7-Day Kilimanjaro Trek via the Machame Route to Uhuru Peak

• After an early breakfast at 07:00 am, we leave the hotel one hour later and arrive at Machame Gate at around 10:00 am. The Machame-Mweka Route, normally referred to simply as the Machame Route, approaches the mountain from its south-western side.
• Your first day of walking starts at an altitude of 1800 meters and ends at over 3000 meters. You will cover a distance of 11 km and spend around 4.5 to 5 hours in actual walking time.
• The beginning of today's walk is characterized by a wide track that winds its way up through dense forest, with beautiful tall trees laden with green moss.
• As the route becomes steeper and narrower, the vegetation changes, and flowers such as impatiens Kilimanjaro and impatiens pseudo viola introduce bright colours to the scenery.
• Picnic lunch is enjoyed around 1:00 pm, and water bottles can be refilled before the walk continues. You will get your first glimpse of Kibo Peak. Machame Camp is reached at around 17:00, and you may be surprised by the richness of the birdlife here.
• Dinner is served at 7:30 pm.

Elevation (ft): 5,400ft to 9,400ft

Distance: 11 km

Hiking Time: 5-7 hours

Habitat: Rain Forest

• You will soon become used to the early 07:00 am breakfasts, and today we aim to leave camp at 08:30 am.

• We have a further 800 meters of ascent, finishing the day at 3800 meters. Although the overall distance is short at 5 km, we will spend around 4.5 to 5 hours actually walking.

• With today's early start and short distance, we should be at camp by 2:00 pm. By then, we will have met the moorland lobelias, and once at camp, you will have plenty of time to admire sights such as the so-called Shira Cathedral, Klute Peak, and Mount Meru before dinner at 6:00 pm.

Elevation (ft): 9,400ft to 12,500ft
Distance: 5 km
Hiking Time: 4-6 hours
Habitat: Moorland

• Today's trek is longer than yesterday's, though our overall gain in height is modest.
• Starting at 3800 meters, by the time we reach camp this afternoon, we will be only 140 meters higher. However, between our start and finish, we climb to the base of the famous Lava Tower at 4627 meters before descending again to camp.
• The benefits for acclimatization today are enormous, as you climb high and then descend again for the overnight stop. The overall distance of around 10 km means that we will actually be walking for around 6.5 to 7 hours, excluding breaks.
• You climb towards the Lava Tower, and your picnic lunch is taken at 1:00 pm.
• After passing the high point of the day by the Lava Tower, we descend to Barranco Camp.

Elevation (ft): 12,500ft to 13,000ft

Distance: 10 km

Hiking Time: 6-8 hours

Habitat: Semi Desert

• Today, we have breakfast slightly later at 07:30 am, and our walk is short, covering only 4 km but still taking between 3.5 and 4 hours of walking time.
• Our departure time today will be 08:30 am, and we will enjoy a hot lunch at 1:00 pm at Karanga. You will then have the afternoon to enjoy the views before dinner at 6:00 pm. Our altitude gain today is only 160 meters.
• At the beginning, we encounter the hardest part of today's stage as we scramble up the near-vertical face of the Barranco Wall.
• At the top of this climb, you will be rewarded with views of the Heim Glacier. After this, the rest of today's walk becomes a bit easier as we first descend to the gully below and into the cold but beautiful Karanga Valley.
• We then continue and finally climb a steep series of zigzags until reaching Karanga Camp.

Elevation (ft): 13,000ft to 13,100ft

Distance: 5 km

Hiking Time: 4-5 hours

Habitat: Alpine Desert

• Another short day, in terms of distance, begins with breakfast at camp at 07:30 am, followed by another 08:30 am departure.
• Today we will ascend about 500 meters over a distance of around 5 km, and walking time once again is between 3.5 and 4 hours.
• We might arrive at Barafu Camp by 1:00 pm, when we will be rewarded with a hot lunch. With tomorrow being summit day, it will be important to relax and prepare for the hard work ahead.
• Dinner tonight is served at 5:30 pm, giving you time to get to bed early. After leaving Karanga, today's stage climbs steadily through a barren, rocky landscape, with the Decken and Kersten glaciers visible to your left.
• At the top of the climb, the landscape remains bleak as you descend into a valley, and you get your first sight of another glacier, Rebmann.
• At the end of this valley is today's goal, Barafu Camp, which you reach after a short, steep scramble and walk.

Elevation (ft): 13,100ft to 15,300ft

Distance: 4 km

Hiking Time: 4-5 hours

Habitat: Alpine Desert

• Today is the most challenging day, but hopefully also the day with the great sense of achievement that comes from reaching your goal - the summit of Kilimanjaro. Our schedule for Summit Day is, of course, very different. Rising at 11:00 pm, we take tea and biscuits at 23:30 before a midnight departure.
• We begin the long, tough climb from Barafu at 4600 meters to Stella Point at 5745 meters. For some of this section, you will be walking on scree, making the trek more difficult.
• From there, it is another 150 meters of ascent and a 45-minute walk to the summit. Our goal is to reach the summit by around 07:00 am, then celebrate reaching the top, take our precious photos, and enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
• After the summit, we return to Barafu, where we rest for a couple of hours, take a hot lunch, and then leave again at 1:30 pm to continue descending to Mweka Camp at 3100 meters, where we spend the night.
• We would expect to arrive at 5:00 am and take dinner at 7:00 pm. In total, we cover around 17 km today with about 13 hours of walking.

Elevation (ft): 15,300ft to 19,345ft (and down to 10,000ft)
Distance: 5 km ascent / 12 km descent
Hiking Time: 7-8 hours ascent / 4-6 hours descent
Habitat: Arctic

• Still thrilled by your achievement, breakfast is taken at 07:00 am, and at 08:00 am you can take the chance to reward your trekking team at the "Tipping Celebration."
• Departure is at 09:00 am, and you descend to Mweka Gate at an altitude of 1640 meters, where you will be served a hot lunch at midday and be presented with your hard-earned certificate.
• Your transport will be waiting to return you to Arusha, where you can choose to relax - or celebrate.

Elevation (ft): 10,000ft to 5,400ft
Distance: 10 km
Hiking Time: 3-4 hours
Habitat: Rain Forest