Summary
This is an 8 days/7 night's tour climbing a natural, rather than manmade path. The Machame Route is a more demanding but much quieter and scenic route up the mountain. The highlights of this route are the Shira Plateau, Barranco wall and the Karanga Valley reaching the summit via Stella Point. It is recommended that trekkers should be physically fit with the additional day on trek to assist with acclimatization. Overnights are spent camping in tents which are carried and pitched by the accompanying porters.
On arrival, you will be transferred to your hotel where you will be given a pre-climb briefing on the trek, later have dinner and the rest of the evening at leisure.
Drive to Kilimanjaro National Park Gate at Machame for the first section of the climb through the mountain forest for between 5-7 hours to Machame Campsite at 10000ft/3000m.
Dinner and overnight at Machame camp.
On this day, we depart immediately after breakfast following the steep ridge and across heath and moorland to 'picnic rock' and the Shira plateau, this will take us between 5 to 7 hours to get to Shira Campsite at 12500ft/3800m.
Dinner and overnight at Shira camp.
Today, you will be heading eastwards as you continue ascending through the dry landscape,crossing a broad valley and climbing to a ridge crest, crossing scree slopes and a river valley taking between 5-7 hours before reaching Barranco Campsite at 13,000ft/3900m.
You will have dinner and night at Barranco Camp.
After breakfast, you continue to ascend as you cross the floor of the Great Barranco Valley, up the Barranco Wall to the KarangaRiver - the last water point on this route. A steep climb over rocky slabs to Barafu Campsite at 15500ft/ 4600m. This takes you between 8 to 9 hours.
Dibnner and overnight Barafu camp
An early start for the summit, Uhuru Peak the highest point in Africa at 19340ft/5896m, this will take you between 6 to 7 hours. You will then descend via Barafu Campsite through the forest to Mweka Campsite at 10000ft/3000m. This will take you between 5 to 7 hours.
Dinner and overnight at Mweka Camp
The descend will take you between 3 to 4 hours through the forest to the park gate at Mweka Wildlife College then to the met. You will then be transferred to your hotel for dinner and have the rest of the evening at leisure.
On this day, after breakfast, you will be transferred to the airport for your flight back home.
