7-Day Mount Kilimanjaro Trek via Umbwe Route to Uhuru Peak

Breakfast will be provided early, followed by a briefing from your guide at 9 am. Our staff will then take you on the hour-long drive from your hotel in Moshi to Umbwe village, where your guides and porters will prepare your equipment and supplies. Once registration to enter Kilimanjaro Park is completed, you will also receive your lunch pack.

After registration, you will begin your ascent from Umbwe Gate and continue on a small vehicle until you reach the signage notifying you that you have reached the Umbwe Trail. You will then climb for 5-6 hours through a 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 Umbwe Camp. When you arrive, you will find your camp and tents already set up by the porters who ran ahead. They will bring you boiled drinking and washing water to prepare for dinner.

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

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.

If the clouds have parted enough, you will continue on an exposed ridge that offers your first view of Uhuru Peak. After lunch, you enter the semi-desert terrain and trek through a Senecio plant garden. These odd-looking groundsels resemble something like a prehistoric cactus.

Once you reach Barranco Camp, 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 inform your guide of any signs of altitude sickness.

Rising (ft): 9,190 ft / 2,800 m to 12,800 ft / 3,900 m

Stretch: 8 km

Hiking time: 4-5 hours

Climatic Habitat: Moorland

You will 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 another reason 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

After sleeping below the Great Barranco Wall, you get your chance to tackle this hurdle. Don't worry; it's much easier than it looks. Continue 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 then settle in at Karanga Camp. After lunch, you can spend the afternoon exploring or resting while enjoying the views of Mawenzi's towering spires.

Stretch: 7 km

Hiking time: 4 hours

Climatic Habitat: Moorland

After breakfast, you'll head east, crossing multiple ridges and valleys until you join the Mweka Route and turn left to continue up the ridge for an hour to reach Barafu Hut. You will arrive at the camp to find your tent pitched on a rocky ridge with high winds.

Be sure to familiarize yourself with the camp before dark to stay safe. Also, keep your headlamp or flashlight handy if you need to leave the tent after dark. Before bed at 7 PM, you will prepare your equipment, including replacing batteries for your headlamp and camera, and then try to catch a few hours of shuteye before your summit attempt.

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

Wake at 11:30 p.m. Have tea or coffee and biscuits, then depart Barafu on your bid for the peak. You will 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 the trek.

Depending on your pace to this point, you may get the chance to enjoy the majestic sunrise during your short rest here. Although you will be fatigued, it is essential to keep moving due to the extreme cold. At Stella Point, you have joined up with the last bit of the Marangu Route. You will 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 essential to begin your descent soon to allow yourself enough time to rest at Barafu Camp. After a 3-hour descent down sliding scree, you will reach Barafu for 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 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): 14,930 ft / 4,550 m to 19,340 ft / 5,895 m to 10,170 ft / 3,100 m

Stretch: 7 km up and 22 km down

Hiking time: 8 hours up, 9-10 hours down

Climatic habitat: Arctic

As usual, wake up for breakfast, pack, and descend through a short, scenic 3-hour hike to Mweka Gate. Wait until you and your gear have reached the gate before you tip your staff. After registering at the gate, you will wait to receive your summit certificates - green for those who reached Stella Point and gold for those who reached Uhuru Peak.

From the gate, if the road is too muddy for vehicles, you will continue your hike for 1 hour to Mweka Village, 3 km away. You will enjoy a hot lunch there before being driven back to Moshi, where you can have your first hot shower in days. Later, you will be transferred to Kilimanjaro Airport.

Rising (ft): 10,170 ft / 3,100 m to 6,500 ft / 1,980 m

Stretch: 10 km

Hiking time: 3-4 hours

Climatic Habitat: Rainforest