Kilimanjaro. A mountain that has influenced many peoples lives. For some it is the start of their mountaineering adventures. For others it is a once off challenge. No matter what a climbers reason is to climb, once the challenge has been fulfilled, Kilimanjaro will definitely leave a bigger mark on your life.
Planning to climb Kilimanjaro is not something you do overnight. There are many logistical factors that one need to take into account before making the big leap. The most common concern being the one of the best time to climb Kilimanjaro. The last time I looked, there were 12 months in the year. Hopefully that has not changed as that might cause a slight problem when it comes to deciding on the best time to climb. Imagine you decided to climb Kilimanjaro in August and someone decided to cancel August. OK, looks like I might be getting carried away here. I was thinking of deleting the earlier statement on August getting cancelled, but I couldn’t find the delete key.Right, back to issue at hand. The best time to climb Kilimanjaro.
The climbing seasons on climbing Kilimanjaro have been categorise according to the two ‘dry’ seasons.And by dry, we don’t mean that the ice-cold Kilimanjaro lager has dried up. nope. Nope no worries when it comes to that. Hmmmm, ice cold beer. The two dry seasons are catagorised into June through to August and February through to April. These two dry seasons are supposed to bring more stable weather conditions to the mountain. But for those of you have spent time in mountains you will know that these deities of nature have their own set of rules. There care not for us mortal humans and our set of agenda. Global warming, aliens and the effects of dwarf throwing have had a severe impact on the world and Kilimanjaro’s weather patterns.
Most information on the web seems to show that the best time to climb Kilimanjaro is July and August. I have climbed Kilimanjaro in all seasons. I have had some of the worst conditions in July and some of the best conditions in December. Yes, the rainfall in December may be higher than in July, but that should not be the deciding reason. If rain is your main concern, you should consider that rainfall is rarely found above 3500m anyway.We did find some rain back in 2009 but a hiker stomped on it and buried it before it could call its friends. Snow is more of a possibility. And snow is pretty good fun to walk in.
Climbing in the non-climbing seasons might mean that you get a bit wet going through the rain forest. I wonder why it’s called a rainforest? Maybe because of the drought. No it cannot be, otherwise it would be called a drought forest. Another factor when it comes to the best time to climb Kilimanjaro that most people tend to forget is that the European summer holidays are in July and August. This means that the mountain gets pretty busy in these months. When planning your trip, a consideration to highly consider. I would prefer going in June when the weather is still pretty good with far less people on the mountain.The best time to climb Kilimanjaro is now.OK, that might be too late as the now has just become the future. So maybe the best time to climb Kilimanjaro is just now. Once upon a time there a man who always wanted to hike up Kilimanjaro but couldn’t decide on the best time to climb, so he decided to rather ponder on the best time to climb Kilimanjaro and never actually climbed the mountain.
In conclusion, no matter when you decide to climb, the experience of climbing Kilimanjaro will definitley alter your perceptions on life and who you are. You will come back from the mountain different. Climbing Kilimanjaro is not just about the mountain. It’s about the people you meet, the culture of the land, the food, the challenge and the sense of accomplishment when you reach the summit. I have helped over 1000 people realise their dream of standing on the highest mountain in Africa and have had the privilege of sharing in their journey. At the end of the day, the timing of their climb had little impact on the experience that they enjoyed.