Ann Marie Martnick, age 11, of Coplay, Pennsylvania, for her question:

What exactly is Mount Kilimanjaro?

Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in all Africa. It stands in the country of Tanzania with its northeastern slopes facing the country of Kenya. This is in eastern Africa and the massive mountain is about 200 miles south of the equator. Kilimanjaro is an extinct volcano with deep grooves from old lava flows down its rugged slopes and two proud peaks lifting high to the sky.

Mawenzi peak is 17,564 feet above sea level. Kibo peak, the tallest in Africa, is 19,340 feet high with a wide crater 600 feet deep. Though it is in the tropics not far from the equator, Kibo peak always wears a crown of glistening white snow. The snowy cap is formed of several glaciers and ice fields that spread down the grooved slopes. In some places this ice and snow is 200 feet thick. The lower slopes of Kilimanjaro reach down to a tropical plateau. Here the rich soil is farmed and used for growing coffee.