Day 1 Arrival in Arusha

One of our representatives will meet you at the airport and escort you to your accommodation. At a specified time, you will meet for the pre-climbing briefing that includes sharing all the necessary details and checking all of your personal mountain gears. Going through the gears is very important as we have to make sure you are set for the trek. Should you be missing something, your guide will organize it with the renting shops.

Accommodation: Ilboru Safari Lodge Mid-range lodge located in or near Arusha

Day 2 Arusha to Machame Camp

Your first day begins with an early-morning briefing, followed by breakfast. Later, we drive to Machame village at 1,490m (4,890ft) from Arusha or Moshi. After registering at the park authority, you will have a hot lunch. Your ascent then begins by entering the rainforest. Heavy rains often transform the trail on this side of the mountain into mud, so good footgear, gaiters, and trekking poles are extremely helpful. We arrive at Machame Camp in the late afternoon. Porters will have erected your tent in advance of your arrival.

Machame Gate 1,500m (4,921ft) to Machame Camp 2,835m (9,301ft): Hiking distance: 11km Hiking time: 5 - 7hrs.

Accommodation: Budget camping In or near Machame Gate Meals & Drinks: All meals included Non-alcoholic drinks

Day 3 Machame Camp to Shira Camp

After breakfast, you will climb for an hour to the top of the forest and then begin 2 hours of walking through a gentle moorland. You continue up the rocky ridge to the Shira Plateau. At Shira Plateau, you will be able to see Kilimanjaro’s Western Breach with its stunning glaciers. After a short hike west, you arrive at the Shira Cave campsite.

You will have a hot lunch at the camp followed by a leisurely afternoon. In the evening, you will visit the Shira Cave for a short history of the cave and its surroundings. Later in the evening, you will be served a hot dinner before going to bed. The night will be colder and temperatures will drop below freezing point at this exposed camp.

Machame Camp 2,835m (9,301ft) to Shira Cave 2,750m (11,303ft): Hiking distance: 11km Hiking time: 6 - 8hrs.

Accommodation: Budget camping In or near Mt Kilimanjaro Meals & Drinks: All meals included Non-alcoholic drinks

Day 4 Shira Camp to Lava Tower to Barranco Camp

Your hike begins by climbing eastward. The path becomes steep above the highest vegetation toward Kilimanjaro. After several hours, you walk through a rocky landscape to Lava Tower 4,600m (15,190ft). This remnant of Kilimanjaro’s volcanic past is several hundred feet high. The trail passes right below it. After lunch at Lava Tower, you will descend for 2 hours below the lower cliff of the Western Breach, to the Breach Wall to Barranco Camp 3,950m (12,960ft).

Barranco Camp is in a valley below the Breach and Great Barranco Walls. This provides a scenic sunset while waiting for dinner. On this day, you may experience signs of altitude sickness.

Shira Cave 3,750m (12,795ft) to Barranco Camp 3,900m (12,795ft) via Lava Tower 4,600m (15,091ft): Hiking distance: 10km Hiking time: 6 - 8hrs.

Accommodation: Budget camping In or near Mt Kilimanjaro Meals & Drinks: All meals included Non-alcoholic drinks

Day 5 Barranco Wall to Barafu Camp

This is a great mountain day. You descend into the start of the Great Barranco and then exit steeply up onto the Southern slopes of Kibo. You pass beneath the Heim and Kersten Glaciers and head up to the Karanga Valley, the last place where you can find water below the summit. You will pass the Karanga campsite and the junction of the Mweka Trail before a final push across some scree to the Barafu campsite. From here, you can see both the peaks of Mawenzi and Kibo.

Baranco Camp 3,900m (12,960ft) to Barafu Camp 4,667m (15,311ft): Hiking distance: 13km Hiking time: 7 - 8hrs.

Accommodation: Budget camping In or near Mt Kilimanjaro Meals & Drinks: All meals included Non-alcoholic drinks

Day 6 Summit Day

At 11:30 PM, you will wake up to steaming tea and biscuits. Your 6-hour climb northwest 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 at 5,685m (18,650ft), you stop for a short rest and the chance to see an outstanding sunrise. You cannot stop for long, as it will be extremely difficult to start again due to fatigue and cold.

On the summit, you can enjoy your accomplishment, knowing you are experiencing a day you will remember for the rest of your life. After a 3-hour descent from the summit back to Barafu Camp, you will have a well-earned but short rest. You then collect your gears, hike down a rock and scree path to the moorland below and enter the forest to Mweka Camp.

Barafu Camp 4,667m (14,930ft) to Uhuru Peak 5,895m (19,340ft) down to Mweka Camp 3,100m (10,170ft): Hiking distance: 15.5km Hiking time: 8hrs up and 7 - 8hrs down.

Accommodation: Budget camping In or near Mt Kilimanjaro Meals & Drinks: All meals included Non-alcoholic drinks

Day 7 Mweka Camp to Arusha

After breakfast, you will take a short, scenic 3-hour hike back to the park gate. At Mweka Gate, you can sign your name and add your 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 Mweka village. Enjoy a hot lunch and a small celebration with your mountain crew before your drive to your hotel for a warm shower and leisure.

Mweka Camp 3,100m (10,170ft) to Mweka Gate 1,980m (6,500ft): Hiking distance: 12km Hiking time: 3hrs Habitat: Montane forest.

Main Destination: Mount Kilimanjaro Accommodation: No accommodation (End of tour) Meals & Drinks: All meals included Non-alcoholic drinks