8 Days Mount Kilimanjaro Climbing On The Marangu Route Tour

You’ll arrive at Kilimanjaro Airport where an Africa Kenya Safaris driver will greet you and bring you to the Springlands hotel (or similar) in Moshi. Enjoy dinner, rest up from your travel, and get ready for your big adventure.

Activities : Trekking

A hearty breakfast is served at your hotel to fuel you for the day’s ascent. You’ll be picked up from the hotel and driven to Marangu gate. After some prep instructions from your guide, you’ll start your hike to the first hut, Mandara. Your initial trek will take you through a lovely rainforest. Arriving at Mandara, dinner will be served, with plenty of opportunities to compare notes with your fellow climbers about the first day’s experience.

Activities : Trekking

We’ll have breakfast and get ready for today’s climb from Mandara Hut at 2,740 m/9,000 ft up to Horombo Hut at 3,690 m/12,100 ft. This is a distance of 11 km/6.8 mi. In today’s hike, you will ascend from rainforest to moorland where you’ll spot some of the mountain’s most exotic plants like the 3 m/10 ft tall giant lobelia. It will take about 6 – 8 hours to reach Horumbo, where an evening meal and hot water for washing await you. Congratulations – 2 days of hiking completed.

Activities : Trekking

Although we won’t do any uphill hiking today this pause is an extremely important part of your climb. We call this an acclimatization day when your body gets a chance to adapt to the higher elevation and the thinning air. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do any hiking. In fact, you should. Take a roundtrip hike to Mawenzi Hut (about 4 hours) as part of your acclimatization process and remember to drink plenty of water.

You’ll enjoy dinner, prep, and rest for tomorrow’s big push up to 4,572 m/15,000 feet!

Activities : Trekking

We will enjoy breakfast and head out into the high alpine environment. Today we are proceeding to Kibo Hut, our final stop before we summit the mountain!

We are hiking toward the ‘saddle’, the stretch of the mountain between Mawenzi and Kibo. At 4,130 m/13,549 ft, we’ll come upon our final spot for water. Stock up here as there won’t be any water until we return to Horombo Hut. However, you will be able to buy bottled water at Kibo.

Today’s hike of 10 km/6.2 mi will take 6 – 8 hours and bring us to an elevation of 4,695 m/15,400 ft at Kibo Hut, a stone structure located in a sparse high-altitude desert. We’ll enjoy dinner, prep our gear and get to bed early for tonight’s push to the summit!

Activities : Trekking

This is Summit Day! And we’ll start the day very early indeed, around midnight. We’ll have a light snack and head off onto a trail that can get very steep and rocky. This will be the most difficult part of your ascent and perhaps the moment when you’ll have to look deep into yourself to find the stamina to continue. We will move slowly and carefully.

At this elevation, we will also find ourselves hiking over snow, making the trudge more arduous. But in time you will finally reach Uhuru Peak at 5,895 m/19,340 ft, the highest point on the continent! Breathe deep and take it all in; you made it, you’ve conquered Kili, and are part of a special group of adventurers! Take lots of photos and enjoy the moment.

Then we begin our descent. It will take about 3 hours to get back down to Kibo Hut. We’ll take a rest and continue to Horombo Hut at a decidedly quicker pace than when we came up. Finally, you’ll arrive at Horombo and get some well-deserved rest. All told, today you’ve hiked for about 10 – 15 hours for a distance of some 18 km/11 mi.

Activities : Trekking

You’re probably hungry after yesterday’s momentous adventure, so enjoy your final breakfast on the mountain. We will continue our descent, passing our first hut, the Mandara, which probably seems like weeks ago, and then down to the Marangu Gate, a descent from 3,690 m/12,100 ft to 890 m/2,920 ft at Moshi. These final 18 km/11 mi will take about 5 – 7 hours. At Marangu Gate, you’ll sign the register and provide details of your climb.

For those who made it to the top, special gold certificates will be issued. Congratulations!

And then we’re back to the Springlands Hotel (or similar) for dinner and rest.

Activities : Trekking

Your Africa Kenya Safaris driver will pick you up for the easy ride to the airport or, continue on one of our local safaris to Tanzania’s Serengeti, Ngorongoro, or other colorful wildlife parks.

Kilimanjaro – it’s not just a far-off locale or exotic name anymore. You’ve lived the experience; you now know this mountain and you’ll take its memories with you for the rest of your life. Congratulations! You are one of the few.

Activities : Trekking