt again, it’s considered dormant. The last major eruption was 360,000 years ago. The most recent activity was 200,000 years ago. The ash pit is a two-hour round-trip hike from the highest campsite, Crater Camp. Those who visit the ash pit will be greeted by the smell of sulphur from the volcano’s lava.

The origin of the name Kilimanjaro is not certain. European explorers had adopted the name by 1860 and reported that “Kilimanjaro” was the mountain’s Swahili name. But according to the 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia, the name of the mountain was “Kilima-Njaro,” comprised of the Swahili word “Kilima” meaning “mountain” and the Chagga word “Njaro” meaning “whiteness.”

The Germans discovered the charm of the Usambaras and established Lushoto (then called Wilhelmsthal), which became a favored holiday spot for colonial administrators. Today, many traces of the German era are still visible.

Tanganyika became a British Mandate Territory after World War I. The British administration continued to reserve and exploit forests. After independence in 1961, the Ujamaa politics, or so-called “African socialism” of President Nyerere, brought one of the best organized village communities in Africa, which still exists today in the Usambaras (usambaramountains.com). Source: kaananiresthouse.de

Mkomazi National Park is a magnificent 3,500-square-kilometre national park in northern Tanzania. Remote and initially inaccessible, it was established in 1951 but never attracted the financial support provided for the better-known wildlife strongholds such as the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the Serengeti National Park. Only since 1989, when the Tanzanian Government re-examined the reserve’s status and designated it a National Priority Project, has its true significance been recognized. Today, the park is easily accessible.

The park is a spectacular wilderness. To the northwest is Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest summit. To the south, the Pare and Usambara Mountains form a dramatic backdrop, and to the north, Kenya’s vast Tsavo National Park shares a border with Mkomazi, providing common ground for migratory herds of Elephant, Oryx, and Zebra during the wet season. Together with Tsavo, it forms one of the largest and most important protected ecosystems on earth. Mkomazi is at the southern tip of the Sahel zone. It is a classic dry-country reserve of grey-green Nyika bush, ancient Baobab trees, and isolated rocky hills. Elsewhere, the seas of bush give way to open savannah woodlands of umbrella Acacias and mbugas – shallow valleys of grassland.

The animals are typical of the arid Nyika; Giraffe, Oryx, Gerenuk, Hartebeest, Lesser Kudu, Eland, Impala, and Grant’s Gazelle share the reserve with Elephant, Buffalo, and numerous predators including Lion, Leopard, and Cheetah. In all, 78 species of mammals have been recorded in the park. The birds of Mkomazi are even more numerous, with over 400 recorded species. Doves, Hornbills, Weavers, and Guinea-Fowl are all present in large numbers – as well as striking species such as the Martial Eagle and Violet Wood-Hoopoe.

Furthermore, an exciting Wild Dog and Black Rhino rehabilitation project, established in the park some 30 years ago by world-famous ‘Lion Man’ and conservationist Tony Fitz-John, is due to open to the public in early 2021.