6-Day Mount Kilimanjaro Hike via Marangu Route to Uhuru Peak

• Meet your guide at a previously agreed location.
• Have an early breakfast.
• Go through a pre-trek briefing with one of your Tanzanian guides, including a gear check and an overview of the route.
• Drive through Kilimanjaro's semi-tropical foothills to Marangu Gate, where you enter Kilimanjaro National Park and begin your climb. This day's trek takes 4-5 hours through the tropical rainforest to reach Mandara Hut.

• Begin your second day on the mountain with a fairly steep climb through the last of the rainforest and up to alpine meadows dotted with giant heather.
• Further on, the environment changes to stunted vegetation before opening out to bleak moorland.
• Climb approximately 1,000 m in altitude, so walk slowly in order to acclimatise properly. It is usually a 6 to 7-hour hike to reach Horombo Hut.

This will be an extra day for acclimatisation at Horombo.

• Visit Mawenzi for acclimatisation and return to Horombo Hut.

• Hike through terrain that becomes progressively more rocky and rugged. Giant groundsels and lobelias make their appearance.
• Trail past Mawenzi Peak before crossing a stark, almost lunar landscape and the tundra desert of "The Saddle".
• Continue to Kibo Hut, a hike that takes no more than 5 to 7 hours, with breathtaking views from the saddle.
• Begin your attempt on Uhuru Peak at midnight.

• Start the zigzag trek up a long scree slope at midnight.
• Reach Hans Meyer's Cave, where the gradient becomes steeper.
• Continue your climb for approximately another 3 hours to Gilman's Point, where you will be rewarded with the dramatic sight of the rising sun reflecting off the ice fields and craggy peaks of Mawenzi.
• Walk along the crater ring for another couple of hours to reach your goal, Uhuru Peak, towering at 19,340 ft.
• Congratulate yourself and your companions on this great achievement.
• Descend to Kibo Hut for rest and refreshment before continuing to Horombo Hut for your last night on the mountain.

• Have a leisurely breakfast.
• Make your final descent across the alpine meadow, past Mandara Hut, and down through the rainforest to Marangu Gate, where your driver and vehicle will be waiting.
• Continue your dream trip if you opt for an amazing safari extension.
• Head for departure. We also provide transfers to the bus station or Kilimanjaro International Airport.