Tanzania - Geography
Tanzania lies south of the equator in East Africa. It borders on the Indian Ocean to the east, and has land borders with eight countries, anticlockwise from the north: Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (across Lake Tanganyika), Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. The climate is temperate on the coast and semi-temperate inland.
The geological framework of Tanzania reflects the geologic history of the African continent as a whole. Its present appearance is a result of a series of events that began with the evolution of the Archean shield, followed by its modification through metamorphic reworking and accretion of other continental rocks, in turn covered by continentally derived sediments. Pre-rift magmatism followed by active rifting has also left a major mark upon the Tanzanian landscape.
Several regional geological mapping programs have been carried out across the country over the past one hundred plus years, which has led to the recognition of several major litho-structural provinces from Archean to recent age. The Archean craton covers most of the western two thirds of the country, roughly bounded to the east by the East African Rift. Archean rocks host all of the country’s kimberlite pipes and contained lode diamond deposits, and most of its lode gold deposits. The Archean basement terrain is bounded to the east and west by a series of Proterozoic mobile belts; this area, particularly that to the east, hosts most of the country’s wide variety of colored gemstone deposits. Some recent research suggests that portions of this assumed Proterozoic terrane may actually consist of Archean crust that has undergone a later phase of higher grade metamorphism.
The Phanerozoic is represented by a series of sedimentary units of Paleozoic to Mesozoic age, in turn followed by a pre-rift period of kimberlitic and related, alkalic, mantle-derived intrusive and extrusive activity that presaged active rifting. Rocks related to this event intrude up to Upper Mesozoic and Lower Cenozoic sedimentary formations. Next came a period of rift-related intrusive and extrusive activity concentrated in the Arusha area – to the northeast and Mbeya area – to the southwest, which is responsible for volcanoes such as Mt. Meru and Mt. Kilimanjaro. Finally, a wide variety of recent and largely semi- to un-consolidated wind, water and weathering-derived recent formations are found across the country, a number of which host placer gold, diamond and colored gemstone deposits.
As the highest mountain in Africa and one of the largest freestanding volcanoes in the world, Kilimanjaro remains a revered and classic image of East Africa. Its snow-capped peak rising 19,341 ft (5,895 m) above the tropical African savanna is an irresistible draw for trekkers, particularly since no technical climbing is required to reach the summit. Kilimanjaro is one of the “seven summits” representing the highest peaks on each continent. However, because it does not involve technical climbing, the difficulties are often misjudged. Climbing Kilimanjaro is a serious undertaking, requiring serious preparation. Despite being higher than classic trekking destinations in Nepal, such as Kala Pattar (18,450 ft; 5,625 m) or Everest base camp (17,598 ft; 5,364 m), typical ascent rates on Kilimanjaro are considerably faster (4–6 days vs 8–12 days).
The classic route up Kilimanjaro is the Marangu route (64 km), usually sold as a “5 day, 4 night” trip. Marangu is frequently nicknamed the “Coca-Cola” route, since accommodation and food are provided in bunkhouses and the trail is wide and relatively easy compared with other routes. There are at least 9 alternative routes (Map 4-02), including the stunningly beautiful Machame route (the so-called “whiskey” route, since the days are generally longer, with tougher climbs). This author can vouch for the dramatic rugged beauty of this hike. Machame and other routes involve camping but are usually sold as 6- to 9-day packages, providing more opportunity to acclimatize and greater chances to successfully summit. Kilimanjaro can be climbed throughout the year (March–April are often the wettest months), but the weather is unpredictable, and the climber must be prepared for extreme weather and rain at any time of the year.
Climbing Kilimanjaro is a dream for many who visit Africa. However, a large number of travelers are ill-prepared, ascend too quickly, and consequently fail to summit. With due preparation and more reasonable ascent rates, climbing “Kili” is an aspiration that can be successfully and safely accomplished by many.
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