This day is spent relaxing and recovering from your travels. You will have an opportunity to meet the rest of the Kilimanjaro team and our mountain guides.

Morning 

This is your time to relax and explore a bit as you stroll around Moshi downtown.

Afternoon – ORIENTATION

We’ll meet as a group this afternoon. Your guide will have a trip briefing and review your equipment. You’ll be responsible for packing your own mountain gear into a duffel bag (up to 39 pounds/ 18 kilos) that the porters will carry. You’ll also leave one bag with travel and safari clothes, etc. at the hotel in storage.

9700ft /2950m – 7m/11km

After a short drive through beautiful grasslands and scattered villages, we arrive at the forest edge of the Umbwe Gate. After your guide takes care of the paperwork, and you signing up we start our climb from here we will walk through the undisturbed lush jungle to our camp just above Umbwe Cave for the night. We will stop at the half way point for picnic lunch, our guides will share their knowledge of the local ecology as we walk through fantastic plants and trees, listen to exotic birds and see other mysterious wildlife. With luck we may see Black and White Columbus monkeys. Our tents will be set up when we arrive and we’ll enjoy hot tea and snacks in the dining tent. Dinner and overnight at the camp.

13000ft / 3950m – 4m/6km

Your waiter will greet you at your tent as you awaken with hot drink of your choice, water for a quick wash before breakfast. We will take our time walking through the forest so that we can acclimatize comfortably to the increasing altitude.  We will see plentiful bird life and enjoy amazing views in the jungle. Today’s hike will take us to the Barranco camp. You will be amazed as your guides point out the unique environmental differences that characterize this equatorial zone. We will stop enroute for picnic lunch. Dinner and overnight at the camp.

13104ft / 3995m – 3 miles/5km

We spend this extra day to help acclimatize to the altitude. Our first challenge of the day is to breach the Barranco Wall – not too tough, but a challenge nonetheless. Most of the day is spent skirting the base of Kibo peak over our left shoulder. We descend down into the Karanga Valley, and climb up the other side, where we rest up for the night before the climb up to Barafu camp.  Lunch, dinner and overnight at Karanga camp

15,088-ft/4,600m – 2m/4 km 

It’s all uphill to the rocky, craggy slopes at Barafu camp. Barafu means “ice” in Swahili, and it is extremely windy and cold at this altitude. There is a buzz of excitement in the air, as climbers anticipate our toughest day just ahead. We’ll go to bed early because we start our climb at midnight for the final leg to Uhuru Peak. Lunch, dinner and overnight at Barafu camp.

19341ft /5895m – 4 miles/6km – 12490ft/3808m – 1.5miles/2.5km

We will follow a picturesque back route for our final ascent accessing an exclusive and rarely utilized summit footpath that offers access to isolated and undefiled natural areas and remarkable views of east Africa’s peaks and plains. The summit leg of the journey is timed to reveal views of a new dawn over Africa. 

At the midnight, we climb up towards the crater rim – a non-technical climbing route to the edge of the crater floor Stella point. We will leave the crater rim Stella point and hike to the top of Uhuru Peak. From here it is forty-five minutes to an hour hike to Uhuru Summit, the highest point in Africa at 19,340 feet! We arrive at the summit and are rewarded with clear views before midday clouds roll in. We will bask in the glory of our accomplishment, grab a bite to eat and enjoy the breathtaking views. This is a great opportunity to take lots of photos. After our summit celebration we will begin our descent past Barafu camp, where we stop for lunch and pack ready to descend down to Millennium Camp.  A celebratory feast will be served. After descending 9,000 feet, you will feel intoxicated by the oxygen-rich air!

Here we wash and having evening tea then you will meet the team for Tipping ceremony. Dinner and overnight at Millenium camp.

Hiking time will vary depending on the trail conditions while traveling through the lush vegetation at this elevation. Rain can occur any time of year at this location and can make the trail muddy. Moving at a slower pace has its benefits and offers opportunities to have a good look at our incredible surroundings. Once we have descended the 4,500 feet to the road head, we will have our lunch and say good-bye to our mountain staff before heading off to the hotel. At the Hotel you can shower, relax and enjoy the serene setting. A Celebratory Dinner at the Hotel will complete this amazing adventure!

Summiting Kilimanjaro marks the end of one adventure and the start of another – you can choose to extend your stay by adding a safari and/or trip to the Island of Zanzibar.

Transferred to Airport fly home, safari, or a relaxing trip to Zanzibar.