The Machame route; well known as the “Whiskey Route” begin in the south of the mountain. It is the most-travelled route on Kilimanjaro taking more than 40% of the climbers. The trail is generally challenging but on the positive side, it has beautiful scenery and the trail follows ‘trek high – sleep low trend’ and thus, higher summit success rate as compared to Marangu route! The Machame route can be done in a minimum of 6 days and physical fitness is required for some short scrambling stretches and for then ascent of the Baranco wall! An extra acclimatization day is recommended at Karanga Valley for newbies to provide more rest before heading to the Base Camp ready to face the final challenge!

6 DAYS ITINERARY

Day 1: Arrive in Tanzania

You will be picked up from the Airport (JRO) and transferred to your hotel in Moshi.

Pre tour Briefing & Equipment Check:

You will meet your mountain guide (and office Rep) followed by your pre Tour briefing and Equipment check. This day, our team will be answering any question about your upcoming adventure to make sure everyone is ready to go! Dinner & Overnight at your hotel, HB

Day 2: Machame Gate – Machame Camp    (1,790m/5,873ft)

After breakfast at your hotel, we transfer to Machame gate where we register and complete the National Park formalities. We then start trekking; steadily ascending through stunning rainforest which can be quite muddy and wet underfoot, but it’s a magnificent way to start our challenge!

Night Camp: Machame Camp (3,010m/ 9,875 ft).

• Altitude Change: ↑835 m/ 2,740 ft
• Trekking Distance/ Time: 7 km/ 4.4 miles (5-6 hr)

Day 3: Machame Camp – Shira Camp

Following breakfast at the Camp, we push on with our ascent. Today is a short day but rather steep and rocky in some areas on the trail. It’s a slow hike with plenty of rests and enough time to acclimatize. We push on trekking until we reach the Shira Plateau, where we will be rewarded with great views of the mountain and if we look back, we see the magnificent views of Mount Meru rising above the skies.

Night Camp: Shira Camp (3,845m/ 12,615 ft).

• Altitude Change: ↑1,220m/ 4,003 ft
• Trekking Distance/ Time: 9 km/ 5.6 miles (6-7 hrs)

Day 4: Shira Caves – Barranco Camp

Our day starts with trekking over high moorland with the scenery now changing the whole character of our challenge. We trek steadily uphill to the Lava Tower, where we stop for lunch around noon. From the Lava Tower we start our descent for about 2 hours to our camp at Barranco. Today is good for acclimatisation, as we climb up to 4,600m and sleep at 3,950m – the golden altitude rule is, “walk high, sleep low”.

Night Camp: Barranco Camp (3,960m/ 12,992 ft)

• Altitude Change: ↑795 m/ 2,608 ft
• Trekking Distance/ Time: 10 km/ 6.2 miles (6-7 hr)

Day 5: Barranco Camp – Barafu Camp

We set off to conquer what the locals call ‘breakfast wall’, The Barranco Wall! It is a scramble using our hands and feet, (not technical like rock climbing) but certainly adds to our adventure. Once we take in our achievements at the top, we will be able to witness stunning views across the mountain towards the Barranco Valley and The Karanga Valley across the barren landscape but will be rewarded with breathtaking views of the Decken Glaciers. We will be keeping our pace to a slow rhythm as we need to conserve as much energy as we can for the summit attempt later this evening. We reach our camp late in the afternoon for an early dinner before getting our heads down, as we will be woken at 11pm for our summit attempt!

Night Camp: Barafu camp (4,640m/ 15,223 ft)

• Altitude Change: ↑680 m/ 2,280 ft
• Trekking Distance/ Time: 8km/5 miles (7-8 hr)

Day 6: Barafu Camp – Uhuru Peak & Then Back to Mweka Camp

We aim to leave camp at 12am using our head torches to light the way. The next 4 hours are spent trekking to Stella Point (5,750m) over scree and rock, where we will be rewarded with magnificent and spectacular views of the ice cliffs which surround us, and the majestic views to the Mawenzi Peaks – trekking just does not get any better than this! We now make regular rest stops every 15 minutes or so, to aid our chances of reaching Uhuru Peak at 5,895 m/ 19,341 ft. We push on to the summit with the sun rising over the stunning Mawenzi Peaks and aim to reach the summit by about 6 or 7 am. We start our long descent via Stella Point and back to Barafu Camp, where we will enjoy some lunch and a good rest. Our descent then continues down to Millennium or Mweka Camp (3,730m) – today is a very long, emotional day, but at the same time, so memorable and exhilarating.

Night Camp:  *Mweka Camp (3,080m/ 10,105ft).

• Altitude Change: ↑1,255 m & Then, ↓ 2,815 m
• Trekking Distance/ Time: 19 km/ 12 miles (12-14 hr)

 

Day 7: Mweka Camp – Mweka Gate – Moshi

Our final descent start with a nice breakfast followed by tipping ceremony; then we continue trekking for about 4 hours to make the 1,880 meters descent back to Mweka gate (1,680m/ 5,512 ft). Lunch will be served either at Mweka gate or at your hotel in Moshi. We take the vehicle transfer back to our Lodge in Moshi for a well-deserved hot shower or cool soak in the pool! This evening, we meet as a group to contemplate our achievements with a Great Dinner at your hotel.

• Altitude Change: ↓1,400m/ 4,593 ft
• Trekking Distance/ Time: 10 km/ 6.2 miles (3-4 hr)

 Day 8: Depart Tanzania

After breakfast there may be some free time to relax at the lodge or go shopping in Moshi and then leave your hotel for your transfer to the airport to catch your departure flight

Includes

• Conservation Fees, Camping/ Hut fees & Rescue fees
• Camping equipment
• Airport transfers – JRO to Moshi, 2 ways
• Transport to and from the Kilimanjaro National Park
• Guide, assistant guides, porters
• Meals + mountain chef while on the mountain
• Water throughout the trek
• Pre & Post climb hotel accommodation in Moshi

Excludes

• Sleeping bag
• Snacks, personal hygiene kit and personal medication
• Extra acclimatization day – An extra day can be added while on the mountain and each extra day costs extra US$ 220 per person and this amount will be paid at our main office after the climb.
• Water purification tabs
• Portable manual flush toilet (except for the Marangu route) – available for hire for extra $150 per toilet tent
• Personal mountain clothing & trekking gear – some of the kit is available for hire in Moshi
• Flights and Tanzania entry visa
• Health requirements (Yellow Fever vaccination is recommended depending on your flight route on entering Tanzania; vaccination for Meningitis & Hepatitis A optional)
• Optional Travel and medical insurance is but highly recommended
• Tips for Kilimanjaro mountain crew is mandatory nowadays (average tip is anything from US$180 to US$ 250 per climber depending on the number of days spent on the mountain, group size and route chosen)
• Hiking helmet & crampons
• Doctor for the group
• Items of a personal nature