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Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa, located in
Northeast Tanzania, near the Kenya border. Kilimanjaro is an extinct volcano,
and is one of the most massive in the world. It towers 15,000 feet above
the surrounding arid plains, and 2.5 square miles of its surface are over 18,500
feet. Beneath its ice dome, snow extends down long gullies that have been eroded
in the mountain sides. Kilimanjaro's summit crater, known as Kibo, measures an
incredible 1.5 miles across. The highest point on Kibo's steep rim is Uhuru, the
highest peak in Africa. Nestled in the center of Kibo is a smaller crater,
600-feet deep in sulfurous ashes. Mawenzi (16,893 ft), Kilimanjaro's smaller
second cone, is seven miles east of Kibo, separated by a long saddle. Mawenzi is
an older cone, jagged from erosion, with sheer faces on all sides. Despite its
lower elevation, Mawenzi is the more difficult climb, and no approach is
possible without rock climbing and/or snow and ice climbing skills. Mawenzi is
the third highest peak in Africa. Mount Kenya (17,057 ft.) is second. The
approach and climb provides spectacular diversity, from scrub-lands thick with
African wildlife to lush forests to flowering alpine tundra. All this finally
gives way to snow and rock above 15,000 feet. Kilimanjaro's summit crater, known
as Kibo, measures an incredible 1.5 miles across
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