The Kilimanjaro has many caves that have been in existence for many years. Some are natural caves while others were built by the locals and other by the first explorers to the Kilimanjaro Mountain Ranges.
The Kilimanjaro Mountain is another on the list of the wonders of Africa. It is the tallest free standing mountain in the world. It stands at about 5895 meters above sea level.
Moreover, one of the world’s only and biggest stratovolcanoes. Many features on this mountain are expected given the nature of volcanic activity.
Here are some of the caves on the Kilimanjaro.
Hans Meyer Caves on Mount Kilimanjaro
The Hans Meyer Cave is found on the Kibo peak on the southern side of the Kilimanjaro Mountain. The Kibo peak is the tallest of the three peaks of the Kilimanjaro Mountain.
This cave is south East of the Reusch Crater and it’s a good picnic site while on the Kilimanjaro Mountain.
You will rest and energize and acclimatize while you rest here.
The Hans Meyer cave is located at an Altitude of about 5,150 meters above sea level. The cave is about 3 hours away from the Kibo huts.
The cave is in the arctic vegetation zone of the Kilimanjaro. This place is covered in rocks and ice. The nights usually cold to the extreme and the sun has scotching rays during the day.
This area has no life that survives and those small plants that try to grow can’t go beyond.
Navigating past these rocks would require you to take huge steps and caution as they can be slippery and as you approach Gilman’s Point at 5,681m above sea level which is about 5-6 hours away from School Hut, the slope becomes steeper.
On reaching Gilman’s Point towards Stella Point, you will meet a more gradual slope.
In order to reach the summit at Uhuru Peak, climbers are forced to wake up at midnight, a journey that passes through Gilman’s point to Stella Point.
You will need another two hours from the Stella Point to the Uhuru Peak.
Han Meyer was a German geologist and was a son to one of the wealthiest writers in German town of Leipzig. He has worked for his father and later took over the business.
He retired in 1888. In 1887 he had made an attempt to hike the Kilimanjaro but wasn’t successful. After retiring, he returned in the following year to make a second attempt.
He made several attempts before he succeeded in reaching the summit.
Second Caves on Mount Kilimanjaro
The Second cave stands at an elevation of about 3450 meters above sea level. The cave used to be used for accommodation in the first days of the Kilimanjaro hike. The case is however longer used due to safety issues.
The second cave is located on the east side of the Kilimanjaro Mountain. The cave is just below the third cave camp on the border line of the moorland vegetation of the Kilimanjaro.
This makes the cave a very good acclimatization area on this route since this cave is just before the alpine region where the animal and plant life won’t survive and the oxygen levels will drop.
Third Caves on Mount Kilimanjaro
The Third cave is located on the boundaries of the Alpine and Moorland vegetation zones of the Kilimanjaro at about 3930 meters above sea level.
There are significant daytime and nighttime temperature fluctuations in the Alpine region. There won’t be much vegetation on this portion of the mountain.
Conversely, the Kilimanjaro Moorland vegetation zone is home to numerous Lobelias, gigantic goundsel, vibrant red pokers, and Scenarios trees.
This area of the mountain mainly receives rain through the mist which usually covers the area without notice. The temperatures here of course will be below 0 degrees.
Because of this, this cave will have certain characteristics of both vegetation zones. This makes the camp an ideal spot to acclimate as you will soon be entering the Alpine zone, which is somewhat harsh for human life.
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