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Zone 6: Summit
Altitude: roughly 16,500 to 19,340 feet
A piece of the arctic in the heart of Africa's equatorial belt—that's the
uppermost reaches of Kilimanjaro. At the top, the oxygen level is roughly half
that found at sea level, and the thin atmosphere offers little protection
against the fierce rays of the sun. Animals of any sort are few in this zone,
though in 1926 the frozen carcass of a leopard was discovered near the summit
crater, and in 1962 five African hunting dogs followed a group of climbers
right to the top. A few hardy lichen species make a go of it here, and the
everlasting Helichrysum newii has been found at an altitude of 18,700
feet. Otherwise this is a place to visit, enjoy the view, and then bid adieu.
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