Jambo! Toto visited Tanzania and learned that's how people say "hello" in Swahili, the local language. I think it's a fun way of saying "hi." The people here also say "Hakuna Matata" in normal conversation, which means "no worries," as you probably learned in Disney's "The Lion King."
I also learned that "toto" means "kid" or "child" in Swahili. I chose the name "TotoTravels" for this blog, because my nieces, nephews and godson all call me "Uncle Toto." I like the fact that "Toto Travels" means "kids' travels" in Swahili--it's fitting, don't you think?
While in Tanzania, I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa, at 5,895 meters or 19,340 feet. (Kilima Njaro means "shining mountain" in Swahili.) Some people climb it because they want to climb the tallest mountain on each of the seven continents. Others, like me, climb it because it's the tallest mountain you can get to the top of without needing to use ropes. It's a relatively gentle slope all the way to the top, so you don't even need to know how to mountain climb. You just need to know how to hike, be in pretty good shape, and wear warm clothes.
I definitely needed warm clothes, because the higher you climb a mountain, the colder it gets. This is because as you climb, the air pressure drops. When the air pressure drops, the air gets colder and there is less oxygen to breathe. So, as I climbed towards the summit, I had a harder time breathing and I was colder.
What is air pressure? Just like it sounds, "air pressure" is a way of measuring how much air "presses" on you. If there's a lot of air in a small space (like in a full oxygen tank), there's lots of air pressing on a small amount of space, so the air pressure is high. On the other hand, if there's not very much air in a lot of space (like on top of a mountain), the air pressure is low. There's not much air on top of a mountain because it's so far from the center of the earth, which means there's not very much gravity. Because gravity is lower, it doesn't hold onto the air as tightly, so there's less air to breathe, and less air to press on you. Less air (and less air pressure) is why it's harder to breathe and colder on top of Mt. Kilimanjaro. If you could keep climbing all the way up to space, you'd find out there's no gravity, no air (and no air pressure), and it's VERY cold. Fortunately, Toto didn't climb nearly that far!
Mt. Kilimanjaro is also interesting because it's a snow-capped mountain near the equator. Of course, the local Africans had always known about the mountain, since they live on its rich farmland slopes. The first European to see the mountain was a German missionary in 1848. He returned to Europe and wrote about this beautiful mountain, but the so-called "experts" in Europe doubted that a mountain with snow could exist near the equator! The equator is generally the warmest part of earth, since the sun shines on the equator more directly, and for a longer time, than at any other latitude. After several other European explorers came to Africa and saw Mt. Kilimanjaro for themselves, the "experts" changed their minds. But no European climbed the summit for forty-one years, when Dr. Hans Myer reached the top on October 6, 1889, and saw the snow for himself.
Back then, the summit was covered with lots of glaciers, which are snow and ice fields that exist year-round, because they collect more snow in the winter than melts in the summer. With each winter, the snow builds up and pushes the older ice downhill, so that glaciers flow slowly downhill like rivers, taking rocks with them and carving deep holes into the earth. Glaciers have formed many valleys and lakes across the earth by flowing and carving like this. Can you see the glaciers on top of Mt. Kilimanjaro in this photo?
I was excited to see the glaciers on top of the mountain, since I hadn't seen snow the whole time I was in Africa. After four days of hiking to get to the final campsite, we left at midnight to hike up to the summit (the top of a mountain is called a "summit"). For six hours, we walked very slowly up a steep trail to get to the top in time for sunrise. When I climbed to the summit, however, instead of walking on a big area of ice and snow, I was walking on gravel, and I saw the back of the glacier melting, which you can see in this photo.
The glaciers are melting due to global warming, and they've lost 80% of their volume since the German explorers first saw them. Scientists believe Kilimanjaro's glaciers will melt completely by 2020. The small increases in temperatures that come from global warming mean less snow is accumulating in the winter and more is melting in the summer. So the glaciers on Mt. Kilimanjaro that I had admired from below are like large ice cubes melting from all sides. Because they are very large ice cubes, it will take fifteen years or more for them to melt, unless global warming is reversed. At that point, Kilimanjaro will no longer be a snow-capped mountain on the equator, and those old "experts" will finally be right.
The sunrise was spectacular. But since we were so cold and short of breath, we didn't stay long. We started climbing down right after the sun came up, but not until we had taken pictures at the summit to prove we'd been there. Going down was much more fun than going up. Because Kilimanjaro is an inactive volcano, the gravel is like little lava rocks. So instead of walking down, we sort of slid down, as if we were skiing, and our feet sank into the gravel as if it were fluffy snow. With each step, we slid through the gravel for several feet. And since we were going downhill and the sun was up, the temperature got warmer and warmer.
We made it back to our campsite in only two hours, compared to the six hours it took to climb up the same distance! After a warm breakfast we continued down the mountain. While I can say I'm glad I climbed to the top of Africa, I'm not sure I would do it again!
Travel Questions about Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania:
- How do you say "hello" in Swahili?
- What does "Toto" mean in Swahili?
- Mt. Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa. How tall is it?
- Why do so many inexperienced climbers reach the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro compared to the tallest mountains on the other six continents?
- Why does the temperature drop as you climb a mountain?
- In what year did the first European see Mt. Kilimanjaro?
- How do glaciers form?
- Why do scientists believe the glaciers are melting on Mt. Kilimanjaro?
Global Nomad Questions on Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
- Draw a picture of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Don't forget to include some of the animals you might see near Kilimanjaro in Africa.
- There are seven continents on earth. Do a cybersearch and list the seven continents. Which one do you live on?
- Do a cybersearch and list each of the tallest mountains on each continent. Which one is the tallest? How tall is it compared to Mt. Kilimanjaro?
- If Mt. Kilimanjaro is 19,340 feet or 5895 meters, how many feet are in a meter?
- Do a cybersearch on what causes global warming. What are three things you can do every day that will help reduce global warming on the planet?
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