Itinerary
Day 1: UK / Kilimanjaro Airport Depart London for Kilimanjaro Airport via Nairobi.
Day 2: Moshi Arrive and transfer to the Moshi Hotel. (Meals included: Lunch & Dinner)
Days 3-5: Moshi We spend three full days assisting with a range of community projects. This time provides an excellent opportunity for gradual acclimatisation before embarking on the trek, as well as offering valuable assistance within one of Tanzania’s poorest regions. The project work may include renovating classrooms, clearing land for sports and recreation and restoring furniture! (Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 6: Machame Gate to Machame Huts (3000m) A 45 minute drive from the Hotel delivers you to Machame Gate to register and meet your porters. Your pace will be slow and gentle and the day will be spent trekking slowly up the muddy track through the rain forest. It’s a long day and typically takes 7 – 8 hours but by the end you emerge into a clearing and the welcome sight of your tents, hot tea and dinner. (Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 7: Machame Huts to Shira Plateau (3,840m) Following a cooked breakfast you start the climb through the remaining rain forest towards the giant moorland zone. The trek today is much shorter and the environment changes rapidly as you ascend out of the rain forest. Depending on the group pace, it is a 5 - 6 hour trek, during which you gain approximately 800 metres in altitude. Lunch is taken on a stunning outcrop of rock before completing the last stretch to Shira Camp and a stunning view over the Shira Plateau. Weather permitting you should also get your first close views of Kibo - the dramatic summit of Kilimanjaro. (Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 8: Shira Plateau to Barranco Camp (3,950m) After breakfast you set off early as today is a long trek. You will climb gradually through alpine desert where you reach a crossroads with the option of climbing to an altitude of 4,500 metres to the Lava Tower, or dropping back down towards Barranco Camp. It will depend on how fit you feel at the crossroads as to whether you visit the Lava Tower, but if you can manage it, it is extremely useful for acclimatization. Whilst long, the environment is extraordinary and few would disagree that Barranco, nestled at the foot of Kibo, is a wonderful campsite. Your sleeping altitude is not much higher than the previous night at Shira but this is a great day for acclimatisation if you make it to the Lava Tower at 4,500 metres. (Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 9: Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp (3,963m) After breakfast, your first obstacle is to breach the Barranco Wall, a 600-foot rock face. No technical climbing experience is required and whilst steep, it is still classed as a trek. This portion of the trek will involve scrambling over rocks. Once over the wall, the climb becomes extremely beautiful, with fantastic views of the crags and crevasses of the jagged peaks on your left, and then descends into the Karanga Valley where you will camp for the night. (Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 10: Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp (4700m) It is a slow, tough hike up to Barafu, which means "ice" in Swahili. The air starts to get quite thin at this stage and you will be running short of breath as you climb out of the Karanga Valley. It can be extremely cold at this altitude and with an early start ahead, an early night is required. At midnight you start the final ascent to Uhuru Peak – the Summit. (Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 11: Barafu Camp to Uhuru Peak (5,895m) to Mweka Hut After light snacks and hot drinks, start climbing around midnight on the steepest and most demanding part of the mountain. Light is provided by your head torches, the moon on a clear night and as you ascend, the sun climbs spectacularly behind you, staining the sky a vibrant red and orange colour. As you reach Stellar Point, the sun has climbed into view and you can see Uhuru Peak in the distance. From the crater rim, rugged Mawenzi is a thrilling sight, with the Kibo saddle still in darkness beneath you and the crater's ice-walls looming ahead. Once you reach Stellar Point, you are only an hour from Uhuru Peak, the highest point in Africa, and the world's highest solitary peak (19,340ft). From there you will descend to Barafu Camp for a short break, hot lunch and a nap, before continuing to descend for other 5-6 hours to Mweka Hut. This is likely to be the toughest day that you will have ever experienced. You will have ascended 3,600 feet and descended 7,200 feet in a period of 14-18 hours. Although exhausting, you will have just achieved something extraordinary. (Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 12: Mweka Hut to Moshi In the morning you will walk down to Mweka Gate through the rain forest. This all takes around 6 hours. You will be transferred to your hotel for lunch, and later the porters will return to the hotel for the certificate giving ceremony. If you ask nicely, the porters may sing the Kilimanjaro Song! Enjoy a gala dinner tonight in celebration of your climb. Overnight at the Hotel. (Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 13: Moshi to London Today we transfer back to Kilimanjaro Airport for our return flight to the UK, or you will be transferred for your optional two night safari/Zanzibar extension. (Meals included: Breakfast)