There is no official public register of deaths on Kilimanjaro, so treat any precise figure you read online with caution. What is commonly reported is this: tens of thousands of people climb the mountain every year, and in a typical year a small number of deaths are recorded among climbers, most linked to severe altitude illness or to underlying heart conditions revealed by exertion at altitude.

Here is the truth most operators soften: on Kilimanjaro, you will very probably feel the altitude. A thumping head one evening, a poor night's sleep, a wobbly appetite, a wave of nausea on summit night.