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For many years, indeed from the 1st century AD until the mid-nineteenth century, Europeans dismissed claims that a great ice-capped mountain could be seen near the African equator as sheer nonsense, a mere invention by superstitious natives.
However, its presence was confirmed by the German missionary Rebmann in 1848. Europeans, ambitious to conquer this mysterious geological anomaly, soon became drawn to Kilimanjaro’s awesome slopes.
After several unsuccessful expeditions the first European conquest was achieved in 1889 by the German Geographer Hans Meyer, accompanied by his Austrian guide Ludwig Purtscheller, and the Tanzanian Y Louwa.
Today, it is generally believed that Meyer’s expedition represents the very first successful ascent per se, however, this belief is not shared by all.
A local belief, especially popular with the Masai, is that the summit was first gained 2,950 years ago by the son of a secret union between King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.
The mountain comprises three volcanic summits, Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira. Kibo and Mawenzi face each other across a broad fifteen mile long plateau. Kibo is silver-crowned, elegant and majestic, while Mawenzi is dark, with a shattered skyline. The Chagga tribe who grace Kilimanjaro’s lower slopes, offer an explanation for the marked contrast in appearance between these two volcanic cones...
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