Climb Kilimanjaro on your Tanzania gap year.
Climb Kilimanjaro on your Tanzania gap year.
Climb Kilimanjaro if you are looking for a serious adventure on your Tanzania Gap Year. Each year many people contemplate the Kilimanjaro climb because it is one of the most rewarding and easiest entry points into mountaineering. They either go it alone or Climb Kilimanjaro with a group or a friend.
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.
The trek up typically takes 4 days, although many choose to acclimatise one extra day on the mountain, not a bad option as this can mean you increase your chances of a successful summit. Although the Tanzania authorities charge extortionate amounts for people to remain on the mountain and extra day ($150). The down hill leg is much easier, and only takes a day, surprising when you have taken 4 days up and one day down but that is gravity for you! Either way once you have trekked back down to the gate your Tanzania Gap Year mission will have been completed and you can reward yourself with a HUGE buffalo steak and the end
After the climb, you can go on safari to the Ngorogro crater, or masai mara game reserves the perfect way to finish off your Tanzania Gap year.