Immortalized by Hemingway, captured in a thousand photographs, Kilimanjaro is an African clich -until you realize that no mountain this big is a clich when you put boot to slope and start walking uphill. It is a magnificent climb. The summit view at sunrise is a lifetime highlight. And of course, there are the bragging rights you earn by setting foot on the high point of a continent. No surprise, then, that thousands of hopefuls flock to the so-called tourist route every year.
Guides lead the way.
Porters put up the tents and serve your meals. But Kilimanjaro is not quite as easy as that. Even with porters, guides, and all the Coke you can drink, most hikers don't make the summit. Good thing, then, that there are other mountains to climb. Reaching the true summit of Mount Kenya , at 17,053 feet, is the hardest of all of East Africa's peaks, but there's an easier route to a so-called trekker's summit at 16,350 feet.