Day 1 – Kilimanjaro / Moshi
Pick up from Kilimanjaro International Airport, transfer to your base hotel in Moshi town. This evening you will meet your guide who will brief you about your climb which begins the following morning. Dinner on own account, overnight at Springlands Hotel/similar.
Day 2 – Moshi / Mandara Hut (2,700 meters)
Breakfast followed by road transfer to Marangu Gate. Ascend to Mandara Hut on a walk that takes about 4 hours, covering about 11 kilometers. Dinner and overnight at Mandara Hut.
Day 3 – Mandara Huts (2,740 m/9,000 ft) to Horombo Huts (3,690 m/12,100 ft)
11 km, 6-8 hours Heath land
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, and then follow an ascending path through heath land 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 base camp below Kibo’s sub peak Mawenzi.
Day 4 – Horombo Huts (3,690 m/12,100 ft) to Kibo Huts (4,695 m/15,400 ft) 10 km, 6-8 hours 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 heath land 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 5 – Summit Day – Summit Day! Kibo Hut (4,695 m/15,400 ft) to Uhuru Peak (5,895 m/19,340 ft) to Horombo Hut (3,690 m/12,100 ft) 4 km up, 14 km down 10-15 hours Alpine Desert
Wake at midnight to a light breakfast, and 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 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 6 – Horombo Huts (3,690 m/12,100 ft) to Marangu Gate (1,830 m/6,000 ft) to Moshi (890 m/2,920 ft)18 km, 5-7 hours
Wake up, 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 and porters since you will be leaving them here. A vehicle will transfer you back to the Springlands Hotel / similar hotel in Moshi, this will be your night of celebration with dinner on own account, overnight in the hotel.
Day 7 – Moshi / Depart
Breakfast will be served at the hotel. Check out and shared transfer to Kilimanjaro International Airport.