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

After an early breakfast, you will receive a briefing from your professional guide at 9:00 a.m. Our staff will then take you on a 1-hour drive from your hotel in Moshi or Arusha to Umbwe Village, where your guides and porters will prepare your gear and supplies. Registration for Kilimanjaro National Park will be completed here, and you will also receive your packed lunch.

After checking in, you will start climbing at Umbwe Gate and follow a minor vehicular road until you reach a sign marking the start of the Umbwe Trail. You will then ascend through a dense tropical jungle for about 6 hours. The giant fig and gum trees are hard to miss, as their roots have overgrown the road in some places. Although the trail can be slippery at times, these roots can provide good footing when the path becomes muddy after rain.

Located in the forest, Umbwe Camp will be your first stop. When you arrive, you will find your camp and tent already set up by the porters who ran ahead. They will bring you boiled drinking water and water for washing before dinner.

Get up early for coffee or tea. After breakfast, pack for the day's hike.

Your trek begins steeply through fading rainforest clearings before ascending into the drier air of Giant Erica and heathland, where the vegetation becomes sparse with small bushes. Continue along an exposed ridge that offers your first glimpse of Uhuru Peak when the clouds part far enough.

After lunch, enter semi-desert terrain as you walk through a garden of Senecio plants. These odd-looking gardens resemble a prehistoric cactus.

Once you arrive at Barranco Camp, your porters will boil water for drinking and washing before serving dinner. While waiting for your meal, you can witness one of the most memorable sunsets you have ever seen as the sun sets over the valley.

You will spend two nights at Barranco Camp for much-needed acclimatization. Use your camera to capture the scenery of the groundsel-clad campsite. Many hikers rank this as their favourite camp on this trail, which is another reason it is the perfect spot for your acclimatization day.

After breakfast, just below the Great Wall of Barranco, you will have the opportunity to overcome this obstacle. Continue until you arrive just below Heim Glacier, then descend through the Karanga Valley.

This is the last place where your porters can fetch water. They collect all the water here for the remainder of the ascent.

You will settle in at Karanga Camp. After lunch, you can spend the afternoon exploring the area or resting while enjoying the view of the soaring spires of Mawenzi.

After breakfast, head east, crossing several ridges and valleys until you meet the Mweka Route and turn left to walk along the ridge for an hour to reach Barafu Hut.

You will arrive at camp to find your tent pitched on a rocky ridge in strong winds. Keep your headlamp or torch handy in case you need to leave the tent after dark.

You will get your gear ready at 7:00 p.m. before bed and then try to sleep for a few hours before your summit attempt.

At 11:30 p.m., after tea or coffee and biscuits, leave Barafu Camp on your way to the summit. You will hike for about 6 hours through thick boulders and follow several curves between the Ratzel and Rebmann glaciers until you reach Stella Point. You have now completed what most hikers consider the most challenging part of the trek.

Depending on your pace up to this point, you may have the opportunity to enjoy the majestic sunrise during your short break here. Even if you feel tired, it is important to keep moving because of the extreme cold. At Stella Point, you join the final stretch of the Marangu Route.

You will walk along the rim for another 1-2 hours until you reach your final destination, Uhuru Peak. Congratulations - you are now on the roof of Africa! You will have time to take photos with the world-famous Uhuru Peak sign, but it is important to begin your descent early so you have enough time to rest at Barafu Camp.

After a 3-hour descent over slippery scree, you will reach Barafu to rest while collecting your gear, then continue the trek back to Mweka Forest Camp. It may rain a bit in the afternoon, so keep your rain gear in your backpack. Enjoy dinner and a well-deserved sleep. At Mweka Camp, the office sells bottled water, soft drinks, and candy bars.

Wake up as usual for breakfast, pack your bags, and descend to Mweka Gate on a short and scenic 3-hour walk.

Wait until you and your entire team have reached the gate before tipping your staff. After checking in at the gate, wait to receive your summit certificates - green for those who reached Stella Point and gold for those who reached Uhuru Peak.

If the road is too muddy for vehicles, you will walk 1 hour from the gate to Mweka Village, 3 km away. There, you will enjoy a hot lunch before returning to Moshi or Arusha.