7-Day Kilimanjaro Umbwe Route Trek to Uhuru Peak

• Your driver-guide will greet you upon your arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO).

• Drive to your hotel, which provides all the amenities necessary for your comfort: pleasant rooms with hot showers, a swimming pool, an ever-helpful staff, and access to the Internet.

Overnight stay.

• Your guide and climb support crew will arrive at your hotel in the morning.

• After introductions and a final brief equipment check, proceed on your drive to the Umbwe Gate of Kilimanjaro National Park. This entrance, situated at 1,640 m above sea level, is where your trek starts.

• Your head guide will finalise the permits and registration for search and rescue services. Your first day of trekking is meant to bring you to Umbwe Camp for your first mountain overnight. Climbing up to 2,930 m is a long haul with a significant increase in altitude, so it is important to find the right pace for the whole group and stick with it.

• Your support crew will have prepared the camp and dinner by the time you get there.

• Wake up early, have breakfast, and start trekking to Barranco Camp. The rainforest will quickly give way to brush, and if it is not too cloudy, you will be able to see Meru Volcano for the first time. Trekking on the Umbwe Route on this day will be of moderate length.

• Around lunchtime, you will reach Barranco Camp (3,960 m), which is nestled inside a huge volcanic fault.

• Lunch will be provided here, and then you will have the opportunity to relax for the rest of the day, which significantly facilitates the acclimatisation process.

• Wake up early, have breakfast, and start summiting Barranco Wall. We recommend leaving camp as early as possible to avoid crowds from other groups. Hiking up the gorge wall is not difficult and only takes around an hour. After the climb, you can rest and take photos in front of Kibo Volcano.

• Continue on a more difficult hike to Karanga Camp, which features numerous ascents and descents along the route, but do not worry: our guides are experts at choosing an optimal pace for the group. After reaching the camp, you will be offered a warm lunch.

• After a couple of hours, you will complete an acclimatisation hike in the direction of Barafu Camp with a 200-meter gain in altitude, and then descend back down to the camp.

• In the morning after breakfast, you begin your way to Barafu Summit Camp (4,640 m), the starting point for the night summit to Uhuru Peak (5,895 m).

• Our team will set up camp for you ahead of time, including tents and sleeping bags, so you can relax.

• After regaining strength, you will complete an acclimatisation hike towards the intermediate Kosovo Summit Camp (4,800 m) and then return to Barafu Camp, where you will be served a hot dinner. It is best to spend the remainder of the day resting and sleeping before the night summit.

• The group leaves Barafu Camp, at an altitude of 4,640 m, around midnight.

• That night, you climb to 5,895 m at Uhuru Peak. The altitude poses a challenge on this trek, despite the relative ease of the walk. Every two climbers in the group will be accompanied by a guide whose responsibility is the constant monitoring of their fitness for the climb.

• Upon reaching Uhuru Peak, you may choose to walk on one of Kilimanjaro's glaciers.

• Return to Barafu Camp for a 2-hour rest before descending to 3,820 m at Millennium Camp.

• Millennium Camp sits amidst a rainforest. The lower altitude and the associated relief from any effects of altitude sickness, as well as the realisation of having reached your goal, will help you get a good night's sleep.

• Set out on the last leg of the journey towards the Mweka Gate park exit (1,650 m) after finishing breakfast. This will be your last opportunity to share memories of the climb with your guides and support team.

• Rest at the hotel and transfer to the airport.