Africa 1994

Kilimanjaro and Ngorogoro Crater - Tanzania

July 1994


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A few photos from my Africa trip of July 2004.

Kilimanjaro Climb

Ngorogoro Crater

Miscellaneous other Africa Pics

Kilimanjaro Climb

Highest mountain in Africa, this is a very popular climb. I climbed Kilimanjaro in 4 days via the normal route. Here are some photos.

	The start of the Kilimanjaro climb on the lower mountain is through jungle, and monkeys can be heard whooping, and occasionally glimpsed in the trees.
	Camp 1 is this large hut swarming with western climbers at 2727m.
	On Day 2 we emerge above the treeline for our first views of the summits. Kilimanjaro has 2 summits, we will bypass the lower summit and climb the snowcapped main summit.
	Camp 2 is located in the zone of cloud and unique alpine vegetation.
	This vegetation is very beautiful and unique in the world. It is only found on a few African summits and only at a particular altitude. The vegetation is remnant from the last ice age and survives only in a few places.
	I went for a walk above the camp to explore the unique vegetation.
	I was just above the cloud line on this still evening.
	Here is a closer view of these amazing plants - giant lobelias.
	The lesser summit is in the background.
	More of these amazing and incredible plants.
	Day 3 takes us to the highest camp, and that afternoon we had some snow fall. It is very cold at this altitude once the clouds come in during the afternoon, and especially at night.

	Day 4 is summit day and we started climbing at about midnight. I was wearing Dunlop Volleys so my feet were terribly cold - like ice blocks - they have never been so cold. The sun finally began to rise.
	We are now on the crater rim and remnant ice floes can be seen up here.
	The sun is up.
	In those days my attire was not the best modern fashion.
	So there you have it.
	Looking from the summit into the caldera you can see some large ice floes. This ice is left over from the last ice age. Such ice could not possibly form in the climate of today or even in the climate of any of the last 2000 years. This ice is left over from the ice age that ended 12000 years ago and it is slowly subliming - not melting, but going straight from ice to water vapour. Today these ice floes are probably noticeably smaller.
	And so as we return through the corn fields of Tanzania we look back at the summit where we had been only a few days before and remember the unique part of the world that it is.

Ngorogoro Crater

Surely one of the 7 wonders of the world, my visit to Ngorogoro Crater was perhaps one of the true highlights of my 1994 Africa trip. Ngogogoro crater is a depression about 12km wide in a plateau in central Tanzania. It is a wildlife sanctuary and home to rare mammals such as the black rhinocerous. On the morning of my visit, the surrounding plateau was blanketed in mist, yet the crater itself was clear. Mist would literally pour into the crater from all sides and evaporate in the warm protected climate of the crater. So all the amazing sights of the crater could be beheld in clear sunny skies against the backdrop of mist shrouded mountains.

	From the rim of the crater looking down. In the distance a soda lake can be seen.
	Sunrise or sunset (I can't remember) from outside the crater.

	Driving down into the crater.
	The Masai people live here and hunt in traditional ways. The zebra look like they have good meat on them, and indeed, zebra meat is good eating!
	Wildebeest.
	Let me guess - 2 males.
	Let me guess - the ones looking on nonchalantly on the left are the femals.
	Let me guess - he walked away with nothing for all his bravado.
	Flamingoes on the lake, the mist spilling into the crater in the background.
	Flamingoes on the lake, the mist spilling into the crater in the background.
	An afternoon snack for this lion.
	He looks full.
	Time for a nap?

Miscellaneous Other Africa Shots

	Masai villagers.


	Cheetahs.

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This web page created on 26 Apr 2012, last updated 26 Apr 2012.


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