Of African adventures, urban plans and life's guiding principles

Kilimanjaro

A story on the origin of the name Kilimanjaro: I'd always assumed that name's root was in the kiswahili word mlima, meaning mountain. But a Chagga person who is local to the Kili region would tell you that Kilimanjaro was just a mispronunciation of the kichaga word "kilimankiero" meaning 'impossible journey'. As the story goes, a German explorer came, and speaking to a tribesman, pointed at the mountain asking what it was called. The tribesman assumed that he was asking whether it was possible to reach the top, to which he appropriately replied "impossible journey!". The explorer diligently chronicled this answer as the name of the mountain, misunderstanding the way it had been pronounced. He then pointed to Kili's second peak, again asking what it was called. To this, this tribesman responded "kibo!" which is just a kichaga expression of suprise, as the tribesman was thinking: if I've just told you this journey is impossible, what makes you think that second peak is obtainable?? And so it was.