TREK MOUNT MERU TO STRATEGICALLY ACCLIMATIZE FOR KILIMANJARO

It may seem extravagant to prepare to climb Mount Kilimanjaro by taking a prior highland hiking practice on Mount Meru. Not so. You will more than double your enjoyment, preserve your health and avoid extra expense incurred as a retrial should you fail in your Kilimanjaro summit bid on first attempt.

A few days spent becoming acclimatized to higher altitudes will ensure a safe and pleasurable ascent of Kilimanjaro as well as affording an extra delight in a stress-free ramble on spectacular Mount Meru. Such a preliminary expedition is also highly recommended by the Expedition Advisory Centre of the Royal Geographical Society, whose respected advice is sought by explorers, climbers and adventurers traveling to the most inhospitable places on Earth.



The reason for an acclimatizing period is that the body needs to adjust to obtaining the oxygen it needs to fuel muscles and brain from air under lower pressure than normal. The composition of the air is the same as at ground level, but it is more diffuse, so you need to breathe more of it to obtain the same amount of oxygen, which means your chest and lungs need to work harder, and your body needs to adjust to changed conditions.

It does this partly by increasing the number of red corpuscles in your blood to carry more oxygen to your muscles. But this does not happen overnight. It takes a few days. You need plenty of time to allow your system to adapt to functioning well at higher altitudes.

The extra outlay for four days on Mount Meru reduces your likelihood of suffering from altitude sickness, increases your chance of summiting on Mt. Kilimanjaro, makes the whole expedition less stressful and more enjoyable, and also gives you the opportunity of climbing a sister world-class mountain on the same Tanzanian expedition trip. Uhuru Trails by AfricanMecca takes the same care of you on Mount Meru as it does on Kilimanjaro.



Expert guides are highly knowledgeable about the effects and treatment of altitude sickness and see that you are well fed, watered and housed. The park authority insists on visitors using only one trail and staying in permanent rest huts. This African mountainous vacation excursion is relaxed and enjoyable and there is no pressure to reach the top of the 4565 meters, nearly 15,000 feet of high mountain.

You do not want to risk strain or injury that might detract from your Kilimanjaro attempt, but simply to condition yourself and enjoy this scenic mountain safari in Arusha National Park, some 44 miles (70 kilometers) from Kilimanjaro. Like Kili, Mount Meru is an active stratovolcano with several small cones, craters and ash cone. Its spectacularly rugged summit consists of a massive blown out cone open on one side, with a smaller, secondary crater at its centre which last erupted in 1910.

A trek up Mount Meru traverses various habitat zones: lightly wooded grassland with giraffe and buffalo, and tropical forest ablaze with red hot pokers and alive with monkeys and over 400 species of birds. Heathland with giant euphorbias leads to folded lava slopes and rocky ridges from which you can see your next objective, Kilimanjaro mountain, floating on its distant cushion of cloud.

Click here for detailed trek itinerary and price for Mount Meru

Review Below Primary Strategies For A Successful Summit Of Kilimanjaro

TANZANIA TRIP IDEAS

Mount Kilimanjaro Safari Trip Ideas

AFRICA SAFARI PRICES

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