Day 1:Lemosho Gate – Forest Camp (9,000 ft)

This route offers a very relaxed start to your climb, as we drive you through the Maasai Steppe to Lemosho gate. From this trailhead, it is an undemanding walk of only a few hours to your first mountain night at Forest Camp.

Day 2: Forest Camp – Shira Camp (11,000 ft)

Today you awake to birdsong in the forest glade and, after a nourishing breakfast, start off through the rainforest on a slow 5 hours walk into the Hagenia zone. As you approach Shira Camp the vegetation begins to thin out, Mount Meru looms into view and the Shira Needles vie for your attention.

Day 3: Shira Camp – Shira Plateau (12,500 ft)

Another day of gentle, uphill walking begins as you slowly climb into the alpine heather zone, approaching the Kibo outcrop from the west. A trek of 5 hours brings you to Shira Plateau with its breathtaking views.

Day 4: Shira Plateau – Lava Tower Camp (14,300 ft)

Wend your way up into the Alpine Desert Zone, where few plants survive and where temperatures can drop to the freezing point. The trek from Shira Plateau to Lava Tower Camp takes approximately 4 hours.

Day 5: Extra day for acclimatization at Lava Tower Camp (14,300 ft)

Experienced mountain guides advise climbers to “walk high, sleep low” for maximum acclimatization. Heed their advice and use this DAYto walk higher than your sleeping area, in the lovely lunar landscape of the alpine desert.

Day 6: Lava Tower Camp – Arrow Glacier (15,500 ft)

Gaze out from your tent in awe this morning, at the impressive Western Breach wall which towers above you. Again, we take it slowly, hiking for only 2 hours to the base of the Western Breach and our camp at Arrow Glacier.

Day 7:Arrow Glacier – Crater Camp (18,300 ft)

Now for some real climbing! It takes approximately 6 hours to reach the top of the Western Breach wall, but from there you have only to cross a small crater before arriving at Crater Camp. Crater Camp is situated at a point far higher than any other camp on the mountain, bringing you within shouting distance of Uhuru Peak – your goal for tomorrow.

Day 8: Crater Camp – SUMMIT (19,340 ft) – Mweka Camp (10,200 ft)

With your great advantage of now being fully acclimatized, step out in confidence for Uhuru Peak. Just a 2-hour hike to Gilman’s Point, followed by a short finishing stretch and you are standing on the highest point in Africa, smiling into the sunrise.

Take pleasure in an exhilarating two hours of scree scrambling before starting on the 7-hour descent to Mweka Camp – a descent of 9,000 feet, from snow and icecaps with little oxygen to tropical forest with plenty. Celebrate your successful summit with your guides and fellow climbers at Mweka Camp.

Day 9:Mweka Camp – Mweka Gate (5,700 ft)

This final descent can take anything from two to five hours, depending on trail conditions. Do not rush; a certificate of achievement awaits you, and your driver will wait on for you to say goodbye to Kilimanjaro – once your dream, now your triumph.