Mount Kilimanjaro National Park is located 200 miles south of the Equator and it is centered on Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest freestanding dormant volcano in the world. The park was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987. The ascent of the slopes is a virtual climatic world tour, from the tropics to the Arctic.

Even before you cross the national park boundary (at the 2,700 metres contour), the cultivated footslopes give way to lush montane forest, inhabited by elusive elephant, leopard, buffalo, the endangered Abbot's duiker, and other small antelope and primates. Higher still lies the moorland zone, where a cover of giant heather is studded with magnificent giant lobelias. Above 4,000 metres, a surreal alpine desert supports little life other than a few hardy mosses and lichen. Then, finally, the last vestigial vegetation gives way to a winter wonderland of ice and snow - and the magnificent beauty of the roof of Africa.

Related Links

Wikipedia - Mount Kilimanjaro National Park

Tanzania Parks - Mount Kilimanjaro National Park