It’s the tallest free-standing mountain in the world. It's also home to the highest peak in Africa: Uhuru Peak at 5,895 meters.

While classified as a mountain, Kili is actually made up of three volcanic cones. They were formed by the Great Rift Valley, and are called Shira (3,962m), Mawenzi (5,159m), and Kibo (5,895m). While the other two volcanic formations are extinct, some believe Kibo could erupt again one day. The last major eruption was around 360,000 years ago, but some volcanic activity was recorded just 200 years ago.

Despite the strong equatorial sun, there’s a glacier on the top of Kili. It’s brilliant white color is what allows it to survive as it reflects most of the sun’s heat. However, the icecap has shrunk in size by more than 80 percent since 1912, and it’s predicted that it will be gone in 15 years, perhaps sooner.

Once above 4,000 meters, around Karanga Camp on day 4, the temperature drops by 1°C FOR every 150 meters you ascend.

There’s very little light pollution on Kilimanjaro, so the stars of the Southern Hemisphere are vibrant and plentiful. You won’t see the Big Dipper, but you can see the iconic Southern Cross, which is very pronounced thanks the dark nebulae within the Milky Way.

Drenched by about six and a half feet of rain each year, the rain forest is lush, green and bursting with life year round. Colobus and Blue monkeys, mongoose and lots of birds and insects can be found amongst the giant ferns, vines, juniper, fig and olive trees. There are lots of endemic flowers for you to look out for too - including violets, orchids and the famous Impatiens Kilimanjari!

Mist and fog cling to the lower edge of the forest in this zone, but, above the tree line, the land opens out into a clear and cool landscape full of mosses and grasses that are vital for safeguarding the soil and conserving the fleeting moisture. Here you’ll also see everlasting flowers, like Proteas, tall plants with red or yellow tubular blossoms called Red Hot Pokers, and single daisy-like flowers called Helichrysum Meyeri Johannis.

Sometimes known as the Low Alpine Zone, the air feels crisp and cool here. Shrubs blanket the ground, but still, vegetation is sparse due to the harsher conditions. However, what it lacks in flowers it makes up for in Giant Lobelias and Senecios Kilimanjaris! You’ll see lots of these interesting, stubby palm looking trees that are endemic to the mountain.

You might feel like you’re on the moon when you’re in the Alpine Desert! There isn’t much life apart from some grasses and a few small flowers. It’s very dusty, dry, and a stunning part of the trek because from here you can see Kilimanjaro’s twin summits, Kibo and Mawenzi. This zone is characterized by bright sun, high evaporation and wide daily changes in temperature.

The ultimate goal, the uppermost region is a taste of the Arctic just south of the equator! The oxygen level is about half of that at sea level and the sun is fierce. There’s very little wildlife apart from lichens (however, in 1926, a frozen leopard was discovered near the summit crater). On your way to Uhuru Peak from Stella Point you’ll see what remains of the Furtwängler Glacier, an enormous icecap that once crowned the summit.