Mount Kilimanjaro National Park is home to the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world. At a height of 5.985 meters (19,341 ft), Mount Kilimanjaro is one of the world’s most accessible summits. With its snow-capped peak, Kilimanjaro is an amazing natural phenomenon that stands alone above the plains overlooking the savannah. Mount Kilimanjaro is made up of three volcanoes, Mawenzi in the east (5.280 m), Shira in the west (4.269 m) and Kibo, the youngest volcano (5.895m). Shira and Mawenzi are extinct and the last major eruption of Kibo was between 150,000 and 200,000 years ago. Today, Kibo lies dormant but it could awaken at any time.

Mount Kilimanjaro National Park provides an amazingly diverse series of habitats as it rises from the pastures and bushlands of the native Maasai people to the boundary of the national park. The mountain has five primary vegetation zones from the lowest point to the highest: lower slopes, montane forest, heath and moorland, alpine desert and summit. The lower regions of the park are dominated by lush green montane forests that have almost 140 different tree species. A little higher up, giant lobelias grace the moorland zone. Over 4.000 m, you’ll find a moonlike desert, where not too many things grow and the land is full of dust and rocks. Closer to the summit, hikers will be rewarded with beautiful sights of glaciers and a deep crater.

The entire mountain is very rich in species — mammals, in particular — many of which are endangered. Because of this combination of features but mainly its physical form, height, snow cap and isolation above the surrounding plains, Mount Kilimanjaro is arguably the most unique mountain in the world, and it is wholly deserving of its place on avid hikers and animal enthusiasts’ bucket lists.