[+/-] : The first conquest of Kibo

In the following years several Missionaries and sportsmen visited various parts of the mountain, while Sir H. H. Johnston studied its flora and fauna. But not until 1887 was any serious attempt made to reach the top. In this year Count Teleki climbed to a height of 15,800 feet, and in August of the same year Dr. Hans Meyer, following the route taken by Count Teleki, attained the altitude of 18,000 feet. Here he came on an unscalable glacier wall, and was compelled to turn back. Renewing his attempt Meyer finally reached the summit in 1880 in company with Ludwig Purtscheller.

This first conquest of Kibo was the severest under-taking that has been, or is likely to be, required of anyone ascending the mountain. Meyer had then not discovered the notch in the ice wall of the crater rim, which by reason of the diminishing ice makes the ascent easier year by year. His ascent was therefore made over the Ratzel glacier which could only be scaled with ice axes. Every step required some twenty strokes of the axe, and the labour entailed for this purpose at such an altitude and whilst climbing at an angle of 35, must have been immense; added to this Meyer and his companion were in imminent danger, especially as Meyer himself had no climbing irons, and any step must inevitably have buried them down into the 3,000 feet abyss which yawns below the Western side of the glacier. A former traveller, Ehlers, who had alleged that he reached the North-western summit, reported that there was no trace of a crater. Meyer may have doubted this statement, but there could be no certainty on the point until he topped the rim and suddenly saw before him the huge crater with its frozen floor 600 feet below. It must have been a thrilling moment, and the consciousness that he and his companion stood there, the first men to behold this wonder and to reveal the secret Kilimanjaro had kept concealed through ages, must have been an inspiring thought....
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[+/-] : The Chagga tribe : a collection of Bantu speakers

The Chagga tribe is a collection of Bantu speakers. They moved to the slopes of Kilimanjaro about 300 years ago. During the 17th and 18th centuries, they were nomadic pastoralists. However, between the 18th and 19th centuries the Chagga began permanent settlements and slowly developed modern agriculture, on both small and large scale.

With their long term experience in farming, the Chagga have a unique style that helps conserve the land. They use terrace farming on steep slopes, growing tall tress and under them, planting Arabic coffee, bananas and many small crops like maize, beans and garden vegetables. Thus they can grom a cash and a food crop on the same plot of land. The Chagga have developed an extensive irrigation system using the large amounts of rainfall high on the mountain to irrigate their extensive farms.

Missionaries arrived in Chagga land in the 1800s and were accepted mostly because they brought schools, health centers and Christianity. With the first missionaries accepted, more and more Europeans wanted to visit the Kilimanjaro area. Since then thousands of tourists from all over the world have come to climb Kilimanjaro using Chaggas as guides, porters and cooks. Tourism on Kilimanjaro also provides a market for the agricultural products (food for climbers) that are produced by the local Chaggas. Many hotels have been built on the slopes of Kilimanjaro to accommodate tourists, and most of these hotels employ many Chagga.

Thus Kilimanjaro has shaped the history, economy, language and religion of the Chagga people living on the slopes of the mountain....
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