Kilimanjaro: To the Roof of Africa (Hardcover)

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.


Glimpse of the mountain   February 13, 2003
Denis Benchimol Minev (Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

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.