"Mountain Kilimanjaro the roof of Africa."
You will be picked up at the Kilimanjaro International Airport and reassigned to your hotel in Moshi town; you will meet your guide who will provide the brief on your upcoming trek and have an equipment check to make sure you have all the necessary mountain gear.
Our schedule will begin around 08:00am where you will be picked up at your hotel and reassigned to the Lemosho gate located on the western side of Mount Kilimanjaro where your journey will begin after the registration process. We will start our climb steadily through the forests of the Lemosho glades to reach Big Tree camp where you will spend the night.
Today you will cover a lot of ground as you trek across a plateau of grassy moorland and heather scattered with volcanic rock formations. We will trek through Shira 1 Camp from where there is an often view of Kibo Peak floating on the clouds as we head towards Shira 2. The way towards shira 2 is fairly steep; you will also get a chance to view the northern ice fields from the western side of mountain. Our steady climb across the moorland of the Shira Plateau will aid us with acclimatization and we enjoy great panoramic views.
Your trek starts with an ascent with far-reaching panoramic views, walking in to the climatic zone of the upland alpine desert and on the lava ridges beneath the glaciers of the Western Breach. You will reach the distinct pinnacle of the Lava Tower (4640 m), our high point for the day and a great place to enjoy your lunch. In the afternoon we make a steep descent to our camp for the night, located in the base of the Great Barranco Valley (3960 m), sheltered by towering cliffs but with extensive views of the plains below.
Our day starts by descending into the start of the Great Barranco, a huge ravine. We then exit steeply, up the Great Barranco Wall, which divides us from the south-eastern slopes of Kibo. It’s a climb over rock, not technical but long and tiring. Passing underneath the Heim and Kersten glaciers, we head towards the Karanga valley. From here we have a steep climb up from Karanga valley to our night’s camp at Karanga camp, set at 3963m. For those feeling strong we will go for a mid-afternoon acclimatization trek up to around 4200m before descending back to camp for the night.
After the amazing night’s rest and breakfast, we resume our walk to Barafu camp at 4640m. The climb will take us across isolated landscape with no vegetation at all. It’s a tough steep walk made more difficult by the altitude. On arriving at camp we will have our meal and spend the afternoon resting as we get ready for a long night and day ahead. It is important to keep our selves hydrated and warm. We have an early dinner and then try to get some sleep as we will be getting up at between 11pm and 12am to start the climb to the summit.
We take off around midnight, and walk steeply to the summit glaciers. We will be climbing for about 4 to 5 hours but attaining incredible height over a short distance. The views are spectacular. We should be on the crater rim at Stella Point (5739m) as the first rays of the sun hit us. Spectacular ice cliffs within the crater surrounding us and the views to serrated Mawenzi peak. Another hour’s walking taking us to the summit, Uhuru Peak (5895m). We begin our tumble by returning to Stella Point and then descending on slopes and track back to Barafu Camp for breakfast, before heading down to Millennium Camp for a long well-earned rest.
A gentle ramble takes us down through the rainforest to Mweka Gate, where we complete park formalities and receive certificates, which you can dangle with pride! We then meet our vehicles and return to the hotel in Moshi, where you can treat yourself with a warm welcome shower.
Depending on tour preference and time you can either ask us on what to do or visit nect or go back home.
