Below the rain forest, this zone offers fertile land for habitation and cultivation. It marks the zone through which the climber travels en-route to the Kilimanjaro National Park and the climb itself. The days here are hot, though night time temperatures can be cool to cold and there are frequent short rain showers that keep the fertile soil moist and facilitate the growing of crops like coffee, bananas, mangos as well as crops like beans and cabbage more common to visitors from Europe or the USA.

The most important zone for man and animals as the forest, together with run-off from the glaciers, is the region's main source of water as well as home to some 80% of the area's flora and fauna. Wood from the forest finds innumerable uses from carpentry to burning and the forest is home to more than 1,000 species of plants. It starts at the same altitude as most routes and throughout its 1,000 metres experiences significant daily precipitation.

Indeed, the annual average is a whopping 2.3m of rainfall, or, to put it another way, enough water to fill the average ground floor of UK houses right up to the ceiling!  The flora here includes camphor woods, fig, giant ferns and old man's beard draped from most of the branches. Towards its upper limit giant heathers begin to appear and can grow to ten metres high.

This is where one is most likely to see significant wildlife. This could include blue monkeys, baboons, or leopard, though sightings are very rare, We heard monkeys of some kind but saw nothing.

Temperatures are commonly in the twenties to thirties and it is the need to pass through this rather damp zone that necessitates the climber ensuring all equipment is packed in water-tight bags and that waterproofs are in the daypack.

Thinning forest, smaller and smaller trees and an ever-increasing abundance of giant heather are the sign that one is moving above the rain forest and into the Heath and Moorland zone, also known as the Low Alpine zone. However, the higher one climbs the less giant the heathers become, though they can still reach 3m. There is also an abundance of everlasting flowers as one moves higher

In the upper reaches of the zone, in the moorlands, the climber begins to come into contact with the most distinctive plant on the mountain - the Senecio. There are two types of Senecio on Kili. One grows at altitudes between 2,500m and 4,000m and can be up to 5m tall and the other grows only above 3,600m. There are a lot around Barranco Camp. In terms of animals, there are small "four-striped" mice but little else at these altitudes.

This is a misty place, which combines with the strange vegetation to make it feel like Jurassic Park. As one moves higher this gives way to Alpine Heath characterised by bushes, grasses and shrubs. One may encounter the odd heavy shower but the mist provides most of the precipitation. Even so, annual precipitation is still 1.3m decreasing to only 500mm or so in the upper moorland areas. Temperatures can be as high as 30 degrees during the day, plummeting to below freezing at night.

Above about 4,000m most of the vegetation has disappeared leaving a bare, stony, desert-like landscape with only a few grasses and alpines to dot the landscape. The zone is very dry with annual precipitation only about 200mm and is dominated by temperatures between zero and minus ten degrees and by cold winds that whip up the dust into mini sandstorms. Sporadic rain is also possible. At night it is bitterly cold with temperatures falling well below freezing. The habitat provides neither protection nor food for animal life, meaning that apart from a few insects, spiders and mice it is devoid of animals, making it even bleaker for those trekking slowly though it.

This is the most inhospitable zone. Virtually no water and extremely bleak, grey and dismal with little protection afforded to those who enter it. Snow, icy winds and extreme falls in night temperatures are common. There is virtually no vegetation and no animals, though in 1926 a mummified leopard was found at 5,700m on the crater rim and is marked on maps as "Leopard Point".

The scenic highlights up here are the Reusch Crater and the 15 glaciers including Rebmann Glacier, pictured here, which was our companion as we pushed for the summit through the freezing night air with temperatures as low as minus 25 degrees and a biting 120km per hour, or hurricane force 12, wind to buffet us as we climb ever higher. 

At these extremes wind chill becomes a real issue with effective temperatures plummeting to as low as minus 48 degrees Celsius. Even if the temperature was as high as minus 15 degrees and the wind only Gale Force the wind chill was below minus 30.

We don't know how cold it was up there but suffice to say it was so cold that the video camera could not fire up its hard disc and gave a message to the effect that it was all too cold.