WHAT’S THE PASSWORD?
If you summit the tallest mountain in Africa and don’t post about it post-haste on social, did it even happen? This is the modern-day equivalent of that age-old philosophical quandary about trees falling in forests. The good news, though, is that it is no longer a question you have to ponder if you are planning on summiting Mt Kilimanjaro, which recently had a new high-speed fibre optic broadband internet network installed on its slopes.
The network, set up by the state-owned Tanzania Telecommunications Corporation, means climbers and porters can access Wi-Fi up to the Horombo Huts, a camp on the Marangu Route at an altitude of 3,720m. The summit (altitude 5,895m) is 15km and an estimated 11 hours of trekking away.
Tanzania’s minister of information and communication, Nape Moses Nnauye, said the move was a boost for safety as it would allow climbers and guides easier access to emergency services and the country hoped to offer full connectivity to the summit by the end of the year.
Besides being the tallest in Africa, Kilimanjaro is also the world’s tallest “freestanding” mountain. This is because, unlike mountains such as Everest, which are part of a range with a “peak” at the top, Kilimanjaro is a volcano crater, where the summit is simply the highest point on the rim. In fact, it is a stratovolcano, a coneshaped structure built of many layers of hardened lava and other materials produced by volcanic eruptions.
Japan’s tallest mountain, Fuji, is also a stratovolcano, though “a mere” 3,776m high. Interestingly, it also has Wi-Fi.
Once called Kibo by the local people, the official summit point of Mt Kilimanjaro was renamed “Kaiser Wilhelm Peak” under German colonial rule in 1889 but was renamed on Tanzania’s (then Tanganyika’s) independence in 1961 to the name by which it is still known today. In Swahili it means “freedom”.
To stand a chance of winning R500, tell us the name of the official summit point of Kilimanjaro. Email your answer to travelquiz@sundaytimes.co.za before noon on September 27. Last week’s winner is Elizabeth Anna Adams. The correct answer is Westminster Abbey.