8-Day Kilimanjaro Rongai Route Trek with Uhuru Peak Summit

A hotel team member greets you upon arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport. He will take you to Panama Garden Resort, where you will have all the essentials for a comfortable stay after a long flight, such as pleasant rooms with hot showers, a restaurant with options, delicious selections, great service and Internet access. Your press conference, in which your guide will give you all the details of your upcoming trip, takes place at the scheduled time. They will answer your questions and ensure you are properly equipped for the hike, providing you with rental equipment if needed. Where to stay: Panama Garden Resort Travel time and distance: 1-hour drive, 40 km from Kilimanjaro International Airport to Moshi

After an early breakfast at your hotel, you depart around 08:00 and arrive at Nalemuru Gate around 11:00, when you can enjoy your picnic lunch. You complete the registration procedures and are introduced to the important trekking team that will accompany you up the mountain. Your porter will load, then you're ready to start the ride! Today's starting altitude is 1,950 meters and during the hike you will climb to a new height of 2,671 meters. The initial vegetation is pine forest, as well as a few vegetable fields, but you'll quickly enter a more lush forest where you can sometimes see giant monkeys. After the forest, the landscape turns into heather land characterized by large heather trees. Your goal is to reach Camp Simba at 2,671 meters by 5:00 pm, your walking distance today is only 8 km and your expected walking time is about 3-4 hours. After relaxing on arrival at camp, you will have dinner around 7:00pm. Accommodation: In a tent at Simba Camp Walking time and elevation: 3-4 hours walk from 1950m at Nalemuru Gate to 2671m at Simba Camp

Breakfast is served after your first night in the mountains, and you can leave around 08:00. You will walk further today, about 16 km / 10 miles and up about 929 meters. You would expect this to involve about 6.5-7 hours of actual walking. First, notice how the heather grows smaller and smaller as you climb, and the trees become smaller and smaller. In the back, you can look out over the border to Kenya if the weather is good. The road is a steady climb, steep and often dusty. The picnic lunch is made around 1 p.m., before continuing southeast with the craggy Mawenzi Peak in front. The road crosses moors and involves less climbing than you've experienced this morning, but it's certainly been a long and difficult day. At the end of the afternoon hike, you will arrive at the camp around 5 p.m. and dinner will be served at 6 p.m. 

An extra hour to enjoy in bed, when you plan to depart a little later. Why? Well, your distance is very short today, only 3 km / 2 miles, although you have to climb more than 600 meters to be able to enjoy that extra sleep! As you continue climbing today, you'll notice how you leave vegetation behind - it's sure to clear up quickly at this altitude! But the view of Rongai is really special. Your goal is to reach Camp Mawenzi Tarn 4,315 meters early, probably around 1pm, in time to acclimate to this beautiful setting. On a clear day, the view up to Kibo 4,720 meters is exceptional. Tonight's dinner will be served at around 6pm. 

This is an additional day to get to know each other, and after breakfast, you will begin your trek to Mawenzi Ridge at 74 meters. You will spend an hour or two at the high altitude acclimatizing well. Therefore, a lunch break will take place on the slopes of Mount Mawenzi before descending to Mawenzi Tarn. Dinner is again scheduled for 6 p.m.

You go back to your early breakfast schedule to make sure you're ready to leave Mawenzi at 08:00. From your initial height of 4,315 meters, today you will ascend to Camp Kibo, located at 4,720 meters. Along the way, you head west before crossing the ridge and continuing toward the edge of the so-called "saddle". While there's very little vegetation to admire, don't be too surprised if you see an eland - it's actually pretty amazing at this altitude. Your goal is to reach Camp Kibo at 4,720 meters around 3pm, after stopping for a picnic at noon. Tonight, as you prepare for tomorrow's summit effort, you'll be served an early dinner (around 5:30pm) so you can go to bed on time! 

By 11:00 pm, you have tea and cookies (11:30 pm) before leaving at midnight. Today, you have 1,192 meters to climb, which will be your toughest day, with about 10-13 hours of actual walking and a total distance of 22 km / 14 miles. You expect to get to the top starting at 07:00. You start on a rocky path and then climb a series of zigzags that get tighter and tighter as you go up. The reference points for you to go up today are first William`s Point (5,000 meters), Hans Meyer Cave (5,151 meters) and then Gilman`s Point (5,685 meters). Today, the focus is on pole walking - that is, slowly. Reaching the summit (5,895 meters), you take time to celebrate your successful ascent, take photos and congratulate yourself, then head back to Kibo Camp (4,703 meters) around 11:00 am and get a well-deserved rest with two time to rest and enjoy a welcome brunch. Leaving again at 2 pm, you continue down to the now familiar Horombo Camp (3,720 meters) around 5 pm. Tonight's dinner will be served at 7:00 p.m. 

After your familiar 7:00 am breakfast, you can thank your hard-working guides and porters during the all-important 'tipping celebration'. Next, you depart from Camp Horombo and start down the Marangu Gate, stopping at Mandara around midday for a cooked lunch. The 1,879 meter Marangu Gate is usually reached around 4 pm and today the stretch is about 20km/12 miles, it will take you 6.5 to 7 hours on foot. Upon arrival at the Marangu Gate, you will receive a certificate, a fitting memento in recognition of your considerable effort. Then you head back to Moshi, in the comfort of your hotel, for a well-deserved night and relaxation. Or maybe, if you still have energy, you can celebrate your great achievement. After all, you've just climbed to the top of the highest mountain in Africa!