5-Day Mount Kilimanjaro Trek to Uhuru Peak via the Marangu Route

• Connect with your tour representative and depart from Moshi on a 45-minute drive through the village of Machame to the Kilimanjaro National Park Gate, where you will wait for your permits to be issued.
• Enjoy the beautiful rainforest scenery and winding trails while your guide tells you about the natural wildlife. The trail can be muddy and quite slippery at these lower elevations, so gaiters and trekking poles are highly recommended here.

• After breakfast, emerge from the rainforest and continue ascending through heathland, looking for giant lobelias and groundsels. Continue up into open moorlands, where small shrubs are the primary vegetation.
• Stop halfway for lunch and enjoy amazing views of Mawenzi.
• Arrive at the Horombo Huts in the late afternoon beneath the spectacular Kibo Summit viewpoint.

• After your morning meal, walk through the dwindling heathland that blends into a moonscape as you enter the sweeping saddle connecting Mawenzi and Kibo.
• Stop here for lunch, and later, as you cross this surprisingly large saddle, you can examine the summit climb up Kibo that you will be starting in just a few hours.

• Continue your way to the summit in a switchback formation, trying to stay warm. Ascend through heavy scree and snow toward Gilman's Point on the crater rim with a switchback motion. Witness the most magnificent sunrise during your short rest here. Faster hikers may view the sunrise from the summit.
• Reach Uhuru Peak, the highest point on Mount Kilimanjaro and the entire continent of Africa.
• Enjoy this incredible accomplishment and begin your steep descent to Horombo Huts.
• Stop at Kibo for lunch and a very brief rest. Gaiters and trekking poles are highly recommended for the uncooperative loose gravel and volcanic ash terrain.
• Spend the trip's last evening on the mountain with an overnight stay at Horombo Huts.

After breakfast and a heartfelt ceremony of appreciation, it is time to say goodbye and continue the descent.

• Stop at the Mandara Huts for lunch. Return to the Marangu Park Gate and receive your summit certificates.
• Drive back to your hotel in Moshi, about 45 minutes away. Enjoy a long-overdue hot shower and dinner.