Conquer Kilimanjaro’s Lemosho Route in 7 days. Experience diverse landscapes, thrilling scrambles, and breathtaking summit views. Perfect for minimizing altitude sickness.
Arusha- Londrossi Gate to Mti mkubwa Camp
Mount Kilimanjaro - Today’s Status
Hiking Time: 4-5 hours
Total Distance: 7 km
Starting Altitude: 1981m (6890ft)
Final Altitude: 2780m (9222ft)
After breakfast, we travel by 4WD to Londrossi Gate, where you’ll meet your guides and mountain crew. We handle all national park formalities, registering all climbers and weighing all duffle bags to ensure each porter carries no more than the mandatory 20kg limit.
Depending on your program and weather conditions, we may have lunch at the gate.
After completing the registration process at Londrossi Gate, we drive 11 km along narrow dirt roads through pine plantations, gradually climbing to the Lemosho Glades, where we begin our trek.
We hike uphill for 3 hours through the thick and undisturbed montane forest, where you may hear the calls of many exotic birds. If we’re lucky, we may see blue monkeys and hear the grunting calls of the magnificent black colobus monkeys with their long “cape” of white hair and flowing white tails.
Our camp tonight is in the forest zone, dominated by podocarpus (African yellow-wood), hagenia, and hypericum (St John’s wort). In the evening, you may hear the unmistakable shrieking call of the tree hyrax.
Mt Mkubwa Camp to Shira 1 Camp
Mount Kilimanjaro - Today’s Status
Hiking Time: 7 hours
Total Distance: 12 km
Starting Altitude: 2780m (9222ft)
Final Altitude: 3511m (11520ft)
Environment: Montane Forest – Moorland
Today is a long day over narrow tracks that weave in and out of the ridges as we ascend.
Along the way, we will admire trees such as the giant heather and erica. As we gain altitude, we will encounter the unique giant lobelia and giant groundsel (senecio kilimanjari).
There is no hurry to reach Shira Camp, and our mantra “pole pole” (Swahili: “slowly slowly”) resonates in our ears, ensuring our bodies adjust to the altitude gain and allowing us to take in the magnificent views of Kilimanjaro.
The Shira Plateau is one of the highest in the world, with an average height of 3810m, and extends for about 13 km to the west of Kilimanjaro. The Shira Plateau is a caldera, a collapsed volcanic crater. We might even spot a herd of eland in the distance or startle a grey duiker near camp.
Shira 1 Camp to Moir Hut
Mount Kilimanjaro - Today’s Status
Hiking Time: 5-6 hours
Total Distance: 9 km
Starting Altitude: 3511m (11520ft)
Final Altitude: 4175m (13700ft)
Environment: Alpine Desert
Today we trek steadily northwards through the heather and into the barren high-altitude desert towards the natural landmark called Shark’s Tooth. We gain altitude slowly and continue to acclimatize. We walk up a ridge and into a valley, which we then ascend to camp, arriving in time for lunch. We are now in the high desert zone, where only hardy everlastings and small senecios survive, and we are just below the Lent Group, a collection of massive volcanic dykes.
Immediately above us is a huge circular bowl created by glaciers, and there are numerous lava tube caves in the cliffs at the uppermost edge. Above that is the Kibo Massif and the Northern Ice Field. Below, we have extensive views of the Shira Plateau, a giant sloping depression, where we can see much of the area we have walked recently.
Moir Camp to Barranco Camp
Mount Kilimanjaro - Today’s Status
Hiking Time: 5-6 hours
Total Distance: 6 km
Starting Altitude: 4175m (13700ft)
Final Altitude: 4642m (15230ft)
Environment: Alpine Desert
We descend the rocky scree path to Lava Tower (4530m) for lunch. Those who feel up to it can undertake an optional rock scramble (non-technical) to the top of Lava Tower, where you will have spectacular panoramic vistas of the Karanga Valley below, Shira Plateau, and the spectacular Western Breach above.
From Lava Tower, we descend steeply for 2 hours down more than 600m into the Great Barranco Valley. This descent affords fantastic views and some great photo opportunities of the Western Breach and Breach Wall.
You will also feel the clear benefits of this acclimatization day as we lose altitude. Barranco Camp is set on a col (flat area) enclosed on three sides by the Breach Wall and the Kibo Massif itself. Hanging glaciers shimmer in the sunshine above amidst the eerie landscape of plants such as the giant groundsels and the uniquely endemic giant lobelia.
This is definitely the toughest day so far, but incredibly beautiful.
Barranco Camp to Barafu Camp
Mount Kilimanjaro - Today’s Status
Hiking Time: 6-7 hours
Total Distance: 9 km
Starting Altitude: 4039m (13250ft)
Final Altitude: 4600m (15200ft)
Environment: Alpine Desert
Today we undertake the Great Barranco Wall – an imposing face above Barranco camp. A steady climb up the eastern wall takes us just below the Heim Glacier, where we may have some breathtaking views of the Heim Glacier and Mt. Kilimanjaro, depending upon the weather and any cloud cover. Our trail continues down into the alpine desert of the Karanga Valley. Here, the temperature will grow colder as we follow the trail, climbing through this barren and dry landscape up to the Barafu camp.
Barafu is the Swahili word for “ice,” and the camping area is on a ridge in a narrow and exposed flat area. Here, there are ever-present powerful winds blowing down from the mountain peaks.
Our campsite at 4600m offers spectacular views of the nearby peaks of Kibo and Mawenzi. In preparation for your final ascent tonight, you will familiarize yourself with the terrain before dark and prepare your equipment and thermal clothing for the summit attempt. Sleep will be difficult, though you will retire to your tents after dinner to rest for the 1385m final ascent to the roof of Africa.
Barafu Camp to Uhuru Peak to Mweka Camp
Mount Kilimanjaro - We will rise early to leave camp at around 12 am, and after a warm drink and a light snack, you will begin the most difficult yet most rewarding day of the trek – your hike to the roof of Africa.
After approximately 6 hours of slow but strenuous hiking, you will reach the rim of the main crater, Stella Point, at 5685m. At this point, we stop to rest, eat lunch, and take in the views over the clouds. From Stella Point, the trail is normally snow-covered, and every step of the two-hour final ascent to Uhuru Peak is challenging.
Passing alongside the iridescent blue Rebmann and Tarzel glaciers, we reach Elveda Point (5882m), and we can see Uhuru Peak now only minutes away. The roof of Africa is within your grasp.
Arriving at the summit, you feel a huge sense of elation and accomplishment. You have done it; you have made it to the highest point in Africa. We spend as much time as you need to appreciate your accomplishment, as this is a day to remember for the rest of your life! The time you will spend on the summit will depend on the weather conditions and temperature.
We start back down the same trail and descend to Barafu camp. Here, you will have a well-earned but short rest and remove some of your many layers of clothing as the day begins to heat up. We head down the rock and scree path into the moorland zone, reaching the forest, and eventually arriving at Mweka Camp in the early afternoon, where a hot shower and meal await. Today is the longest and the most mentally and physically challenging of the trek. But a life-changing day that will stay with you forever, as you conquered the summit of Kilimanjaro.
Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate
Mount Kilimanjaro - Today’s Status
Hiking Time: 5-6 hours
Total Distance: 13.5 km
Starting Altitude: 3819m (12530ft)
Final Altitude: 1652m (5420ft)
Environment: Montane (rain) Forest
Today, your legs will be further tested as the trail descends steeply through the lush Mweka rainforest.
The trail is steep in places and can be slippery if wet. The route follows the crest of a broad ridge separating two river valleys until it meets with a road that leads us for the last 40 minutes to the Mweka Park Gates, where we stop for a well-deserved picnic lunch. Successful hikers will receive their summit certificates (gold for Uhuru Peak, green for Stella Point) from the Kilimanjaro National Park Authority. After celebrations, we are taken by either private bus or Jeep to your hotel in Arusha.
- Salary for the Cooks
- Expedition medical kit
- 2 - nights Accommodations on BB at either of the following Ameg Lodge or Salinero Hotels
- Lunch
- Mountaineering mattress
- Dinner
- Gamow bag (portable hyperbaric chamber)
- Breakfast
- Portable tented private flush toilet
- Light weight mess tent
- Comprehensive vital sign monitoring
- VAT 18% on park entrance fees
- Airport transfers
- Pulse oximeter
- Medical evacuations with AMREF Flying doctors
- 3 person expedition tents (2 clients/tent)
- Salary for the porters
- Luxury chair with back rest
- Shower/wash tent
- Emergency oxygen
- Large portions of fresh, healthy, nutritious food
- Purified water while on the mountain
- Wine and Champagne the summit
- Professional Up to date wilderness first responder trained guide or equivalent Assistance Guide
- Hot steamy towel on the camp
- 2 Way Radio
- Mobile phone
- Salary for the Guides
- Government taxes
- Light weight aluminum table
- Expeditions walk in mess tent
- Fair and ethical treatment of porters
- Kilimanjaro National Park entrance, camping/hut and rescue fees
- Bowl of hot washing water in the morning and evening
- Return transfer Arusha/Arusha hotel to Park Gate
- Additional transportation
- International airfare
- Communication charges
- Medical or extra evacuation fees
- Medical conditions or due to airline schedule changes
- Meals incurred by a client unable to continue a planned itinerary due to illness
- Costs of visas
- Excess baggage charges
- Staff gratuities
- Personal expenses(other than those included with meals, as listed in each itinerary)
- Personal trekking equipment
- Room service
- Souvenirs
- Laundry
- Immunizations
This route provides the opportunity to “trek high and sleep low” which is considered important in minimizing the potential for altitude sickness.
The climb starts above the picturesque mountain village of Machame to the south of Kilimanjaro. After passing through the Machame forest and into the moorland zone, we scramble up and over some rocks and eventually emerge onto the Shira Plateau. We then advance counter-clockwise traversing below the southern face of Kibo, climb Lava Tower for magnificent 360 degree panoramas, ascend the Great Barranco Wall, a challenging and exhilarating rock scramble, and approach Uhuru Summit from Barafu or Kossovo Camp and the ridge that abuts the Southeast Valley. The climb from Barafu offers incredible views of Mawenzi Peak and Kilimanjaro’s remnant volcanic cone.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
