But spotting animals on Kilimanjaro is not as easy as you might think.
If you want one of those classic pictures with elephant or giraffe in front of Kibo peak, then you better book a safari in Amboseli National Park in Kenya, not a Kilimanjaro climb in Tanzania.
Mind you, Amboseli lies at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, towards the north. If you climb Kilimanjaro on the Rongai route you may get lucky, as on rare occasions some of the wildlife does venture up Kilimanjaro...
Exactly, wildlife does live on Mount Kilimanjaro, especially in the forests that cover the lower slopes.
But spotting animals on Kilimanjaro is not as easy as you might think.
If you want one of those classic pictures with elephant or giraffe in front of Kibo peak, then you better book a safari in Amboseli National Park in Kenya, not a Kilimanjaro climb in Tanzania.
Mind you, Amboseli lies at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, towards the north. If you climb Kilimanjaro on the Rongai route you may get lucky, as on rare occasions some of the wildlife does venture up Kilimanjaro...
But if you want to climb a mountain and see lots of wildlife, go and climb Mt. Meru in Arusha National Park (not far from Kilimanjaro National Park).
On the slopes of Mt. Meru you are guaranteed to see giraffe, warthog and water buffalo, colobus monkeys, blue monkeys, bush buck and dik dik, many, many birds... With a bit of luck even elephants or hyaenas. You are accompanied by an armed ranger, because even though leopards are notoriously hard to see, on Mt. Meru there is the very real possibility to meet one!
And wildlife on Kilimanjaro? Well, eland and African hunting dogs are amongst the most exciting creature that have been spotted. Once or twice... A frozen leopard was found in 1926 and there have been two more sightings since. I guess it is not toally impossible that one day someone might see one again, but don't hold your breath...
Kilimanjaro is totally overrun with people, and as a rule animals like to hang out where people don't.
Let's be realistic and look at some pictures of the Kilimanjaro wildlife that you CAN expect to see:
Water Buffalo!!
Water Buffalo and ranger on Mt Meru
Ranger with buffalo scull on Mt. Meru
