8-Day Mount Kilimanjaro Trek via Lemosho Route to Uhuru Peak

• Your day starts with breakfast and a 3-hour drive from Moshi to the Londorossi Park Gate (2,250 m / 7,382 feet). Our professional guides and porters will prepare and pack the supplies needed for the climb. A hot lunch, along with drinking water, will be provided at the gate.
• After lunch, drive to the start of the forest track and the Lemosho Route entrance at 2,300 m / 7,546 feet. Your Kilimanjaro Lemosho Route climb is underway.
• Walk along the narrow forest trails to Mti Mkubwa Campsite at 2,800 m / 9,186 feet for about 3 hours.
• Our porters will arrive at the campsite before you and have your tent set up on your arrival. We use high-quality Mountain Hardwear 4-person tents for your comfort.
• On arrival, you will have water for washing, followed by some tea and popcorn. In the evening, the chef will present you with dinner before you get back to your tent for the night. Night temperatures sometimes drop to freezing point at this campsite.

Dinner and overnight.

• Wake up at 6 am, and breakfast will be served at 7 am.
• Trek for an hour and a half before exiting the rain forest at 3,000 m / 9,842 feet. The trail moves to more open terrain. We then go up and down a few hills before arriving at our lunch spot. Tents will be set up, and a delicious lunch will be served. After lunch, the trail steepens along a ridge that leads to the famous Shira Plateau.
• Take in some great views off the western side of Kilimanjaro.
• Our goal is to stay hydrated and walk slowly toward the crest of the ridge. Continue by traversing across the Shira Plateau. You will be rewarded with magnificent views back into the rain forest as the summit comes into view. The final section is downhill toward Shira Camp One at 3,500 m / 11,482 feet in the moorlands of Kilimanjaro for the second night's sleep.

Dinner and overnight.

• After an early start, Kilimanjaro Lemosho Route day 3 begins with a gentle walk across the Shira Plateau, leading to Shira Camp Two on moorland meadows next to a gorgeous stream at 3,900 m / 12,795 feet.
• By now, we will be able to see, in an easterly direction, the Western Breach Route up Kilimanjaro with its marvellous glaciers. There will also be beautiful sunset views across the dormant Shira volcano. The porters will boil drinking water and washing water before serving you dinner. As this particular camp is quite exposed, it can be relatively colder than the previous night, with temperatures dropping below freezing.

Dinner and overnight.

• The route now turns eastwards into a semi-desert and rocky landscape surrounding the Lava Tower, where you will reach an altitude of 4,640 m / 15,223 feet after approximately four to five hours of hiking. A delicious lunch will be served in a designated area before we ascend the rocky scree trail to the Lava Tower. This is definitely the toughest day yet. It is normally around this place where, for the first time, some climbers will start feeling breathlessness, ill humour, and minor headaches due to the high altitude.
• After lunch, we descend by almost 680 m or 2,231 feet to the Barranco camping area. After reaching the high altitude of the Lava Tower, the true acclimatization benefit of this day becomes very clear. The descent to Barranco Camp takes about 2 hours and provides us with great opportunities to take some beautiful Western Breach and Breach Wall photographs. The camp is located in a valley below the Breach and Great Barranco Wall, which should provide you with a magical sunset while you wait for your dinner.

• After spending a night under the Barranco Wall, we make our way up this daunting obstacle, which, in the end, usually turns out to be easier than anticipated. Reaching just below the Heim Glacier at 4,200 m / 13,779 feet, you will appreciate just how beautiful Kilimanjaro really is with the breathtaking views. The route then leads down through the Karanga Valley over intervening ridges and valleys and then joins the Mweka Route.
• Here, we experience amazing panoramic sunset views from Karanga Camp while enjoying our evening at 4,010 m / 13,156 feet.

Dinner and overnight.

• From Karanga Camp, we will continue steadily upward to Barafu. A 3-hour steady walk takes us to Barafu Camp at 4,673 m, from where we will set up to make our summit attempt. This will be a short day, but it is included to give some essential pre-summit acclimatization without being too exhausting. The air is relatively thin now, and you will feel as if you are running short of breath as we climb out of the Karanga Valley.
• It's a slow, tough hike up to Barafu Camp, and we will be moving extremely slowly as we pass through the area where most other teams will also be stopping for the day. On arrival at the camp, we begin to get ourselves ready for our summit attempt. This means preparing all our gear and water for the push to the top, as well as getting as much to eat and drink as possible, and going to bed very early. We will wake at 11 / 11:30 pm to prepare for our summit attempt.

• Around 11:30 pm, we start preparing for the summit. After having some tea, coffee, and a light breakfast, we will move off in the night. We continue in a north-westerly direction and ascend through the heavy scree toward Stella Point on the crater rim. It normally takes around five hours to reach Stella Point, making it the most challenging part of the route. At Stella Point, 5,756 m or 18,885 feet, we will halt for a short rest, where you will be rewarded with the most magnificent sunrise you are ever likely to experience. From Stella Point, we may also encounter snow all the way on our 1-hour ascent to Uhuru Peak.
• On reaching Uhuru Peak at 5,895 m / 19,341 feet, we will enjoy our accomplishment and take pictures before we begin the descent back to Kosovo Camp and further down the mountain. After the two to three-hour journey back to the camp, we will halt for a short, well-deserved rest, collect our remaining gear, and continue down to Mweka Hut at 3,100 m or 10,171 feet. The route to Mweka Hut is not challenging, but you may be tired at this point. The route will take us down the rock and scree path into the moorland and eventually into the forest.

• Finally, after an early start and a delicious breakfast, you will have a scenic 3-hour trek to Mweka Gate. At Mweka Gate, 1,700 m or 5,577 feet, you successfully sign out of Kilimanjaro National Park and receive your summit certificate. Those hikers who reached Stella Point are issued green certificates. Those who reached Uhuru Peak receive a gold certificate.
• From Mweka Gate, we will drive back to Moshi for a long-overdue hot shower, dinner, and celebrations. Your Kilimanjaro Lemosho Route climb is over.