6 Days Mount Kilimanjaro Climb & Safari

Day 1

Arrive at the Kilimanjaro International Airport. You will be met at the airport and transferred to the Springlands Hotel or similar hotel in Moshi for your overnight. You can start your trek any day of the year!

Day 2

Moshi (915 m/3,000 ft) to Machame Gate (1,490 m/4,890 ft) to Machame Camp (2,980 m/9,780 ft) 12 km, 4-6 hours Montane Forest

Your day starts early with a briefing, followed by breakfast and a 50-minute drive from Moshi to the Machame Village (1,490 m/4,890 ft) where your guides and porters prepare and pack your equipment and supplies. You will receive a lunch pack, and you can also buy mineral water in the village. If the road is very muddy, it may be impossible to drive from the village to the Machame Gate, and in this case, it will take you an hour to complete the muddy 3 km walk to the gate. 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

Machame Camp (2,980 m/9,780 ft) to Shira Camp (3,840 m/12,600 ft) 7 km, 4-6 hours -Moorland

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

Shira Camp (3,840 m/12,600 ft) to Lava Tower (4,630 m/15,190 ft) to Barranco Camp (3,950 m/12,960 ft) 13 km, 6-8 hours – Semi-Desert

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

Barranco Camp (3,950 m/12,960 ft) to Barafu Camp (4,550 m/14,930 ft) 13 km, 7-8 hours – Alpine Desert

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 at 7 PM, and try to get a few hours of precious sleep.

Day 6

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, 22 km down 8 hours up, 9-10 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 7

Mweka Camp (3,100 m/10,170 ft) to Mweka Gate (1,980 m/6,500 ft) to Moshi (890 m/2,920 ft) 10 km, 3-4 hours – Forest

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 to 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 Moshi for an overdue hot shower and comfortable night in our Springlands Hotel or similar hotel.

Day 8

This morning drive to Lake Manyara National Park. Set against the steep escarpment of the Rift Valley, you’ll find Lake Manyara National Park with its evergreen groundwater forest and variety of ecosystems including acacia woodland, grassy plains, a swampy fan delta, and – of course – the expansive lake. This diversity attracts a wide variety of mammal, bird, and wildlife species. Manyara is also home to rare tree-climbing lions. The park offers excellent game viewing with buffalo, impala, giraffe, bushbuck, waterbuck, hippos, and lots of elephants roam near the lake. Also look out for blue monkeys, vervet monkeys, and the very active Olive baboon troops. Overnight Highview Hotel (with lunch, dinner & breakfast

Day 9

Head out after breakfast for the drive to Serengeti National Park. The word “Serengeti” is derived from the Maasai language, meaning “endless plain.” En-route to the Serengeti you can opt to visit as Masaai Village, a perfect place to explore Maasai culture and even participate in some tribal activities Or visit Olduvai Gorge, known as the Cradle of Humanity; the Museum is a testament to the long journey that humanity has made from its humble roots in East Africa to its current state as the dominant species on earth. Enjoy a game drive en-route to your camp. Overnight at one of our Wild Camps (with lunch, dinner & breakfast) * Ikoma Wildcamp or Serengeti Wildcamp or Serengeti Wildebeest Camp

Day 10

Relax with two full days in the Serengeti with game drives – unequaled for its beauty and home to the Great Wildebeest Migration. The huge herds of plains game such as wildebeest, zebra, and antelope dominate the park while the attendant predators such as lion and cheetah are to be found amongst the many kopjes scattered across the plain. Its landscape varies from open grass plains in the south, savanna with scattered acacia trees in the center, hilly, wooded grassland in the north, to extensive woodland and black clay plains to the west. Overnight at one of our Wildcamps (with lunch, dinner & breakfast) * Ikoma Wildcamp or Serengeti Wildcamp or Serengeti Wildebeest Camp

Day 11

Enjoy a morning game drive in the Serengeti before your transfer to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.Check-in at the lodge for an afternoon walking safari. Walking with your local Maasai guide, hiking through the hills and plains of Maasai country you will get to know this ancient culture well, perhaps bumping into local herdsmen along the way or the many animals that cohabitate with them within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Overnight Ngorongoro Wild Camp (with lunch, dinner & breakfast)

Day 11
This morning, you will descend into the Ngorongoro Crater floor for game driving and exploration. The crater is 600m deep, 16km across and 265 sq km in area. Enjoy the spectacular scenery and game viewing, in what has been described as the eighth wonder of the world. Many of Tanzania’s last remaining black rhino can be seen grazing on the open grassland of the crater floor, surrounded by some of the 20,000 large animals that occupy the crater, including lion, cheetah, eland, zebra, and gazelle. Flamingo, among other bird species, can often be seen feeding at Makat Soda Lake as well. Afternoon drives back to Moshi for your overnight stay. Overnight Springlands Hotel (with lunch, dinner & breakfast)

Day 12

Enjoy a morning at leisure before your transfer to Kilimanjaro airport for your flight home.