Marangu Summit Experience

Day 1 – Kilimanjaro Airport

On arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport, you will be picked up and transferred to Springlands Hotel or similar for an overnight stay. You will meet with your guide for briefing and to assist you in renting the right equipment for climbing. You'll enjoy the day at the Slipnglands Hotel and the swimming pool with the African sun.

Day 2 – Moshi | Marangu Gate | Mandara Hut

After breakfast and a briefing from your guide, you'll leave Moshi at 9 AM, drive for 45 minutes to the Marangu Gate on the eastern side of Kilimanjaro, register with the national park, and begin hiking at 10:30 AM. In the rainforest, look for towering Eucalyptus trees, birdlife, and Colobus monkeys. At these lower elevations, it can be wet and muddy, so gaiters and trekking poles will help. Shorts and t-shirts should be sufficient, but keep your rain gear and warmer clothing handy. You'll stop halfway for lunch, and reach the Mandara Huts at 2 or 3 PM. You'll unpack, rest, and have some tea or coffee. A 15-minute side trip to Maundi Crater is a good way to see the

surroundings including Northern Tanzania and Kenya. Dinner is served during the early evening at 7 PM. Bathrooms with running water are available.

Day 3 Mandara Hut | Horombo Hut

You'll wake to a 7:30 AM breakfast, and pack for your next trek. You'll break camp by 8:30 AM, hike for an hour through rainforest glades, and then follow an ascending path through heathland where you can look for giant lobelias and groundsels. You'll continue up into open moorlands where small shrubs are the main vegetation. You'll stop halfway for lunch, where you can enjoy amazing views of Mawenzi. You'll arrive at the Horombo Huts by 3 PM, where you can see Kibo’s summit. You'll rest, unpack, and prepare for dinner. Bathrooms with running water are available. You may start to feel the effects of altitude here and to aid your acclimatization, you can choose to spend an extra day resting at Horombo or climbing to a basecamp below Kibo’s sub-peak Mawenzi.

Day 4 – Acclimatization in Horombo Hut

You can add an extra day at the Horombo Huts (3,690 m/12,100 ft.). You can spend a full day and a second night at Horombo. On this day, you can either rest at the huts or take a stroll up to the Mawenzi Base Camp. Then, you'll return to the Horombo Huts. This extra day will help your acclimatization, and further your understanding of the mountain’s weather and altitude. After your pause, you will continue up to the Kibo Huts on your fourth day for your midnight start to the summit.

You'll wake to breakfast as usual, but if you wake early you can get some great photos of the sunrise. The first part of the day’s hike climbs through the dwindling heathland that blends into a moonscape as you enter the sweeping saddle connecting Mawenzi and Kibo. When you stop for lunch, and later when you cross this surprisingly large saddle, you can examine the summit climb

up Kibo that you will be starting in just a few hours. Be careful to notice any signs of altitude sickness. There is no running water at the Kibo Huts.

Day 5 – Horombo Hut |Kibo Hut

You'll wake to breakfast as usual, but if you wake early you can get some great photos of the sunrise. The first part of the day’s hike climbs through the dwindling heathland that blends into a moonscape as you enter the sweeping saddle connecting Mawenzi and Kibo. When you stop for lunch, and later when you cross this surprisingly large saddle, you can examine the summit climb

up Kibo that you will be starting in just a few hours. Be careful to notice any signs of altitude sickness. There is no running water at the Kibo Huts.

Day 6 – Hut | Uhuru Peak

You'll wake up at midnight to a light breakfast, then prepare for your summit ascent. The goal is to climb before dawn so that you can reach Uhuru Peak shortly after sunrise. You'll leave at 1 AM, switch back up steep scree or possibly snow, and reach Gilman’s Point on the crater rim at 5,861 m/18,640 ft. between 5 and 7 AM. Here, views of the fabled crater and its icecaps greet you. Another 2 hours of hiking along the crater rim near the celebrated snows take you to Kilimanjaro’s true summit, Uhuru Peak, by 9 AM. This is Africa’s highest point, and you would have to travel more than 3,000 miles toward the Himalayas to find a higher peak! Be sure to have your picture taken at the summit to show your friends. After your summit stays, you will descend back to the Kibo Huts, have lunch, rest, collect your things, and recross the saddle to the Horombo Huts. Eat dinner and get some well-deserved sleep! You do the beginning of this climb in the dark with headlamps or flashlights.

Day 7 – Horombo Hut | Marangu Gate | Moshi

You'll wake up, as usual, pack, and descend through the moorland to the Mandara Huts. You'll have lunch there then continue your triumphant recessional down through the lush forest to the park gate, which you should reach around 2 or 3 PM. Remember to tip your guides, cooks, and porters, since you will be leaving them here. A vehicle will take you back to the Springlands Hotel in Moshi, where it is time for a celebration and an overnight stay.

Day 8 – Kilimanjaro Airport

After an early breakfast, you will transfer to Kilimanjaro Airport for your departure.