Itinerary

1. Day 1: Moshi to Marangu Gate to Mandara Hut

   Distance: 8 km, Hiking Time: 3 hours

   • You will be picked up from your hotel in Moshi and driven straight to the Marangu gate. As you drive to the gate, enjoy great views of Mount Kilimanjaro with your team of guides and porters at the gate. While in the forest you can see colourful birds, colobus and other species of monkeys, as well as mosses, lichens and flowers and delicate orchids.

   • When the sky is clear, you can see the town of Moshi on the edge of the plain below. Once the check-ins are completed, begin your ascent from the park buildings, the 3-hour trek through areas of coffee plantations and dense jungle to Mandara Hut for dinner and overnight.

2. Day 2: Mandara Hut to Horombo Hut

   Distance: 11 km, Hiking Time: 5 hours

   • The second day of the Kilimanjaro Mountain Mandara Hut Trek begins right after breakfast with a steep ascent through the last stretch of rainforest .

   • As soon as you leave the screen of the forest, Kilimanjaro, two snow-capped peaks, Kibo and the rocky Mawenzi lie before you overlooking the horizon. Further on an area of open paramos with tiny vegetation is traversed, today about 1,000 meters of altitude are gained; The hike can take between five and seven hours, depending on your pace. Tonight's dinner and stay at Horombo Huts.

3. Day 3: Horombo Hut

   • On this day you have the opportunity to get used to the altitude step by step. Data shows that an acclimatization day effectively doubles the successor's chances of reaching the summit, so time is well spent! The day is not exactly wasted as there are several hikes that you can only do close to the cabin, but we do the most famous hike that most people do for acclimatization and which takes you to the base of the spectacular Mawenzi Peak to the east Summit. from Kilimanjaro. 
   • The trek takes 4-5 hours to return and reaches an altitude of 4600 meters, then return to Horombo Hut for dinner and overnight. This hike will get you fit later on.

4. Day 4: Horombo Hut to Kibo Hut

   Distance: 9 km, Hiking Times: 5 hours

   • The fourth day's trek to Kibo takes about five hours. See Mawenzi Peak as you pass the last waterhole, then traverse a barren, almost lunar-shaped landscape to Saddle, a vast tundra desert between the two peaks of Mawenzi and Kibo.

   • Here you will enjoy fantastic views of the upper ridges before reaching Kibo Hut, a dry-stone hut with sleeping quarters and limited facilities. Tonight prepare for tomorrow's final assault on the summit. An early evening is imperative as you need to leave at midnight to get to the top in the morning before cloud cover clears and then have time to return to the cabin.

   Overnight at Kibo Hut for 1 night (breakfast, lunch and dinner).

5. Day 5: Kibo hut to Uhuru Peak summit - Kibo hut - Horombo hut.

   Distance: 9 km, Hiking Time: 5 hours

   • Guides will wake you up just after midnight and you will begin a torchlit journey to Uhuru Peak in the bitter cold. At this time of day, the scree is still frozen which makes walking easier. 

   • After about two hours you should reach Hans Meyer's cave. From here it's a short walk to Gillman's Point in time for sunrise. Your reward is the dramatic spectacle of the sunrise over the ice fields and craggy peaks of Mawenzi. The abundance of colours and shapes makes it worth all the suffering! It takes a few more hours along the crater rim to reach Uhuru (Freedom) Peak.

   • Your descent (approx. 3 hours) follows the route back past Kibo Hut to Horombo Hut for a well-deserved rest. Overnight at Horombo Hut for 1 night (breakfast, lunch and dinner).

6. Day 6: Horombo hut to Marangu Route gate to Arusha/Moshi.

   • The pace picks up as you continue your triumphant return journey through the alpine meadows and past the Mandara Hut through the rainforest to the Marangu Gate where you board the vehicle for the return trip to Arusha/Moshi.