6-Day Mount Kilimanjaro Machame Route Hike to Uhuru Peak

• Drive from Moshi in the company of your guide.
• Make your way to the Mount Kilimanjaro National Park gate, which takes about 50 minutes.
• Pass through the village of Machame, located on the lower slopes of the mountain. Leave the park gate and walk through the rainforest on a winding trail up a ridge.
• Continue a short distance until you reach Machame Camp.

The distance covered will be 10.6 km, and the hiking time will be around 6 hours.

Overnight accommodation at Machame Camp. Meals: Lunch and dinner.

• Leave the glades of the rainforest and continue on an ascending path.
• Cross the little valley, walking along a steep rocky ridge covered with heather until the ridge ends. The route now turns west onto a river gorge.

Take some rest, have dinner, and stay overnight at the Shira campsite. Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The distance covered will be 5.4 km, and the hiking time will be around 4-6 hours.

• Continue to the east up a ridge, passing the junction toward the peak of Kibo. The direction changes to the southeast toward the Lava Tower called the "Shark's Tooth."
• Come to the second junction, which brings you up to the Arrow Glacier at an altitude of 16,000 ft.
• Make your way to Barranco Camp at an altitude of 13,000 ft. Rest, enjoy dinner, and stay overnight.

Although you end the day at the same elevation as when you started, this day is significant for acclimatisation and will help your body prepare for summit day.

Overnight accommodation at Barranco Camp. Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The distance covered will be 10.8 km, and the hiking time will be around 8-10 hours.

• Leave Barranco and continue on a steep ridge, passing the Barranco Wall to the Karanga Valley campsite.
• Continue up to Barafu Hut. At this point, you have completed the South Circuit, which offers views of the summit from many different angles. Here, make camp, rest, enjoy dinner, and prepare for summit day. The two peaks of Mawenzi and Kibo can be seen from this position.

Overnight accommodation at Kibo Hut. Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The distance covered will be 8.5 km, and the hiking time will be around 8 hours.

• Start very early at 2 am.
• Continue to the summit between the Rebmann and Ratzel glaciers. Head in a northwesterly direction and ascend through heavy scree toward Stella Point on the crater rim. At Stella Point (18,600 ft), stop for a short rest and be rewarded with the most magnificent sunrise you are ever likely to see, weather permitting.
• Encounter snow all the way on your 1-hour ascent to the summit. At Uhuru Peak, you have reached the highest point on Mount Kilimanjaro and the continent of Africa. Faster hikers will see the sunrise from the summit.
• Start your descent, continuing straight down to the Mweka Hut campsite, stopping at Barafu for lunch. You will want gaiters and trekking poles for the loose gravel going down. Mweka Camp is situated in the upper forest, and mist or rain can be expected in the late afternoon.
• Enjoy the last dinner on the mountain and a well-earned sleep.

Overnight accommodation at Mweka Hut. Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The distance covered will be 16.4 km, and the hiking time will be around 7-8 hours of ascent and 4-6 hours of descent.

• Quicken your pace as you continue your triumphant way back down across alpine meadow and past Mandara Hut through the rainforest to Marangu Gate, where you board the vehicle for the journey back to Moshi/Arusha.

The distance covered will be 9.1 km, and the hiking time will be around 3 hours. Meals: Breakfast and lunch.