INTINERARIES

MACHAME ROUTE KILIMANJARO MOUNTAIN
Day 1
Arrive at the Kilimanjaro International Airport. You will be met at the airport and transferred to the for your overnight.

Day 2
Your day starts early with a briefing, followed by breakfast and a 50-minute drive from Moshi to the Machame gate (1,800) where your guides and porters prepare and pack your equipment and supplies. You will receive a lunch pack, and provided water for drinking on the way. After registering at the park office, you start your ascent and enter the rain forest immediately. Heavy rains on this side of the mountain often transform the trail into a soggy, slippery experience, so good footgear, trekking poles, and gaiters are useful. You will enjoy a welcome lunch stop halfway up and will reach the Machame camping area in the late afternoon. Your porters will arrive at camp before you and will erect your tent before you arrive. In the evening, the porters boil drinking and washing water while the cook prepares your dinner. Night temperatures can drop to freezing at the Machame Camp.

Day 3
You rise early at Machame camp, and after breakfast, climb for an hour to the top of the forest, then for 2 hours through a gentle moorland. After a short lunch and rest, you continue up a rocky ridge onto the Shira Plateau where you will be able to see Kilimanjaro’s great Western Breach with its stunning glaciers. Sometimes, the walls of the Western Breach are draped with extensive ice curtains. You are now west of Kibo on the opposite side of the mountain from the Marangu Route. After a short hike west, you reach the Shira campsite. The porters will boil drinking and washing water before serving dinner. The night at this exposed camp will be colder, with temperatures dropping below freezing.

Day 4
After breakfast, you will hike east up a steepening path above the highest vegetation toward Kilimanjaro’s looming mass. After several hours, you walk through a rocky landscape to reach the prominent landmark called Lava Tower at 4,630 m/15,190 ft. This chunky remnant of Kilimanjaro’s earlier volcanic activity is several hundred feet high, and the trail passes right below it. For extra credit, the sure-footed can scramble to the top of the tower. After a lunch stop near Lava Tower, descend for 2 hours below the lower cliffs of the Western Breach and Breach Wall to Barranco Camp at 3,950 m/12,960 ft. There are numerous photo opportunities on this hike, especially if the walls are festooned with ice. Barranco Camp is in a valley below the Breach and Great Barranco Walls, which should provide you with a memorable sunset while you wait for your dinner. On this day, be careful to notice any signs of altitude sickness.

Day 5
After spending a night under the imposing Great Barranco Wall, you climb this awesome obstacle, which turns out to be easier than it looks. Topping out just below the Heim Glacier, you can now appreciate just how beautiful Kilimanjaro really is. The route then heads down through the Karanga Valley and goes over intervening ridges and valleys to join the Mweka Route, which will be your descent route. You have now completed the South Circuit, which offers views of the summit from many different angles. For now, all eyes are still on the summit, so turn left and hike up the ridge for another hour to the Barafu Hut. The last water on the route is in the Karanga Valley; there is no water at Barafu Camp, even though Barafu is the Swahili word for “ice.” The famous snows of Kilimanjaro are far above Barafu Camp near the summit of the mountain. Your tent will be pitched on a narrow, stony, wind-swept ridge, so make sure that you familiarize yourself with the terrain before dark to avoid any accidents. Prepare your equipment and warm clothing for your summit climb. This should include replacing your headlamp and camera batteries, and to prevent freezing, consider carrying your water in a thermal flask. Go to bed by 7 PM, and try to get a few hours of precious sleep.

Day 6
You will rise around 11:30 PM, and after some steaming tea and biscuits, you shuffle off into the night. Your 6-hour climb northwest up through heavy scree between the Rebmann and Ratzel glaciers to Stella Point on the crater rim is the most challenging part of the route for most climbers. At Stella Point (5,685 m/18,650 ft) you stop for a short rest and a chance to see a supremely sanguine sunrise. At Stella Point you join the top part of the Marangu Route, but do not stop here too long, as it will be extremely difficult to start again due to cold and fatigue. Depending on the season and recent storms, you may encounter snow on your remaining hike along the rim to Uhuru Peak. On the summit, you can enjoy your accomplishment and know that you are creating a day that you will remember for the rest of your life. After your 3-hour descent from the summit back to Barafu Camp, you will have a well-earned but short rest, collect your gear, and hike down a rock and scree path into the moorland and eventually into the forest to Mweka Camp (3,100 m/10,170 ft). This camp is in the upper forest, so you can expect mist or rain in the late afternoon. Dinner, and washing water will be prepared, and the camp office sells drinking water, soft drinks, chocolates, and beer!

Day 7
After a well-deserved breakfast, it is a short, scenic, 3-hour hike back to the park gate. Don’t give your porters any tips until you and all your gear have reached the gate safely, but do remember to tip your staff at the gate. At Mweka Gate, you can sign your name and add details in a register. This is also where successful climbers receive their summit certificates. Climbers who reached Stella Point are issued green certificates and those who reached Uhuru Peak receive gold certificates. From the Mweka Gate, you will continue down to the Mweka Village, possibly a muddy, 3 km, 1 hour hike if the road is too muddy for vehicles. In the Mweka Village you will be served a delicious hot lunch after which you are driven back to the Hotel for an overdue hot shower and comfortable night.



RONGAI ROUTE KILIMANJARO MOUNTAIN
leads treks up the unique Rongai Route known to be more scenic than the Marangu Route, easier than the Machame Route, and the success rate on the Rongai is very high. Unlike the Marangu Route where you sleep in huts, on the Rongai you sleep in tents (tents are included), and the porters will pitch your tent for you. Meals are served in a dinner tent or on a blanket outside. The Rongai starts on the north side of the mountain just south of the Kenyan border, and is one of the least traveled routes. The Rongai joins the Marangu for the summit climb, then you descend the Marangu Route on the mountain's southeast side, so you see Kilimanjaro from many view points. There are two versions of this trek - a direct 6-day itinerary, and a 7-day itinerary that takes a longer route. The more expedient 6-day itinerary is described below and the longer variation is described in the extra days section.
Itinerary
Day 1

Arrive at the Kilimanjaro International Airport. You will be met at the airport and transferred to the Hotel for your overnight.


Day 2
Your day starts early with breakfast and a briefing. Transfer by Land Rover through many villages and coffee plantations for 4-5 hours to the attractive wooden village of Nale Muru (1,950 m/6,398 ft). After signing in and preparing the porters, you begin the hike on a wide path winding through fields of maize and potatoes, then enter pine forest. You then start to climb gently but consistently through attractive forest that shelters a variety of wildlife. The forest begins to thin and Simba Camp (2,600 m/8,530 ft) is near the “First Cave” at the edge of the moorland zone with extensive views over the Kenyan plains.


Day 3
Your morning walk is a steady ascent up to the Second Cave. En route, you will enjoy superb views of Kibo and the eastern ice fields on the crater rim.



Day 4
Your continuing steady ascent takes you up to the Third Cave. Closer now, the eastern ice fields on the crater rim continue to draw you upwards. On this day, be careful to notice any signs of altitude sickness.


Day 5
Today, you hike up to the Kibo Huts at the bottom of the Kibo crater wall, and this is where you join the popular Marangu Route. Plan on doing your hike early in the day, then resting in preparation for your final ascent. Prepare your equipment and warm clothing for your summit climb, then turn in early.


Day 6
Wake at midnight to a light breakfast, then prepare for your summit ascent. The goal is to climb before dawn so that you can reach Uhuru Peak shortly after sunrise. Leave at 1 AM, switchback up steep scree or possibly snow, and reach Gilman’s Point on the crater rim at 5,861 m/18,640 ft between 5 and 7 AM. Here, views of the fabled crater and its icecaps greet you. Another 2 hours of hiking along the crater rim near the celebrated snows takes you to Kilimanjaro’s true summit, Uhuru Peak, by 9 AM. This is Africa’s highest point, and you would have to travel more than 3,000 miles toward the Himalayas to find a higher peak! Be sure to have your picture taken at the summit to show your friends. After your summit stay, descend back to the Kibo Huts, have lunch, rest, collect your things, and re cross the saddle to the Horombo Huts. Eat dinner and get some well-deserved sleep!

You do the beginning of this climb in the dark with headlamps or flashlights. It will be very cold until you start descending, so you will need all of your warm layers. This is, by far, the most difficult part of the trek. Slowly slowly, or, “pole pole,” and an optimistic attitude will get you there!

Day 7
Wake as usual, pack, and descend through the moorland to the MandaraHuts. Have lunch there then continue your triumphant recessional down through lush forest to the park gate, which you should reach around2 or 3 PM. Remember to tip your guides, cooks, and porters,since you will be leaving them here. A vehicle will take you back to the Hotel in Moshior arusha ready for safari or back to airport where it is definitely time for celebration!


LEMOSHO ROUT KILIMANJARO MOUNTAIN
This long, little-used route parallels the lower part of the Shira Route.this trek is up the Lemosho Route. The Lemosho Route is an unspoiled, remote, little-used, and beautiful way up to the Shira Plateau. Above the plateau, you approach Kilimanjaro's great western Breach, then follow the south circuit to reach the easier Barafu Route. This is one of the few routes where an armed ranger accompanies our groups, since there are still animals in the forest around the Lemosho Glades.
INTINERARIES
Day 1

Arrive at the Kilimanjaro International Airport. You will be met at the airport and transferred to the Hotel in Moshi oar africa for your overnight.




Day 2

Moshi (915 m/3,000 ft) to Londorossi Gate (2,250 m/7,380 ft)
to Lemosho Glades (2,000 m/6,560 ft)
to Mkubwa Camp (2,750 m/9,020 ft)
18 km, 4-5 hours
Montane Forest


Drive from Moshi or Arusha to the Londorossi Park Gate. From here follow a forest track in a 4WD vehicle for 11 km/7 mi (45 minutes) to Lemosho Glades and a possible campsite. From the Glades, walk for 3 hours along beautiful forest trails to the Mti Mkubwa (big tree) campsite.


Day 3

Mkubwa Camp (2,750 m/9,020 ft)
to Shira Camp 1 (3,500 m/11,485 ft)
12 km, 5 hours
Semi-Desert


The trail gradually steepens, enters the giant heather moorland zone, then crosses the Shira Ridge at 3,600 m/11,810 ft and drops gently to Shira Camp 1 located by a stream on the Shira Plateau.


Day 4
Shira Camp 1 (3,500 m/11,485 ft)
to Shira Camp 2 (3,840 m/12,600 ft)
6 km, 2 hours
Alpine Desert

A gentle walk across the plateau leads to ShiraCamp 2 on moorland meadows by a stream. A variety of walks are available on theplateau making this an excellent acclimatization day.


Day 5

Shira Camp 2 (3,840 m/12,600 ft)
to LavaTower (4,630 m/15,190 ft)
to Barranco Camp (3,950 m/12,960 ft)
15 km, 7 hours
Semi-Desert


After breakfast, you will hike east up asteepening path above the highest vegetation toward Kilimanjaro’s looming mass.After several hours, you walk through a rocky landscape to reach the prominentlandmark called LavaTower at 4,630 m/15,190ft. This chunky remnant of Kilimanjaro’s earlier volcanic activity is severalhundred feet high, and the trail passes right below it. For extra credit, thesure-footed can scramble to the top of the tower. After a lunch stop near Lava Tower,descend for 2 hours below the lower cliffs of the Western Breach and BreachWall to Barranco Camp at 3,950 m/12,960 ft. There are numerous photoopportunities on this hike, especially if the walls are festooned with ice.Barranco Camp is in a valley below the Breach and Great Barranco Walls, whichshould provide you with a memorable sunset while you wait for your dinner. Onthis day, be careful to notice any signs of altitude sickness.


Day 6
Barranco Camp (3,900 m/12,800 ft)
to Karanga Camp (4,200 m/13,780 ft)
7 km, 4 hours
Alpine Desert

After breakfast, we continue up a steep ridge to the great Barranco Wall, then you climb this imposing obstacle, which turns out to be easier than it looks. Topping out just below the Heim Glacier, you can now appreciate just how beautiful Kilimanjaro really is. With Kibo’s glaciers soaring overhead, you descend into the lush Karanga Valley to the Karanga Valley campsite. From the camp, you can look east and see the jagged peaks of Mawenzi jutting into the African sky. After a hot lunch in camp, your afternoon is at leisure for resting or exploring. After two long days, this short day is very important for your acclimatization, since your summit push is about to start.


Day 7
Karanga Camp (4,200 m/13,780 ft)
to Barafu Camp (4,550 m/14,930 ft)
13 km, 8 hours
Alpine Desert

In the morning, you hike east over intervening ridges and valleys to join the Mweka Route, which will be your descent route. Turn left toward the mountain and hike up the ridge through a sparse landscape for another hour to the Barafu Hut where you will receive a hot lunch. The last water on the route is in the Karanga Valley; there is no water at Barafu Camp, even though Barafu is the Swahili word for “ice.” The famous snows of Kilimanjaro are far above Barafu Camp near the summit of the mountain. Your tent will be pitched on a narrow, stony, wind-swept ridge, so make sure that you familiarize yourself with the terrain before dark to avoid any accidents. Prepare your equipment and warm clothing for your summit climb, and drink a lot of fluids. After an early dinner, go to bed for a few hours of precious sleep.


Day 8
Summit Day!
Barafu Camp (4,550 m/14,930 ft)
to Uhuru Peak (5,895 m/19,340 ft)
to Mweka Camp (3,100 m/10,170 ft)
7 km up, 23 km down
8 hours up,
7-8 hours down
Scree and seasonal snow

You will rise around 11:30 PM, and after some steaming tea and biscuits, you shuffle off into the night. Your 6-hour climb northwest up through heavy scree between the Rebmann and Ratzel glaciers to Stella Point on the crater rim is the most challenging part of the route for most climbers. At Stella Point (5,685 m/18,650 ft) you stop for a short rest and a chance to see a supremely sanguine sunrise. At Stella Point you join the top part of the Marangu Route, but do not stop here too long, as it will be extremely difficult to start again due to cold and fatigue. Depending on the season and recent storms, you may encounter snow on your remaining hike along the rim to Uhuru Peak. On the summit, you can enjoy your accomplishment and know that you are creating a day that you will remember for the rest of your life. After your 3-hour descent from the summit back to Barafu Camp, you will have a well-earned but short rest, collect your gear, and hike down a rock and scree path into the moorland and eventually into the forest to Mweka Camp (3,100 m/10,170 ft). This camp is in the upper forest, so you can expect mist or rain in the late afternoon. Dinner, and washing water will be prepared, and the camp office sells drinking water, soft drinks, chocolates, and beer!


Day 9
After a well-deserved breakfast, it is a short,scenic, 3-hour hike back to the park gate. Don’t give your porters any tipsuntil you and all your gear have reached the gate safely, but do remember to tip your staff at the gate. At Mweka Gate, you can sign yourname and add details in a register. This is also where successful climbersreceive their summit certificates. Climbers who reached Stella Point are issuedgreen certificates and those who reached Uhuru Peakreceive gold certificates. From the Mweka Gate, you will continue down to the Mweka Village,possibly a muddy, 3 km, 1 hour hike if the road is too muddy for vehicles. Inthe Mweka Village you will be served a delicioushot lunch after which you are driven back to Moshi for an overdue hot showerand comfortable night.
Day 10
Depart for the airport or other destinations in Tanzania or Kenya. A trip to the beaches at Zanzibar is a good way to recuperate.




UMBWE ROUTE

Day 1: Umbwe Gate to Forest Camp.

Vehicles take climbers from hotel to Umbwe Gate. This is a drive of around couple of hours. The gate is at 1800 metres at the entrance to the forest. From here, a 5 to 6 hour walk, ascending steeply through the lush forest to a clearing where camp is made. Although water is sometimes to be found at this camp, it is frequently not of good quality, so water for this camp is carried up from the entrance gate.

Day 2: Forest Camp to Barranco Camp.

The trail ascends steeply up the side of the Umbwe Valley. When it emerges from the forest, there are stunning views to be had both of the peak of Kibo, and down into the depths of the Umbwe Valley, the largest valley on the slopes of Kibo. The path now continues up the western flank of the valley to Barranco Camp at 3,950 metres. This is a steep and tiring day, and it can take 6 to 7 hours.

Day 3: Barranco to Karanga Valley Camp.

The path climbs out of the Barranco Valley via the Barranco wall. This is a steep 1 to 2 hour climb, ascending about 300 metres. The path then follows the gently undulating Kibo South Circuit. Wonderful views are to be had of Kibo's southern glaciers if the weather is clear. After about 3 hours the Karanga valley is reached. There is a short but steep descent into the valley, which has a small stream running through it, and then a short climb up the eastern valley wall. At the top of the wall, at 4000 metres, is the Karanga Valley camp.

Day 4: Karanga Valley to Barafu Camp.

As this is a short day, climbers often do not set off until mid morning. The path climbs for about 3 hours to Barafu camp at 4600 metres.

Day 5: Barafu camp to the top.

Climbers are woken at about 11pm. After dressing in all their warm clothing, they have a hot drink and then set off at midnight. The first part of the ascent is on a rocky ridge. This then turns into scree. The surface is loose and can be hard going. On its steepest sections, the path zig zags up the scree. It takes an average of 7 hours to reach Stella Point on the crater rim. On a fine morning, the views of the sun rising from behind Mawenzi are spectacular. Stella Point is at 5,750 metres. From here, the path goes around the crater rim for a further hour to the summit at Uhuru Peak, 5896 metres. The descent back to Barafu Camp can take a further 3 or 4 hours. After a rest and a meal, the descent continues to Mweka Camp at 3100 metres, a further trek of around 4 hours. If climbers are very tired, or if it is late, camp can be made at Millennium Camp at 3800 metres – this simply increases the length of the following walking day by around an hour.

Day 6: Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate

The path descends for around 3 hours through the forest to Mweka gate. Vehicles will be waiting to transport climbers and crew back to the Hotel.and waiting for the next trip or back to kilimanjaro airport