Customer Reviews

Kilimanjaro: To the Roof of Africa (Hardcover)

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Kilimanjaro is the highest point of Africa and therefore one of the "7 summits". But even without this statistical feature it is a place you should have visited to know what others mean when they call it a great place...

Kilimanjaro rises almost 5000m above the plains and offer climatic zones from the savannah to alpine glaciers, although the latter are melting quickly due to the global warming. Unique flora and fauna on the border of Tanzania and Kenya.

Well, David Breashears (known from the Everest IMAX and his book) has shot a new IMAX film on Kilimanjaro and this is the accompanying book.

Much information about the historic exploration of Eastern Africa and it's majestic summit; geological and biological contributions mixed with full page pictures and the trip report of the climb along the scenic Machame/Mweka route (with a variation through the Western breach).

'Kili' is one of the treasures of our earth and this book shows why. Too heavy for your backpack, but not to be missed on your coffeetable.

Ps: the book is 271 pages, not 31 as Amazon states!

I just returned from "climbing" Mt Kilimajaro. I use quotes because one reviewer seems to think it's not. This was one of the hardest things I've done. I saw this book on my guide's desk and began reading it. I was totally empressed by the history and photos. The memories of what I had just done came flooding back. There was an aerial photo of the crater that took my breath away. I have the movie and now I have the book. The book is kept right next to my certificate from the park and the picture album of my climb. I recommend this wonderful book (and the IMAX movie) to anyone who had climbed the mountain, plans on climbing, or just enjoys the beauty that is Mt Kilimanjaro.

Kilimanjaro, an African icon, is the only one of the seven summits that can be climbed by anyone, including children and senior citizens. This coffee-table book is a great choice for armchair travelers and anyone who wants to climb (or has climbed) Africa's highest mountain. The book documents the journey of a party of climbers who accompanied David Breashears and his team as they made an IMAX film about the mountain. Author Audrey Salkeld, who specializes in books about mountaineering, has assembled a great mix of Kilimanjaro ecology, geography, history, lore, and travelogue related to her climb. The story starts with East Africa's Chagga people and their legends, then moves to missionary Johannes Rebmann whose story of equatorial snow was met with disbelief, then on to the other explorers, and eventually the first (known) mountaineers who climbed the mountain. Several other authors contributed articles on the Kilimanjaro's relation to the Rift Valley, Missionaries in Africa, Elephants, Mountain Sickness, Film and Literature, Plants, Volcanic History, etc. Very well illustrated with color photographs and historical images, as one would expect from a book published by National Geographic.

I saw this book right after returning from a trip to Mt Kilimanjaro, and was amazed by the high fidelity of the images in the book. I believe it truly captures the essence of the moutain. The main risk related with this book is that, after reading it, you may find yourself dreaming with this moutain. It also contains an interesting introduction to the mountain's and the surrounding area's history.

Like most readers, I won't be climbing Kilimanjaro any time soon, but picked this book to enjoy the experience vicariously and save wear and tear on the mountain. The illustrations provide ample eye candy to distract the reader any time the text becomes tedious. This is a gorgeous tour, completely insect free, without bureaucratic hassles, that allows you to see snow on the equator without getting your fingers cold. To avoid altitude sickness, I suppose I can get comparable exercise by going up the same flight of stairs 2413 times, defrosting the freezer, and going down 2413 flights to recover.

Of course, that would take all the fun out of the experience. Salkeld's book does the job of putting some of that fun back in. It starts with several chapter on the history of European discovery of the mountain, interwoven at times with more modern accounts and with Salekeld's own experience climbing with David Brashear's team from National Geographic. Just past the halfway mark, the historical material peters out and the story focuses more on the National Geographic expedition.

Like any good coffee table book, the text flows well as a stream of consciousness but rechecking any one fact can be a huge task. Interleaving the time-shuffled text with sidebar articles compounds this challenge. On the whole, though, the visual exposition and the stream-of-consciousness organization make for a worthwhile vicarious tour.

Entertaining and informative book. The authors command over the language is impressive. I am visiting Kilimanjaro soon and I found the book gives a good insight into what the trip will be like. The book is full of historic information, both natural and human. Vivid photos, as expected of a National Geographic book, though I would prefer less glossy and minute details - if too much of a natural attraction is revealed in advance, the real experience is usually a let-down. I am itching to see the corresponding I-Max movie now, though after my trip.

Absolutely beautiful book. Gave as a gift to a niece who had just returned from climbing Kilimanjaro; she rated it excellent.

The Mountain Club of Kenya recently (and regrettably) acquired a copy of this book. Using the Club library, I read it and was shocked to see that some of the Club's photographs had been used to illustrate it (e.g. picture of Arthur Firmin); apparently without the Club's permission. National Geographic and Audrey Salkeld should be sued for copyright infringement.

Kilimanjaro is a much over-rated mountain. Serious mountaineers don't go anywhere near it unless they are herding the countless tourists up and down. It is filthy pig-sty and clients are forced to pay ridiculously high charges for the privilege of "climbing" (actually walking up) it.

Salkeld completely ignores this fact, as she ignores the fact that all the local guides on the mountain know absolutely nothing about mountaineering and what they do know is downright dangerous! She ignores the fact that 20-odd people a year die on the mountain; completely needlessly as they rush up too fast, trying to save some money on the outrageously high park fees charged daily by the authorities. She ignores the fact that on average, for every tourist (please don't call them "climbers", Salkeld), there are at least two "guides" or porters, collectively three times more people on the mountain than is necessary: rubbishing the environment, chopping down trees for fuel, eroding away at the trails, defecating in the water sources.

In short, Salkeld wrote a typically boring tome that poses as a coffee-table book. And National Geographic, supposedly a serious scientific and geographic society, published something akin to the worst papparazi tabloids.

I won't be buying this book.