6-Day Kilimanjaro Marangu Route Trek to Uhuru Peak

• Meet your tour guide at the hotel and drive to Marangu Gate.
• Enjoy excellent views of the mountain.
• Proceed with park check-in at the gate with your team of guides and porters.
• Enter the rainforest, the first zone of the mountain. While in the forest, you could see brightly coloured birds, colobus monkeys and other species of monkey, as well as mosses, lichens, flowers, and delicate orchids. If the skies are clear, you can see the town of Moshi lying at the edge of the plain further down.
• Continue ascending for 4-5 hours through areas of coffee plantation and thick rainforest to Mandara Hut for dinner.

Overnight stay at Mandara Hut.

Altitude: 1,700 m to 2,740 m

Distance covered: 7 km

Time: 4-5 hours

Meals: Lunch and dinner

• Leave the glades of the rainforest and follow an ascending path onto the open moorlands to the Horombo encampment.
• Witness the amazing views of Kibo and Mawenzi.
• Cross the alpine zone of the mountain and see giant lobelias and groundsels. Here, you are expected to begin to feel the effects of the altitude.

Overnight stay at Horombo Hut (full board).

Altitude: 2,700 m to 3,700 m

Distance Covered: 11 km

Time: 6-8 hours

• Acclimatize on your third day. It is highly recommended to hike all the way to Mawenzi Hut so that you allow your body to acclimatize. This hike increases your chances of reaching Uhuru Peak. With this comes a reward: magnificent views of Kibo.
• Return to Horombo for a late lunch. Spend the afternoon and evening at Horombo.

Overnight stay at Horombo Hut (full board).

Altitude: 3,700 m to 4,400 m

Distance Covered: 5 km

Time: 2-3 hrs

• Hike to Kibo. The trail up to Kibo will take between five and seven hours.
• Pass the Last Water point and cross a stark, almost lunar landscape to the Saddle, a wide tundra desert between the two peaks of Mawenzi and Kibo. Here, you will start seeing fantastic views of the upper ranges of the mountain before arriving at Kibo Hut (4,705 m), a dry-stone-walled hut with dorms and limited facilities.
• Prepare for tomorrow's final assault on the summit. Repack and leave any non-essential items with the porters; you need to summon all your energy to get to the summit, so there is no point in carrying anything you do not need. An early night is imperative, as you must make a midnight start in order to reach the summit in the morning before the cloud cover settles, and then have time to get back down to the hut.

Overnight stay at Kibo Hut (full board).

Altitude: 3,700 m to 4,730 m

Altitude: 4,730 m to 5,895 m

Distance Covered: 4 km up / 14 km down

Time to be used: 7 hrs

• Commence the climb to the summit at midnight, around 2 am, on steep and heavy scree or snow up to Gilman's Point located on the crater rim.
• Ascend to Uhuru Peak, the highest point in Africa. There are unbelievable views at every turn. Have your pictures taken at the summit.
• Descend, stopping for lunch and a rest at Kibo before continuing on to the Horombo encampment.

Overnight stay at Horombo Hut (full board).

Altitude: 3,700 m to 1,700 m

Distance Covered: 18 km down

Time to be used: 5-7 hrs

• Continue your triumphant way back down, across alpine meadow and past Mandara Hut, through the rainforest to Marangu Gate.
• Board the vehicle for the journey back to Arusha.

Altitude: 3,700 m to 1,700 m

Distance Covered: 20.8 km

Time to be used: 8 hrs

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch