Climb Kilimanjaro on your Tanzania gap year.
Climb Kilimanjaro if you are comtemplating heading out to Tanzania on your Africa Gap Year. As Tanzania Gap Year Activities go climbing Kilimanjaro is definitely a high priority for many. Kilimanjaro, the worlds highest free standing mountain, is not a difficult task, but it does require effort. If you want to climb Kilimanjaro you need to be pretty fit to do so.
So why would you want to climb Kilimanjaro? People Climb kilimajaro for different reasons, some want to experience a serious trek into high altitude, some want to tackle the mountain because it is the only place on earth where you can stand and see the curvature of the earth for 360 degrees, others just want to climb Kilimanjaro because it is there. Whatever your reasons, the task is not difficult and it is certainly rewarding and available to you on a Tanzania Gap Year.
A Tanzania Gap Year is the perfect time to climb Kilimanjaro, lets face it, when else are you going to have the time or inclination to drag your butt all the way up the one of the highest mountain isn the world. Once real life sets in and the pressures of work and stingy allocated holiday time set in, climbing Kilimanjaro becomes very low on your list of priorities, however on a Tanzania gap year you typically have many months to sort this out.
There are plenty of Gap Year companies that will help you plan your Tanzania Gap year enabling you to climb Kilimanjaro, Xtreme Gap Year is one of them. They specialise in lots of Gap year activities like trekking and mountaineering
The mountain has lots of different zones which you will discover as you progress up the mountain. When you climb Kilimanjaro on your Tanzania Gap year, you will start off at the bottom (obviously) where there is a thick jungle, loaded with green bushes, trees and 42 different types of banana tree! Yes there is a use for all of them in case you were wondering. Then as you climb Kilimanjaro the air thins and you will get to a lunar like rocky landscape, with very little but rocks and dust! Then finally you get to a scree slope and then the snow line. It is a pretty cool experience all things considered.
Many people who climb Kilimanjaro on their Tanzania gap year choose to take an extra day up the mountain, this is not a bad options as the lessens the effect of Altitude sickness on the trek. Many people do not successfully reach the summit at all, instead they turn around at Gilmans point which is several hundred meters short of the top of the mountain. This is disappointing as the climb is the high light of the Tanzania gap year, and you want to be successful. Taking an e extra day may make all the difference and give you the boost you need to get up to the top. With only 40% begin successful this is really not a bad option. The ascent to the summit starts early with a scramble up a scree slope to gilmans point on the semi permafrost. Then it is a 3 hour trek to the top to the roof of Africa! The way down is not so tough, quite easy in fact. One day down and you can reward your self with a well deserved meal afterwards!
After the trek many people choose to take a safari in Tanzania to the ngororgoro crater, lake manyara and Masai Mara, this is the perfect way to en you Tanzania Gap year or really get involved in some wild life conservation.
