9-Day Small-Group Hiking Tour of Kilimanjaro Machame Route

What's Included

Meeting and pickup

Itinerary

Day 1
Machame gate – machame camp: 10.75k /7mi | 5-6 hrs | rainforest.
1 stop
1
Elevation: 1811m/5942ft to 3021m/9911ft Altitude gained: 1210m Departing from Moshi a 45-minute drive will take you through the Village of Machame to the Kilimanjaro National Park Gate. We will patiently wait for our permits to be issued while watching the hustle and bustle of operations as many crews prepare for the journey ahead Enjoy the beautiful rainforest scenery and windy trails while your guide tells you about the local flora and fauna and natural wildlife. At these lower elevations, the trail can be muddy and quite slippery. We highly recommend gaiters and trekking poles here.
6 hours • Admission ticket free
Day 2
Machame camp – shira camp: 5.3km/3mi | 4-5hrs | moorland.
1 stop
2
Elevation: 3021m/9911ft to 3839m/12,595ft Altitude gained: 818m After a good nights sleep and a hearty breakfast, we emerge from the rain forest and continue on an ascending path, crossing the valley along a steep rocky ridge. The route now turns west onto a river gorge until we arrive at the Shira campsite. Temperatures begin to drop.
6 hours • Admission ticket free
Day 3
Shira camp – lava tower – barranco camp: 10.75km/6mi | 5-6hrs | semi-desert.
1 stop
3
Elevation: 3839m/12,595ft to 3986m/13,077ft Altitude gained: 147m Although you end the day around the same elevation as when you began, this day is very important for acclimatization. From Shira Plateau we continue east up a ridge, passing the junction towards the Kibo peak before we then continue, South East towards the Lava Tower, called the “Shark’s Tooth” (elev. 4650m/15,250ft). Shortly after the tower, we come to a second junction, which leads to the Arrow Glacier. We then continue to descend to overnight at Barranco Camp.
6 hours • Admission ticket free
Day 4
Barranco camp – karanga camp – barafu camp: 8.5km/5mi | 6-8hrs | alpine desert.
1 stop
4
Elevation: 3986m/13,077ft to 4034m/13,235ft to 4662m/15,295ft Altitude gained: 676m After breakfast, we continue on a steep ridge up to the adventurous Barranco Wall to the Karanga Valley and the junction, which connects, with the Mweka Trail. This is one of the most impressive days to see the power, agility, and strength of your crew zip over this wall with what appears such ease. We continue up toward Barafu Camp, and once reached you have now completed the South Circuit, which offers a variety of breathtaking views of the summit from many different angles. An early dinner and rest as we prepare for summit night. Overnight at Barafu Camp.
6 hours • Admission ticket free
Day 5
Barafu camp – summit: 4.86km /3mi up | 5-7hrs | – mweka camp: 13km /8mi down | 5-6hrs | glaciers, snow capped summit.
1 stop
5
Altitude gained: 1233m Descent to 3106m/10,190ft Altitude lost: 2789m We continue our way to the summit between the Rebmann and Ratzel glaciers trying to stay warm and focused on the amazing sense of accomplishment that lies ahead. With a switchback motion in a northwesterly direction and ascend through heavy scree towards Stella Point on the crater rim. You will be rewarded with the most magnificent sunrise during your short rest here. Faster hikers may view the sunrise from the summit. From here on your remaining 1 hour ascent to Uhuru Peak, you are likely to encounter snow all the way. Congratulations, one step at a time you have now reached Uhuru Peak the highest point on Mount Kilimanjaro and the entire continent of Africa! After photos, celebrations and maybe a few tears of joy we take a few moments to enjoy this incredible accomplishment. We begin our steep descent down to Mweka Camp, stopping at Barafu for lunch and a very brief rest
6 hours • Admission ticket free
Day 6
Mweka camp – mweka gate – moshi: 9.1km/6mi |3-4hrs | rainforest.
1 stop
6
Elevation: 3106m/10,190ft to 1633m/5358ft Altitude lost: 1473m After breakfast and a heartfelt ceremony of appreciation and team bonding with your crew, it’s time to say goodbye. We continue the descent down to the Mweka Park Gate to receive your summit certificates. As the weather is drastically warmer, the terrain is wet, muddy and steep and we highly recommend Gaiters and trekking poles. From the gate, a vehicle will meet you at Mweka village to drive you back to your hotel in Moshi/Arusha Enjoy a long overdue hot shower, dinner and celebrations!!
6 hours • Admission ticket free
Day 7
Arusha to tarangire.
1 stop
7
Tarangire National Park
We will pick you up from your hotel at 8:00am and after being familiar to the guide, chef & other clients we will drive to Tarangire national park (2hr drive) famous for its diverse landscape. The park is particularly known for the abundance of Ancient Baobab trees & having the largest concentration of elephants in the whole country and provides unique chances to observe the interaction between elephant families. We will do a game drive through the park depending on where they are reported sightings of animals (mostly predators, lions, cheetah & leopards as they are harder to spot) as herbivores (giraffes, wildebeest, zebras etc. are plenty to see through the park. Later on will go to the Tarangire river picnic site and enjoy the beautiful view of the river & animals while having lunch, small monkeys & baboons will try to scare you of your lunch but there is nothing to worry about After lunch will proceed with the game drive and exit the park where will head to our accommodation
6 hours • Admission ticket free
Day 8
Ngorongoro crater.
1 stop
8
Ngorongoro Conservation Area
The Ngorongoro crater is the best wildlife park in Tanzania, this is due to its beautiful landscape being a crater & easier to see wildlife After early breakfast (6:20 am) will head to the Ngorongoro viewpoint and look at this amazing view, the view is surreal it will definitely take your breathe for a while Will then proceed to descend the crater on a journey to find the black rhinos, rhinos are the hardest to spot in the beautiful crater as most animals will be easier to spot from this park due to it being a floor crater The Ngorongoro crater is the highlighted park in Tanzania, it is the most beautiful in scenery and it is populated with a lot of animals, the crater itself is self-sufficient for the animals inside so they don’t migrate out of the crater after lunch will do a game drive and ascend the crater to our accommodation
6 hours • Admission ticket free
Day 9
Lake Manyara national park
1 stop
9
Lake Manyara National Park
After breakfast will go to the Lake Manyara national park famous for a large number of flamingoes in the lake & its tree-climbing lions (though they are rarely seen) We will do a game drive viewing plenty of birds, lucky enough you can spot these famous tree-climbing lions, visit the hippo pool for a close look of hippos and the hot spring all this while doing a game drive and viewing plenty of animals (buffaloes, wildebeest, warthogs, vultures, eagles, monkeys etc.) After the tour will head back to Arusha (your hotel)
6 hours • Admission ticket free

Additional info

• Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
• Not recommended for pregnant travelers
• Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
• Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness

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