7-Day Kilimanjaro Machame Route Trek to Uhuru Peak

Start your day early with a briefing, breakfast, and a 45-minute drive from Moshi (910m) to the Machame Park Gate.

Register at the gate office, then begin your ascent as you enter the rainforest. You will receive a lunch pack at the gate, and you can also drink bottled water purchased at Springlands Hotel in Moshi. There is a possibility of rain in the forest, which can turn the trail into a soggy, muddy, and slippery experience. In the evening, the porters will boil drinking and washing water, and the cook will prepare dinner before you retire to your tent. Night temperatures can already drop to freezing point at Machame Camp.

Rise early at Machame Camp, and after breakfast, climb for about an hour to the top of the forest, then continue for 2 hours at a gentler gradient through the moorland zone.

Take a short lunch and rest.

Continue up a rocky ridge onto the Shira Plateau. By now, you will be able to see, in an easterly direction, the Western Breach with its stunning glaciers. You are now due west of Kibo, and after a short hike, you will reach Shira Camp at 3,840m. The porters will boil drinking and washing water before serving dinner. The night at this exposed camp will be colder than the previous night, with temperatures dropping to below freezing.

Embark on the route as it now turns east into a semi-desert and rocky landscape surrounding Lava Tower, where you reach an altitude of 4,630m after about a 5-hour walk.

Eat lunch in a designated area before ascending the rocky scree path to Lava Tower (4,630m). This is definitely the toughest day so far. It is usually around this point that, for the first time, some climbers begin to feel symptoms of breathlessness, irritability, and headaches.

Descend again by almost 680m to the Barranco camping area, and after reaching the high altitude of 4,600m at Lava Tower, the true acclimatization benefit of this day becomes clear. This descent to Barranco Camp takes about 2 hours and offers excellent opportunities to take beautiful photographs of the Western Breach and Breach Wall. The camp is situated in a valley below the Breach and Great Barranco Wall, which should provide you with a memorable sunset while you wait for dinner and your overnight stay at Barranco Camp.

Start the morning with a scramble up the almost vertical Barranco Wall to an altitude of about 4,200m, and after approximately 3 hours, the path crosses the southern slopes to reach the Karanga Valley.

Continue after breakfast in a southeasterly direction to the junction before turning north to reach Barafu Camp (4,600m) after about 4 hours. Here, you will take a long rest and prepare for the midnight ascent to the summit.

Head out around midnight, moving northwesterly up the southeast valley towards Stella Point on the crater rim. The 6-hour walk to Stella Point is a mental and physical challenge, with the steep face just below Stella posing the ultimate test. The weather and wind conditions will determine the time you spend on the summit.

Walk back to Mweka Camp from the summit, which can take over 7 hours.

Travel from Mweka Camp after breakfast, and continue down to Mweka Gate and into Mweka village, which is usually a muddy and long hour's walk.

Drive to Springlands Hotel from Mweka village, where you will be served a delicious hot lunch and enjoy a long-overdue hot shower. Tips are highly appreciated at the end of the trip and can be given to the guide at Springlands Hotel. This is also where successful climbers receive their summit certificates. Climbers who reached Stella Point (5,685m) are issued green certificates, and those who reached Uhuru Peak (5,895m) receive gold certificates.