Description - What to expect

Kilimanjaro trekking Itinerary

◾ Arrival Day
Arrive at the Kilimanjaro International Airport. You will be met at the airport and transferred to the hotel in Arusha or in Moshi for your overnight and briefing by your mountain guide.

◾ Day 1: Arusha/Moshi to Marangu Gate to Mandara Huts
Elevation: (915 m/3,000 ft) to (1,830 m/6,000 ft) to (2,740 m/9,000 ft)
Distance: 7 km
Hiking Time: 4-5 hours
Habitat: Montane Forest

After breakfast and a briefing from your guide, leave Moshi at 9 am, drive for 45 minutes (or if driving from Arusha leave the town at 7 am, drive for one and half hours) to the Marangu Gate on the eastern side of Kilimanjaro, register with the national park, and begin hiking at 10:30 am. In the rainforest, look for towering Eucalyptus trees, birdlife, and Columbus monkeys.

At these lower elevations, it can be wet and muddy, so gaiters and trekking poles will help. Shorts and t-shirts should be sufficient, but keep your rain gear and warmer clothing handy. Stop halfway for lunch, and reach the Mandara Huts at 2 or 3 PM. Unpack, rest, and have some tea or coffee. A 15-minute side trip to Maundi Crater is a good way to see the surroundings including Northern Tanzania and Kenya. Dinner is served in the early evening at 7.00 pm. Bathrooms with running water are available.

◾ Day 2: Mandara Huts to Horombo Huts
Elevation: (2,740 m/9,000 ft) to (3,690 m/12,100 ft)
Distance: 11 km
Hiking Time: 6-8 hours
Habitat: Heathland

Wake to a 7:30 am breakfast and pack for your next Kilimanjaro trekking experience. Break camp by 8:30 am, hike for an hour through rainforest glades, then follow an ascending path through heathland where you can look for giant lobelias and groundsels. Continue up into open moorlands where small shrubs are the main vegetation. Stop halfway for lunch, where you can enjoy amazing views of Mawenzi. Arrive at the Horombo Huts by 3.00 pm, where you can see Kibo’s summit. Rest, unpack, and prepare for dinner. Bathrooms with running water are available.

You may start to feel the effects of altitude here and to aid your acclimatization, you can choose to spend an extra day resting at Horombo or climbing to a basecamp below Kibo’s sub-peak Mawenzi.

◾ Day 3: Horombo Huts to Kibo Huts
Elevation: (3,690 m/12,100 ft) to (4,695 m/15,400 ft)
Distance: 10 km
Hiking Time: 6-8 hours
Habitat: Alpine Desert

Wake to breakfast as usual, but if you wake early you can get some great photos of the sunrise. The first part of the day’s hike climbs through the dwindling heathland that blends into a moonscape as you enter the sweeping saddle connecting Mawenzi and Kibo. When you stop for lunch, and later when you cross this surprisingly large saddle, you can examine the summit climb up Kibo that you will be starting in just a few hours. Be careful to notice any signs of altitude sickness. There is no running water at the Kibo Huts.

◾ Day 4: Summit Day! Kibo Huts to Uhuru Peak to Horombo Huts
Elevation: (4,695 m/15,400 ft) to (5,895 m/19,340 ft) to (3,690 m/12,100 ft)
Distance: 4 km up, 14 km down
Hiking Time: 10-15 hours
Habitat: Alpine Desert

Wake at midnight to a light breakfast, then prepare for your Kilimanjaro trekking summit ascent. The goal is to climb before dawn so that you can reach Uhuru Peak shortly after sunrise. Leave at 1.00 am, switch back up steep scree or possibly snow, and reach Gilman’s Point on the crater rim at 5,861 m/18,640 ft between 5 and 7 am. Here, views of the fabled crater and its icecaps greet you. Another 2 hours of hiking along the crater rim near the celebrated snow take you to Kilimanjaro’s true summit, Uhuru Peak, by 9.00 am. This is Africa’s highest point, and you would have to travel more than 3,000 miles toward the Himalayas to find a higher peak! Be sure to have your picture taken at the summit to show your friends. After your summit stays, descend back to the Kibo Huts, have lunch, rest, collect your things, and re-cross the saddle to the Horombo Huts. Eat dinner and get some well-deserved sleep!

You do the beginning of this climb in the dark with headlamps or flashlights. It will be very cold until you start descending, so you will need all of your warm layers. This is, by far, the most difficult part of the trek. Slowly slowly, or, “pole pole,” and an optimistic attitude will get you there!

◾ Day 5: Horombo Huts to Marangu Gate to Moshi/Arusha
Elevation: (3,690 m/12,100 ft) to (1,830 m/6,000 ft) to (890 m/2,920 ft)
Distance: 18 km
Hiking Time: 5-7 hours

Wake, as usual, pack, and descend through the moorland to the Mandara Huts. Have lunch there then continue your triumphant recessional down through the lush forest to the park gate, which you should reach around 2 or 3 pm. Remember to tip your guides, cooks, and porters, since you will be leaving them here. A vehicle will take you back to the Hotel in Moshi/Arusha, where it is definitely time for celebration!

◾ Arusha/Moshi:
Depart for the airport or other destinations in Tanzania or Kenya. You may want to end your Kilimanjaro trekking experience with a trip to the beaches at Zanzibar!