Optional trip packages before/after this safari:
- Seeing the Mountain Gorillas
- Staying for 2-3 days at The School of St Jude
- Enjoying a beach getaway to Zanzibar
- Go on a Gorillas, Water safari and Chimps tour in Uganda
- Tour Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe
Day 1: Marangu Gate (1970m) – Mandara Hut (2700m)
Hiking distance and time: 12km in 4 hours
Habitat: Rainforest
Lunch and dinner provided
Leave Arusha at 8am and drive for 1 hour to Moshi at the base of Mt Kilimanjaro. Pick up guides and travel onwards to Marangu Gate on the eastern side of Kilimanjaro. Fill out necessary registration paperwork at the park gate.
The hike begins at about 10:30 am
Start the approx 3-4 hour walk to Mandara Hut (2700m). Stop halfway for lunch.
Reach Mandara Hut at about 2:30 pm. Unpack, rest and have some tea or coffee.
Dinner is served around 7 pm. If you feel up to it, your guide can take you to Maundi Crater (about 15 minutes away), as there are views of Kenya and Northern Tanzania.
Bathrooms are available with running water
Day 2: Mandara Huts (2700m) – Horombo Huts (3720m)
Hiking distance and time: 15km in 6 hours
Habitat: Heathland
Breakfast, lunch & dinner provided
Be ready for breakfast at 7:30am and pack for the next leg. Break camp at about 8:30am and hike for 5-6 hours to Horombo Huts (3720m). On the way, you will travel through more scrub-type vegetation and finally see great views of Mawenzi and the summit of Kibo. Stop half way for lunch. Arrive at Horombo Huts at about 3pm. Rest, unpack and prepare for dinner. Bathrooms are available with running water.
Day 3: Horombo Huts (3720m) all day.
Breakfast, lunch & dinner provided
Even though this day is used as an acclimatization day, you will still walk about 4 hours up to Mawenzi Hut and back. Experience summit-type weather during your short practice climb. Overnight again at Horombo Hut.
Day 4: Horombo Huts (3720m) – Kibo Huts (4703m)
Hiking distance and time: 15km in 7 hours
Habitat: Alpine desert
Breakfast, lunch & dinner provided
Wake up to breakfast as usual (if you wake before sun-up, you can get some great sunrise photos). Pack and begin the hike to Kibo Huts (4703m). The first half of the day’s trek will traverse the upper heathland, while the second half crosses the vast saddle that connects Mawenzi and Kibo. The saddle is an alpine desert that resembles a lunar landscape. Be careful to notice signs of altitude sickness. The day’s hike should take 6 to 7 hours, stopping half way for lunch. No running water at Kibo Huts.
Day 5: SUMMIT DAY! Kibo Huts (4703m) – Uhuru Peak (5895m)
Hiking distance and time: 6km up in 7 hours and then 21km down (in 7 hours) to Horombo Huts.
Habitat: Alpine desert
Breakfast, lunch & dinner provided
Wake at around midnight as this is summit day! This section happens early morning so you can reach the summit around sunrise. Eat a light breakfast, get your head torch out and around 1am start shuffling up to Gilman’s Point (5685m), on the rim of the crater. See picture to the left which outlines this last “push”. This last part is the toughest and it is where you need to pull out all that mental energy that you never knew you had inside you. Listen to your guides and simply concentrate of putting one foot in front of the other… you can do it! Once you get to Gilman’s Point around 7am, you will move around the crater for a couple more hours till you reach Uhuru Peak (5895m), the summit. After a short time to catch your breath and take some pictures, you will start the descent back down to Kibo Huts for a short rest and to collect your things. Afterwards, continue the descent down and across the saddle to Horombo Huts where you will spend the night. Eat dinner and get some well-deserved sleep.
Day 6:
Continue descending from Horombo Huts to the Marangu Gate.
Breakfast & lunch provided.
Wake as usual, pack and get ready to descend to Mandara Huts. Before starting the trek down you may like to take those last set of pictures of your climbing team as well as give out all the tips. Once you get to Mandara huts, you will take lunch and then continue onto the park gate.
Afterwards, you will be driven back to Arusha for enjoying long over shower and relaxing the rest of your day at your hotel. You have earned it!
Breakfast and dinner provided at the lodge.
This safari package includes:
- All park entrance, camping (or hut) and rescue fees,
- All meals and filtered drinking water while on the mountain,
- Guide (Wilderness First Responder certified), cook and porter salaries and fees (porters are paid
- according to national park recommendations),
- Camping equipment including mountaineering sleeping and mess tents (North Face, Marmot and
- Mountain Hardware), foam mattresses, toilet tent, chairs and tables,
- Emergency oxygen bottles,
- Transfer to/from Kilimanjaro National Park,
- Flying Doctors evacuation insurance
- Toilet tent
This safari package does not include:
- The climb does not include gratuities, soda/alcohol, energy snacks and drinks such as Power Bars,
- Personal camping equipment such as sleeping bags, visa fees, hotel in Arusha, airport transfers,
- travel/health insurance, airfare, or items of a personal nature.