Itinerary

1. Day 1: Umbwe Gate - Umbwe Camp

   • Start with an hour-long drive from your hotel in Moshi to the Umbwe village, where your guides and porters will prepare your equipment and supplies. When registration to enter Kilimanjaro Park is completed, you will also receive your lunch pack. 
   • Begin your ascent from the Umbwe gate and continue on a small vehicle path until you reach the signage notifying you have reached the Umbwe Trail. You will then climb for 5-6 hours through the dense rainforest. It is impossible to miss the giant fig trees and rubber trees as, in some places, their roots have overtaken the path. Although sometimes slippery themselves, they can make for good footholds when the path becomes sloppy with mud after rain. Inside the forest, you will first stop at number camp. 
   • Arrive at your camp, where your tent is already set up by the porters who ran ahead. They will bring you boiled drinking water and washing water in preparation for dinner.

   Rising (ft): 5,905ft /1,800m to 9,190ft /2,800m
   Stretch: 8 km
   Hiking time: 5-7 hours
   Climatic habitat: Rain Forest

2. Day 2: Umbwe Camp - Barranco Camp

   • Rise early for coffee or tea. After breakfast, pack up for the day’s trek. Your trek will begin steeply through the disappearing rainforest glades before ascending into the drier air of Giant Erica and Heathland terrain, where the vegetation is sparse with small shrubs. 
   • Continue on an exposed ridge that offers you your first view of Uhuru Peak if the clouds have parted enough. After lunch, you begin to enter into the semi-desert terrain when you trek through a garden of Senecio plants. These odd-looking groundless resemble something like a pre-historic cactus.
   • Reach Barranco Camp, and your porters will boil drinking and washing water before serving dinner. While waiting for your dinner, you will have a chance to experience one of the most memorable sunsets you have ever seen as the sun drops through the valley. Pay attention to your body and keep your guide informed of any signs of altitude sickness

   Rising (ft): 9,190ft /2,800m to 12,800ft /3,900m
   Stretch: 8 km
   Hiking time: 4-5 hours
   Climatic Habitat: Moorland

3. Day 3: Barranco Camp Acclimatization

   • Spend Day 3 exploring near Barranco Camp for much-needed acclimatization. Keep your camera handy to capture the scenery of the groundsel-clad campsite. Many trekkers rank this as their favourite camp on this trail, which is why this is the perfect spot for your acclimatization day. If you are highly confident in your body’s ability to acclimatize well, you can choose the 6-Day Umbwe itinerary.

   Stretch:10 km
   Hiking time: 7 hrs
   Climatic Habitat: Moorland

4. Day 4: Barranco Camp - Karanga Camp

   • Continue up until you reach just below the Glacier. Then head down through the Karanga Valley. This is the last place for your porters to gather water. They will collect all the water for the remainder of the ascent here. You will settle in here at the Karanga camp.
   • After lunch, spend the afternoon doing light exploring or resting while taking in the views of Mawenzi’s towering spires

   • Rising (ft): 12,960ft /3,950m to 13,780ft/4,200m
   • Stretch: 7 km
   • Hiking time: 4 hours
   • Climatic Habitat: Moorland

5. Day five (5): Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp

   • Head east, crossing over multiple ridges and valleys until you join the Mweka Route and turn left to continue up the ridge for an hour to reach the Barafu Hut. 
   • Arrive at camp to find your tent pitched on a rocky ridge with high winds. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the camp before dark to be safe. Also, have your headlamp/flashlight handy if you need to leave the tent after dark. You will prepare your equipment (replace batteries for headlamp and camera) before going to bed by 7 PM and try to catch a few hours of shuteye before your summit attempt.

   • Rising (ft): 13,780ft / 4,200m to 14,930ft / 4,550m
   • Stretch: 5 km
   • Hiking time: 3-4 hours
   • Climatic habitat: Alpine desert

6. Day 6: SUMMIT DAY! Barafu Camp - Uhuru Peak - Mweka Camp

   • Wake at 11:30 PM for tea or coffee and biscuits, and then depart Barafu on your bid for the peak. 
   • Climb for 6 hours through thick scree, following multiple switchbacks between the Ratzel and Rebmann glaciers until you reach Stella Point (18,650 ft/5,685 m). You have just completed what most climbers consider the most challenging part of their trek. Depending on your pace, you may get the chance to enjoy the majestic sunrise during your short rest here. Although you will be fatigued, it is important to keep moving due to the extreme cold. At Stella Point, you have joined up with the last bit of the Marangu Route.
   • Hike along the rim for another 1-2 hours until you reach your ultimate goal of Uhuru Peak. Congratulations, you are now standing on the roof of Africa! You will have time to take pictures with the world-famous Uhuru Peak sign, but it is important to begin your descent soon to allow yourself enough time to rest at the Barafu Camp.
   • Reach Barafu after a 3-hour descent down sliding scree to have a short rest while you collect your gear and then continue down the path back into the forest camp of Mweka. You might experience a little rain in the afternoon, so be sure to have your rain gear in your daypack. Enjoy some dinner and some well-deserved sleep. At Mweka Camp, the office sells bottled water, soft drinks, candy bars and beer.

   • Rising (ft): 14,930ft / 4,550m to 19,340ft / 5,895m to 10,170ft/ 3,100m
   • Stretch: 7 km up and 22 km down
   • Hiking time: 8 hours up, 9-10 hours down
   • Climatic habitat: Arctic

7. Day seven (7): Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate

   • As usual, wake up for breakfast, pack and descend through a short scenic 3-hour hike to Mweka Gate. Wait until you and all of your gear have reached the gate before tipping your staff.
   • Receive your summit certificates (green for those who reached Stella Point and gold for Uhuru Peak). From the gate if the road is too muddy for vehicles you will continue your hike for 1 hour to the Mweka Village 3km away. 
   • Enjoy a hot lunch before being driven back to Moshi, where you can have your first hot shower in days. Day of departure: Transfer to the Kilimanjaro Airport

   • Rising (ft): 10,170ft / 3,100m to 6,500ft / 1,980m
   • Stretch: 10 km
   • Hiking time: 3-4 hours
   • Climatic Habitat: RainForest