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The “Coca Cola” Route is Kilimanjaro’s easiest,
shortest, and most popular route. The trip usually takes
5 days. You can however also add an additional
acclimatization day and make it a 6-day trip.
Price:
USD $1,250 person.
Duration: 5 days trekking; 3 and a half days ascending,
1 and a half days descending
Length: 32 km/20 mi ascent; 64 km/40 mi round trip
Elevation: 4,065 m/13,340 ft gain; 4,065 m/13,340 ft
descent
Marangu Gate (1,830 m/6,000 ft) to Uhuru Peak (5,895
m/19,340 ft) and return
Description:
The Marangu Route is the easiest and shortest route to
Kilimanjaro’s summit and is known as the “Coca Cola” or
“tourist” route. This is the only route on Kilimanjaro
with the comforts of solar-powered sleeping huts and
comfortable beds at every camp. The huts are communal,
and each bunk has a sponge mattress and pillow. There
are 60 beds at both Mandara and Kibo Huts and 120 beds
at Horombo Hut. Bathrooms and running water are
available at the two lower huts. Basic men’s and ladies’
latrines are available at the last camp.
All climbing groups, often from several countries around
the world, share meals in dining huts providing a jovial
and energetic atmosphere. Soft drinks, bottled water,
and beer may be for sale at the huts. Bring small
Tanzanian bills to purchase these items (prices increase
with elevation).
This route is usually done in 5 days, but you can do it
in 6 days for better acclimatization. You can spend your
extra day resting at Horombo or climbing to a basecamp
below Kibo’s sub peak Mawenzi.
We recommend you to bring gears like; smaller personal
backpack, thick hiking socks, windproof/waterproof pants
and jacket, heavy gloves, heavy winter jacket, water
bottles, gaiters (covers top of boots and bottom of
pants), hiking boots, larger backpack for clothes, cold
weather sleeping bags, safari style hat protecting face
and neck from sun, headlamp style flashlight, camera of
course, dried fruit and energy bars, sun block, malaria
pills, water purification tablets, inflatable pillows,
your regular clothes.
Note:
We do not place groups together. This way you are
ensured the full attention of our guide, but with the
added knowledge of our guides’ experiences. It also
means that we can start the climb on the day you prefer.
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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
our mountain guide. You can start your trek any day of
the year!
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, bird life, and Colubus 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 during the
early evening at 7 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
trek. 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 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 summit ascent. The goal is to climb before dawn so
that you can reach Uhuru Peak shortly after sunrise.
Leave at 1 AM, switchback 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 snows
takes you to Kilimanjaro’s true summit, Uhuru Peak, by 9
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 stay, 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 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. A trip to the beaches at Zanzibar is a good
way to recuperate. We can arrange many reasonably priced
trips and safaris to the Tanzania Nothern Parks such as
trips to Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater,
Lake Manyara National Park,
Tarangire National Park and to Arusha National Park.
Also we can arrange trips to Southern Circuit such as
trips to Selous game reserve, Mikumi National Park and
Ruaha National Park.
Extra Day for Acclimatization:
You can add an extra day at the Horombo Huts (3,690
m/12,100 ft). You can spend a full day and a second
night at Horombo. On this day, you can either rest at
the huts or take a stroll up to the Mawenzi basecamp
then return to the Horombo Huts. This extra day will
help your acclimatization, and further your
understanding of the mountain’s weather and altitude.
After your pause, you will continue up to the Kibo Huts
on your fourth day for your midnight start to the
summit.
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