tanzania

Welcome to Kilimanjaro National Park!

You are now at the foot of the highest mountain in Africa, snow caped and world’s highest free standing volcano; the Kilimanjaro. Climbing to the top which is far up into the sky is a life time experience that no one can forget. The park offers a range of tourism activities including mountain climbing, paragliding, mountain cycling , crater camping, mawenzi peak technical climb, shira plateau day visit and nature walk in montane forest.

 Park History

The park was gazetted in 1973, officially opened for tourism in 1977, declared as World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987 and Natural Wonder of Africa in 2013. Its size is 1712 Km2 . 

Getting there

 The park can be accessed by road or flight via Kilimanjaro International Airport – about 45 km to the west. Marangu gate is the Park Headquarters and one of the ascending route is located 41 km from Moshi town and 86 km from Kilimanjaro International Airport. The other seven gates of Rongai, Machame, Londorosi, Lemosho, Kilema, Mweka and Umbwe are located around the mountain base and can be reached by road.

Climate

 There are two rainy seasons in a year mainly influenced by the prevailing trade winds. The short rainy period is from October to November and the wet season is from March to May during which it rains around the mountain base and snow accumulates on its peak. The dry season is from late June to September and from December to early March during which the nights are cool and the days completely clear and thus provides good climbing conditions.

Attractions

 The Park is endowed with a diverse variety of attractions ranging from terrestrial wilderness to permanent glaciers on the mountain peaks.

Three Peaks

 Kibo, the highest peak [5,895m] is covered by snow throughout the year though located near the equator and to many climbers, conquering this peak is an adventure of their lifetime. Mawenzi [5,149m] is rugged and opened for technical climb. Shira [3,962m] is the oldest peak that collapsed and forms a shira plateau with outstanding scenic beauty on the mountain habited with several kinds of migratory large mammals such as buffaloes, elephants and elands and species of birds like alpine chart,dusky tutle dove,white naped raven