Itinerary Highlights
- Duration in days: 6
- Itinerary Category: Kilimanjaro Trekking, Northern circuit
- Destinations: Mt Kilimanjaro via Machame Route
- Major Attractions: Vegetation zones, Wildlife, Mt Kilimanjaro
- Guiding Language: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian
- Start point: Arusha
- End point: Arusha
- Essential items: DigitalCamera with enough memory space and extra batteries, binoculars, light clothes, safari boot, mosquito repellents, sunhat, sunglasses with ultra violet radiation filtering etc
- Additional information: Machame known as “Whiskey route” is very scenic, providing hikers with incredible views and varying landscapes.
Itinerary Description by Day
Day 1 Registration at Machame Gate and climb through Montana forest
Distance: 11 km / 7 miles
Trekking time: 5-7 hours
Zone: Rainforest
Perform registration formalities at Machame Gate. The climb starts from Machame gate (1800m) after a short walk through the attractive banana and coffee farms of Machame village. The path follows a ridge through dense Montana forest. This is the richest forested area on the mountain, and also the water on Kilimanjaro originates. On sunny days, and especially in the dry season is very lush and beautiful. It can also be a very muddy experience, particularly if it has rained recently. We have lunch at halfway clearing, a small opening in the trees, and continue climbing steadily.
Day 2 Climbing through Shira Camp
Distance: 5 km / 3 miles
Trekking time: 4-6 hours
Zone: Moorland
Our shorter day begins by climbing up a steep ridge to reach a small semicircular cliff known as picnic rock. There are excellent views of kibo and the jagged rim of Shira Plateau from here and it is a good rest point. The trail continues less steeply to reach the Shira Plateau. We camp near Shira Hut (3840m) which has some of the most stunning views on Kilimanjaro.
Day 3 Kilimanjaro through Moorland Plateau
Distance: 10 km / 6.2 miles
Trekking time: 6-8 hours
Zone: Alpine desert
A morning of gentle ascent and panoramic views, leaving the moorland plateau behind to walk on lava ridges beneath the glaciers of the Western Breach. After lunch near lava camp (4540m) we descend to the bottom of the Great Barranco Valley (3900m), sheltered by towering cliffs and with extensive views of the plains far below.
Day 4 Walking through Southern Ice Fields.
Distance: 9 Km
Trekking time: 8-10 hours
Zone: Alpine desert
A steep climb up the Barranco wall leads us to an undulating trail on the south-eastern flank of Kibo, with superb vistas of the southern ice fields. Lunch is normally taken at camp, the last water point, in a steep valley. After lunch, the terrain changes to scree and we climb steeply to reach the Barafu Hut (4600m.) by mid afternoon. The remainder of the day is spent resting in preparation for the final ascent before a very early night.
Day 5 Climbing through Mawenzi and Uhuru Peak
Distance: 5 km
Trekking time: 7-8 hours ascent/ 4-6 hours descent
Zone: Arctic
We normally start our ascent by torchlight around midnight so that we can be up on the Crater rim by sunrise. The steeply climb over loose volcanic scree has some graded zigzags and a slow but steady pace will take us to Stella point (5735m.), in about 5-6 hours. We will rest there for a short time to enjoy the sunrise over Mawenzi. Those who are still feeling strong can make the 2hours round trip from here along the Crater rim to Uhuru Peak (5895m.). The descends to Barafu campsite is surprisingly fast. After lunch and other refreshments, we continue to descend to reach our final campsite (3100m.). Most of us will be too tired to notice the beauty of the forest surrounding the crowed campsite.
Day 6 Climbing Retrace through Tropical Forest
Distance: 10 km
Trekking time: 3-4 hours
Zone: Rain Forest
A sustained descend on a well maintained trail through lovely tropical forest alive with birdcalls and boasting lush undergrowth with considerable botanical interest. We will start our route to the National Park Gate at Mweka (1650m.) and on through coffee and banana farms to Mweka village. We will be transferred to Arusha for dinner and overnight stay.
