The ​Machame Route

barranco wall

DAY
05

This morning you’ll leave camp and ascend the Barranco wall. This is an impressive non-technical scramble and gives a feeling of mountain climbing (without any previous experience or advanced equipment required) and is rewarded with a superb view from the top back into camp and the Heim glacier on the peak. The remainder of the hike will be through alpine desertslowly winding around the mountain to the Karanga valley which you descend into and up to your Karanga camp.

through the alpine desert

DAY
06

Today you climb almost casually through the empty landscape of the alpine desert where you keep a slow pace even though the path is not extremely steep. Kibo cone approaches and you may glimpse the Mawenzi peak (Kilimanjaro’s second peak) in the east. The short distance means you have plenty of time at your summit camp, known as Barafu camp (Swahili for ice) to rest and prepare for the summit attempt tonight.

climb the summit

DAY
07

Around midnight, you begin your final ascent to the summit of Uhuru peak through the arctic zone. The trek is a steep hike over loose volcanic scree through the dark and cold night and takes a slow pace in a zig-zag pattern towards Stella point which is your first stop on the Kibo crater rim. From here a short but difficult hike remains to take you to Uhuru Peak, the highest point in Africa. Descent through the alpine desert, heather and moorland in the rain forest zone for a well-deserved rest

back to moshi

DAY
08

Your final day on Kilimanjaro is a descent through the southern rain forest until Mweka gate where our vehicle will be waiting to take you back to Moshitown. Usually, the crew will leave you at Mweka gate and it’s a perfect opportunity to say goodbye to your crew who all generally head directly home from the end gate.