Edward Selasini
25 October 2008
Arusha — Surveyors and topographers from five countries across the world have completed surveying and scaling Mount Kilimanjaro to determine the height of the highest peak at present.
According to the Deputy Director for Survey and Topography in the Ministry of Land and Settlements, John Msemwa, the experts came from Kenya, Egypt, Portugal, The Netherlands and the USA. The project report is due for release in three months time.
The eight experts scaled Africa's highest mountain six times equipped with the latest technological tools that are expected to give more reliable information than those used in1952 when the mountain was last scaled for determination of its height.
The present height of 5,895 metres, from the sea level, of the highest point (Uhuru Peak) was based on the 1952 measurements.
A senior lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam, Sabuni John, said the new initiative was aimed at establishing the exact height of the mountain at present due to doubts created by another scaling exercise in 1999 when it was found Kilimanjaro's peak was lower by two metres against the official height .
Kilimanjaro is Africa's highest snow caped mountain near the Equator and found Tanzania's Kilimanjaro region in the north east of the country.
Kilimanjaro is in reality a form of mountain ranges comprising three peaks of Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira so it isn't exactly correct to refer to it as a free standing mountain.
It is a dormant volcano but still produces some fumes from its Kibo crater.
Local legends have it that the last eruption was experienced around the year 1730 AD.
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