Itinerary
Here is the itinerary for the trip:
Day 1: December 26
Keys Hotel Mbokomu
Meet at Keys Hotel Mbokomu at 4:00 p.m. for pre-climb briefing. You are allowed to check in anytime after 11:00 a.m. during that day. You are responsible for your own meals this day.
Day 2: December 27
Mt. Kilimanjaro Summit Trek - Machame Route
Machame Gate (1634 m/5,363 ft) to Machame Hut (2834 m/9,300 ft)
Hike time: 7.5 hrs
Elevation change: +1200 m/+3937 ft
Estimated distance: 10km/6.21 miles
Final elevation: 3100 m/10,170 ft
Early pick-up at the Keys hotel and a 40-minute drive to Machame gate (5,400’) where trekking preparations take about 1 hour. From the gate, we begin our trek following an easy track for the first hour through the dense forest. The path continues to follow the ridge, rising steadily with several steep sections. The gradient eases slightly as the forest merges into heather covered ground we will reach Machame Hut in 10 km (6.2 miles) after a 1,200-meter (3,936’) ascent and 5-7 hours of walking.
Day 3: December 28
Machame Hut (2834 m/9,300 ft) to Shira Hut (3749 m/12,300 ft)
Hike time: 7 hrs
Elevation change: +800 m/+244 ft
Estimated distance: 6km/3.75 miles
Final elevation: 3800 m/12,467 ftM
From the Machame Hut, we cross the stream onto its west bank and follow the path up the steep rocky ridge - criss-crossing a few times before reaching Shira Hut at the base of a semi-circular wall of rocks. We will have ascended 900 meters (3,000’) in 5-7 hours and about 6 km (3.72 miles) of walking.
Day 4: December 29
Shira Hut (3749 m/12,300 ft) to Barranco Hut (3901 m/12,800 ft)
Hike time: 5 hrs
Elevation change: +100 m/+328 ft
Final elevation: 3900 m/12,800 ft
From Shira Hut, we hike to Lava Tower (15,000’) and then proceed to Barranco via the Great Barranco Wall. This route offers panoramic views of Kibo peak through Karanga Valley as we hike high and sleep low, dropping back down to Barranco after lunch. Today’s hike will take most of the day.
Day 5: December 30
Barranco Hut (3901 m/12,800 ft) to Karanga Valley (3963 m/13,000 ft)
Hike time: 3.5 hrs
Elevation change: +100 m/+328 ft
Estimated distance: 4km/2.5 miles
Final elevation: 3963 m/13,000 ft
From Barranco Hut, we climb up through the edge of great Barranco. 95 percentage of the walking today will be on elevation of 4250m. We will break our day at Karanga valley campsite at elevation of 4,000m.
Day 6: December 31
Karanga Valley (3963 m/13,000 ft) to Barafu Hut (4,600 m/15,091 ft)
Hike time: 3.5 hrs
Elevation change: +600 m/+1968 ft
Estimated distance: 4km/2.5 miles
Final elevation: 4,600 m/15,091 ft
Today involves gaining a little more elevation, acclimatizing and resting for the summit attempt on the next morning.
Day 7: January 1
Barafu Camp (4,600m/15,091 ft) to the Summit (5896 m/19,343 ft) and then to Mweka Camp (3100 m/10,170 ft)
Summit time: 7 hrs
Elevation change: +1300 m/+4265 ft
Estimated distance: 5km/3.2 miles
Final elevation: 5896 m/19343 ft
Descent time: 5 hrs
Elevation change: -2800 m/-9186 ft
Estimated distance: 12km/7.5 miles
Final elevation: 3100 m, 10,170 ft
We will start trekking early before sunrise (1-2 am) as the walk today will take 10-14 + hours. We will try to avoid the mist that sets in later in the day. The 1,100-meter (3,600’) ascent in just over 3 km (1.86 miles) will take us about 6-8 hours, as we try to reach the summit to watch the sunrise over the Great Rift Valley.
After a brief stay at the summit of the highest point in Africa, Uhuru Peak, at over 5,898 meters (19,340′), we descend via the Barafu Route roughly 2,500 meters (8,200’) in 12 km (7.44 miles) in about 4-7 hours to Mweka Camp.
When you come to camp tonight, you will be completely exhausted and ready to eat and then sleep! This is the toughest day by far.
Day 8: January 2
Mweka Camp (3100 m/10,170 ft) to Mweka Gate (6,000’)
Keys Hotel Mbokomu
Descent time: 4 hrs
Elevation change: -1250 m/-4101 ft
Estimated distance: 10km/6.21
Final elevation: 1828 m/6000 ft
Today we descend about 1400 meters (4,592’) through the forest on a jungle path for about 10 km (6.2 miles) in 3-4 hours to reach Mweka Gate by mid-afternoon. Our guides will transfer you to Bristol Cottages for an overnight stay. You are responsible for your own meals tonight.
If you can walk, and are hungry, we are planning to eat at an Indian restaurant in Moshi. You will need to cover this meal. Average price of meals are $3 to $5.
Day 9: January 3
Moshi – Lake Manyara National Park
Twiga Campsite
After morning breakfast at the hotel, we will head to Lake Manyara National Park
Cradled in the glory of its surroundings below the sheer majesty of the Rift valley wall, Lake Manyara lies serene, spreading in a heat haze backed by a thin green band of forest and the sheer 600 metre red and brown cliffs of the escarpment.
A wedge of surprisingly varied vegetation sustains a wealth of wildlife, nourished by chattering strums bubbling out of the escarpment base and waterfalls spilling over the cliff. Acacia woodland shelters the park’s famous but elusive tree-climbing lions, along with squadrons of mongoose feasting on the trail of buffalo and elephant the most pachyderms per square kilometre in Tanzania.
Deep in the south of the park, hot springs bubble to the surface in the shadow of the escarpment. Hippo wallow near the lake’s borders of sedge. The park hosts 400 varieties of birds, including thousands of red-billed quelea flitting over the water like swarms of giant insects; pelicans, cormorants and pink streaks of thousands of flamingo on their perpetual migration.
Enter Manyara from the village of Mto wa Mbu, an eclectic market town where several tribes coverage to form a linguistic mix that is the richest in Africa.
Drive Time: 3 Hours
Day 10: January 4
Serengeti National Park
Public Camp Site
From Lake Manyara National Park, we will travel to the legendary Serengeti National Park. This will be about a four to five hour drive, driving on the Rim of the Ngorongoro Crater.
More than 6 million hooves pound the legendary plains of the Serengeti. Every year, triggered by the rains, more than a million wildebeest, 200,000 zebra and 300,000 Thomson’s gazelle gather to undertake the long trek to new grazing lands. Tanzania’s first and most famous park, the Serengeti is renowned for its wealth of leopard and lion. The vast reaches of the park help the black rhino to fight extinction and provide a protected breeding ground for the vulnerable cheetah. Witness predator versus pry and the fundamental independence of the Serengeti’s abundant species, from more than 500 varieties of bird to 100 types of dung beetle.
Day 11: January 5
Serengeti National Park
Public Camp Site
We have a full day of game drives in the Serengeti from sunrise to sunset, exploring hippos pools, looking for lions, and discovering animals around every corner. This is the day we will try to head to the migration.
Depending upon the wildebeest migration vicinity, we will begin with a morning game drive, return to the hotel for lunch, and have an afternoon to sunset game drive. This will be the day that you will see most likely the most animals.
Drive Time: You are free to drive as far, or as little, as you please today
Day 12: January 6
Serengeti National Park to Ngorongoro Crater
Ngorongoro Public Campsite on Rim of Crater
Simba Camp A
Begin with an early morning departure through the Serengeti and head to Ngorongoro Crater.
Leaving the Serengeti behind we drive past Olduvai Gorge, which was made famous by the Leakey’s in their quest for the origin of mankind. Fragments of a skull were unearthed in 1959 dated at 1.8 million years old and later in 1979 the Laetoli footprints were discovered dating back 3.5 million years.
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which lies between the Serengeti and the Lake Manyara National Parks boasts the largest unbroken, inactive, and unflooded caldera in the world. Perhaps having once been about the same size as Mount Kilimanjaro, when the volcanic activity subsided, it collapsed inward resulting in a crater 18 kilometers (11 miles) across. Surrounded by very steep walls 610 meters (2000 feet) deep, this natural amphitheatre covers an area of about 260 square kilometers (100 square miles) and is home for up to 25,000 larger mammals. Nearly half of those being zebra and wildebeest while other species found are buffalo, gazelle, eland, hartebeest, warthog, and the elusive black rhino. Lion, hyena, cheetah, and leopard are among the predators within the crater.
Drive Time: 3 hours
Day 14: January 7
Ngorongoro Crater – Moshi/Arusha
After breakfast, we begin with a sunrise game drive, which is always rewarding to watch the animals eating early in the morning.
We have a half day of game drives in and around the Ngorongoro, exploring hippos pools, looking for lions, and discovering animals around every corner.
Today we begin a long journey back to Moshi, the town at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. It will take most of the day to get back to Moshi. We will stop at some of the abundant craft markets as we return.
Tentative/optional evening visit to a Masai village, one that only a few tourists have ever seen.
Tags: Getting Ready
