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Day 1: Machame Gate to Machame Camp
Elevation (m): 1,490m to 2,980m
Elevation (ft): 4,890ft to 9,780ft
Distance: 18km
Hiking Time: 5-7 hours
Habitat: Montane Forest
Your day starts early with a briefing, followed by
breakfast and a 50-minute drive from Moshi or a one and
half hours drive from Arusha 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. Yo 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 poepares your dinner. Night
temperatures can drop to freezing at the Machame Camp.
Day 2: Machame Camp to Shira Camp
Elevation (m): 2,980m to 3,840m
Elevation (ft): 9,780ft to 12,600ft
Distance: 9km
Walking Time: 4-6 hours
Habitat: 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 3: Shira Camp to Lava Tower to Barranco Camp
Elevation (m): 3,840m to 4,630m to 3,950m
Elevation (ft): 12,600ft to 15,190ft to 12,960ft
Distance: 15 km
Walking Time: 5-7 hours
Habitat: Semi-desert
After breakfast, you will walk up a steepening path
above the highest vegetation toward Kilimanjaro's
looming mass. After several hours, you walk thorough a
rocky landscape to reach the prominent landmark called
Lava Tower, also called the "Shark's Tooth." at 4,630
m/15,190ft. 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. Although you end the day
at almost the same elevation as when you started, this
day is very important for acclimatization and will help
your body prepare for summit day.
OPTIONAL DAY (7-day trek): Barranco Camp to Karanga
Camp
Elevation (m): 3950m to 4200m
Elevation (ft): 12,600ft to 13,800ft
Distance: 7km
Hiking Time: 4 hours
Habitat: Alpine Desert
After breakfast, we leave Barranco and continue on a
steep ridge passing the Barranco Wall, to the Karanga
Valley campsite. There is water at this camp. Then, on
Day 5 you will hike from the Karanga Valley Camp to the
Barafu Camp, summit on Day 6, and finish your descent on
Day 7.
Day 4: Barranco Camp to Barafu Camp
Elevation (m): 3,950m to 4,550m
Elevation (ft): 12,960ft to 14,930ft
Distance: 13km
Hiking Time: 8 hours
Habitat: 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 by 7 PM, and try to get a few
hours of precious sleep.
Day 5: Summit Day! "Barafu Camp to Uhuru Peak to
Mweka Camp"
Elevation (m): 4,550m to 5,895m (and down to 3,100m)
Elevation (ft): 14,930ft to 19,340ft (and down to
10,170ft)
Distance: 7km up / 23km down
Hiking Time: 6 - 8 hours up / 7 - 8 hours down
Habitat: Stone scree, seasonal snow and ice-capped
summit
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) "You will want gaiters
and trekking poles for the loose gravel going down".
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 6: Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate to Moshi/Arusha
Elevation (m): 3,100m to 1,980m to 890m
Elevation (ft): 10,170ft to 6500ft to 2,920ft
Distance: 15 km
Hiking Time: 3 - 4 hours
Habitat: Forest
After a well-deserved breakfast, it is a short, scenic,
3-hour hike back to the park gate. At lower elevations,
it can be wet and muddy. Gaiters and trekking poles will
help. Shorts and t-shirts will probably be plenty to
wear (keep rain gear and warmer clothing handy). 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 in 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/Arusha
for an overdue hot shower and comfortable night in a
hotel.
Day 7: Arusha – Tarangire National Park
- In the morning at 0830hrs pick up from your hotel in
Arusha and drive on tarmac road 120km to Tarangire
National Park for game drives. Lunch picnic and there
after lunch continue with afternoon game viewing in the
park to look for Lion, Leopard, Elephant, buffalo,
Python, Zebra, Oryx, Impala and more… Over 450 species
of birds have been observed. Late in the afternoon the
driver will take you for dinner and overnight at
campsite, Tarangire. FB
Day 8: Tarangire – Ngorongoro Crater
- After an early breakfast at 0630hrs drive 180km to
Ngorongoro with packed lunch. Descend into the Crater
floor for both morning and afternoon game drives All the
BIG FIVE Rhino, Lion, Leopard, Buffalo and Elephant live
in this wonderful caldera, others are Zebra, Hippo,
Wildebeest, Hyena and more…Birds includes flamingos on
the Soda lake Geese, Storks, Vultures and more…Your
lunch will be served in the picnic site in the Crater at
Ngoitoktok swamp a Hippo pool. After lunch proceed with
game viewing at 1645hrs ascend the Crater for dinner and
overnight at Lodge or campsite, Ngorongoro. FB
Day 9: Ngorongoro – Serengeti National Park
-Breakfast in Ngorongoro then launch a journey with game
drives and lunch enroute to the Great Serengeti National
park. After picnic lunch in the park continue with
afternoon game viewing in the park a home of lion,
leopard, Elephant, Cheetah, Buffalo, Zebra, Wildebeest,
Eland, Wild dog, Gazelles, Crocs and more. Lot of birds
include the Eurasia migrants. Dinner and overnight at
campsite, Serengeti. FB
Day 10: Serengeti – Lake Manyara National Park
- Early morning game drives in Serengeti then back to
your lodge or Camp at 0845hrs for breakfast. Then check
out and drive 220 km to Manyara via Olduvai Gorge (on
your option) you will have your lunch on the way.
Evening short walking for about 3 km or relax by the
pool if lodge or around the Camp. Dinner and overnight
at campsite, Manyara. FB
Day 11: Lake Manyara – Arusha
- Breakfast followed by morning game drives in Lake
Manyara National Park. At 1245hrs leave the park and
back to your Camp for hot lunch after lunch check out
and drive back to Arusha.
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