Kibo

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The “Flat-Top” That Isn't: Exploring Kilimanjaro’s Secret Caldera

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Think Kilimanjaro has a flat top? Think again! From hand-drawn diagrams to summit photos at Uhuru Peak, explore the volcanic 'cooking pot' at the top of Africa’s highest peak.

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What we Learned from Kilimanjaro's Shrinking Ice Cap

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What we Learned from Kilimanjaro's Shrinking Ice Cap

Explore three takeaways about the arrival and disappearance of Kilimanjaro's icy cap.

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Starry night

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Starry night

The icy peak was silhouetted against the night sky. But the longer I looked, the more I saw. And the more I saw, the less I noticed the mountain of our obsession. It was stars--sweet Jesus!--the stars that dominated this glorious night. They were everywhere, from horizon to horizon.

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Shark fin and teeth

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Shark fin and teeth

Jason offered a weather report at breakfast. "It's two degrees above zero" (it sounds more sinister in celsius). 

He meant no evil, nor did I return it, but his words did prompt a flashback to my days of fieldwork in the deserts of Jordan.

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A stone-cold cauldron

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A stone-cold cauldron

At some point in the distant past, planetary nausea triggered a spew of subterranean chunder. The blow was horrific enough to empty a mountain of structural support, causing it to collapse into its own throat.

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On the shira

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On the shira

We trudged up one more rise. At the crest, the landscape flattened. It was the collapsed floor of an ancient volcano. 

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The LFMW

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The LFMW

The ten of us sat around the long wooden table. We looked like members of the board, but this was no committee meeting. Robert, sporting the "please-recover-my-body" orange of Kandoo Adventures, introduced himself as our lead guide. I liked him immediately.