Mount Kilimanjaro lies about three degrees south of the equator in northeastern Tanzania. It holds the title of Africa’s highest mountain and is also the tallest free-standing mountain on Earth. The massif is formed by three volcanic cones—Shira, Mawenzi, and Kibo—with Kibo, the central and highest peak, being the ultimate objective of the climb.
The day begins early with a briefing, followed by breakfast and a 45-minute drive from Moshi (910 m) to Machame Gate. After completing registration at the park office, you begin your climb, entering the dense rainforest zone. A packed lunch will be provided at the gate, and you may also use bottled water purchased earlier in Moshi. Rain is common in this forested section, often making the trail wet, muddy, and slippery.
In the evening, the porters will boil water for drinking and washing while the cook prepares dinner. As night falls, you’ll settle into your tent at Machame Camp, where temperatures can already drop to around freezing.
You rise early at Machame camp and after breakfast, you climb an hour or so to the top of the forest and then for 2 hours at a gentler gradient through the moorland zone. After a short lunch and rest, you continue up a rocky ridge onto the Shira plateau. By now you will be able to see in an easterly direction, the Western Breach with its stunning glaciers. You are now due west of Kibo and after a short hike, you will reach the Shira camp at 3,840m. The porters will boil drinking and washing water, before serving dinner. The night at this exposed camp will even be colder than the previous night, with temperatures dropping to well below freezing.
The route now turns east into a semi-desert and rocky landscape surrounding Lava Tower, where you reach an altitude of 4630m after about a 5 hours walk. Lunch is served in a designated area before ascending the rocky scree path to Lava Tower (4630m). Definitely the toughest day so far. It is normally around this point, where for the first time, some climbers will start to feel symptoms of breathlessness, irritability, and headaches. After lunch, you descent again by almost 680m to the Barranco camping area and after reaching the high altitude of 4600m at Lava Tower, the true acclimatization benefit of this day becomes clear. This descent to Barranco camp takes about 2 hours and offers great opportunities to take some beautiful photographs of the Western Breach and Breach Wall. The camp is situated in a valley below the Breach and Great Barranco Wall, which should provide you with a memorable sunset while you wait for the preparation of your dinner and overnight at Barranco Camp.
Barranco Camp (3960m) to Karanga Camp (4035m), the distance is about 6 km.
The morning starts with a scramble up the almost vertical Barranco Wall to an altitude of about 4200m and after approx. For 3 hours, the path now crosses through the southern slopes to reach the Karanga Valley.
Karanga Camp (4035m) to Barafu Camp (4640m), distance is about 5km.
After breakfast, you continue in a southeasterly direction to the junction before turning north to reach Barafu camp (4600m) after about 4 hours. Here you take a long rest and prepare for the midnight ascent to the summit.
At around midnight, you’ll head in a northwesterly direction up the southeast valley towards Stella Point on the crater rim. The 6-hour long walk to Stella Point is a mental and physical challenge with the steep face just below Stella posing the ultimate challenge. The time you spend on the summit is determined by the weather and wind conditions. The walk back to Mweka Camp from the summit can take over 7 hours.
After Breakfast, From the Mweka Gate, you will continue down into the Mweka village, normally a muddy and long hour walk. It is recommended and tips are highly appreciated at the end of their trip. This is also where successful climbers receive their summit certificates. Those climbers who reached Stella Point (5,685m) are issued with green certificates and those who reached Uhuru Peak (5,895m) receive gold certificate on the last night we can arrange an additional overnight in Moshi for your stay on requ
