By Camilla Lundbak

This Gallery is an opportunity to experience Mt Kilimanjaro's beauty up close. As the world's highest freestanding mountain (5895 AMSL), she has command of weather and impressive ecology.

All images were taken on a climb of the mountain guided by Harold Lazaro, a lead guide from Team Kilimanjaro. Harold's encyclopedic (!) knowledge of the mountain was crucial for spotting and identifying its diversity, and his hand-written notes in my travel journal were instrumental for indexing the images. Jacob Slaa, assistant guide, kept everything (and me!) moving along beautifully.

A selection of these images won the documentary essay competition in NZ Photographer (issue 16), including the cover shot.

Meet this natural wonder...