I heard once that everest was the highest mountain from base to peak but a mountain in africa was the highest point on earth as it sat on a plateau already well above sea level. Is this true? I’m assuming the mountain was kilamanjaro but, i dont remember.
No, Everest is the highest mountain from peak to sea level.
Mountains on the equator would be farther from the center of the earth, though, because the equator bulges twenty kilometers farther than the poles, because of the rotation of the earth.