Itinerary

1. Day 1: Moshi to Machame Gate (1490m) to Machame Camp (2980m)

   • Early morning, after breakfast at 8:30 am, you will be transferred from your hotel/lodge to Mount Kilimanjaro - Machame gate with your picnic lunch.

   • After registration at the entrance gate, you will start your ascent and enter the rainforest almost immediately. There is a strong possibility of rain in the forest, transforming the trail into a soggy, muddy and slippery experience.

   • You will have a lunch stop about halfway to the camp and will reach the Machame camping area in the late afternoon. Tents and other belonging will be taken care of by porters and your guide. Most of the time, porters and cook reach the camping site before you do to prepare meals and erect tents for your accommodation.

   Overnight at camp. Depending on the weather condition, at night, temperatures can already drop to freezing point at Machame campsite.

   Hiking time: 7 hours

   Distance: About 18 km

   Habitat: Montane forest

   Elevation change: + 1490 m

2. Day 2: Machame Camp (2980m) to Shira Campsite (3840m)

   • Early in the morning, after breakfast, the day is spent to reach Shira campsite (3840 m) with our picnic lunch.

   • The trail takes us for an hour or so to the top of the forest and then for about two hours on a gentler gradient through the moorland zone.

   • After a picnic lunch and rest, you continue up a rocky ridge onto the Shira plateau. After hiking to this point, you will be able to see the Western Breach with its spectacular glaciers in the east.

   • You are now due west of Kibo, and after a short hike, you will reach the Shira campsite.

   • The night at this bare camp will be colder than the previous night, with temperatures dropping to well below freezing.

   Hiking time: 6 hours

   Distance: About 9 km

   Habitat: Moorland

   Elevation change: + 860 m

3. Day 3: Shira (3840m) to Lava Tower (4630m) to Barranco Camp (3950 m)

   • Route now turns east into a semi-desert and rocky landscape surrounding Lava Tower, where you reach an altitude of 4630m after about a four-hour 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 at 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. 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 two 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.

   Hiking time: 6 hours

   Distance: About 15 km

   Habitat: Semi-desert

   Elevation change: + 790 m, - 680 m

   Final Elevation: 3950 m

4. Day 4: Barranco Camp (3950m) to Barafu camp (4550m)

   • Early in the morning, after breakfast at the Great Barranco Wall, you will appreciate how beautiful climbing Mount Kilimanjaro via the Machame Route really is. 

   • After spending a night at the Great Barranco Wall (a very imposing sight at first), you make your way up this amazing obstacle, which in the end normally turns out easier than what you anticipated.

   • Topping out just below the Heim Glacier, you now appreciate just how beautiful Kilimanjaro really is. 

   • The route then heads down through the Karanga Valley over intervening ridges and valleys and then joins up with the Mweka route. This is the preferred route down from the summit, so remember it.

   • Turn left up to the ridge, and after another hour or so, you reach Barafu Hut.

   Hiking time: 6 hours

   Distance: About 13 km

   Habitat: Alpine desert

   Elevation change: + 600 m

5. Day 5: Barafu Camp (4550m) to Uhuru Peak (5895m) to Mweka (3100m)

   • You will wake up around 11:30 pm and after having some tea and biscuits, start climbing to Uhuru peak.

   • You will head in a northwesterly direction and ascend through heavy scree towards Stella Point on the crater rim. This 6-hour walks to Stella point is, for many climbers, mentally and physically the most challenging on the route.

   • Take pictures for 15 to 20 minutes and then descend down for about 3 hours to Barafu Camp.

   • Then, sleep for about 2 hours.

   • Wake up for breakfast or lunch.

   • Later, descend down to Mweka camp for dinner and overnight. (3-4 hour trek)

   Hiking time: 6 hours to reach Uhuru Peak. 5 - 7 hours to descend to Mweka.

   Distance: About 7 km's ascent - 23 km descent.

   Habitat: Stone scree and ice-capped summit.

   Elevation change: + 1345 m, - 2795 m

   Final Elevation: 3100 m

6. Day 6: Mweka Camp (3100m) to Mweka Gate (1980m) to Moshi

   • After an early and well-deserved breakfast, it is a short 3-hour scenic hike back to the Park gate.

   • At Mweka Gate, you sign your name and details in a register. This is also where successful climbers receive their summit certificates. Those climbers who reached Stella Point (5685m) are issued with green certificates, and those who reached Uhuru Peak (5895m) receive gold certificates.

   • From the Mweka Gate, you will continue down into the Mweka village, normally a muddy 3 km (1 hour) hike.

   • Drive back to Moshi for a long overdue hot shower.

   Hiking time: 4 hours

   Distance: About 15 km

   Habitat: Forest

   Elevation change: - 1120 m