The Green Ranger Safaris team is happy to welcome you to the Mount Kilimanjaro Expedition, Marangu Route – 7 days mountain climbing safari.
Assistant Guide: 1 person (Licensed Guide)
Cook: 1 person (Professional Chef)
Potters Crew: 7 people (Experienced Crew in Mountain Climbing)
Total Crew for 2 Pax will be = 10 People for the trip.
+ Comfortable hiking boots
+ Clothes for warm weather
+ Medication if any
+ A camera
+ Gloves
Safari Itinerary: Mount Kilimajnaro Expedition, Marangu Route – 7 days
Day One
Nairobi – Arusha / Moshi (915 m/3,000 ft)
Transfer from Nairobi to Arusha. The sharing Shuttle offers good services. On arrival, you spend the night at a Budget Hotel in Arusha.
Day Two
Moshi (915 m/3,000 ft) to Marangu Gate (1,830 m/6,000 ft) to Mandara Huts (2,740 m/9,000 ft) 8 km, 3-4 hours Montane Forest
After breakfast and a briefing from your guide, leave Arusha at 7:30 am, drive for 3 hrs 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, bird life, 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 closer.
We will stop halfway for lunch, and reach the Mandara Huts at 3:00 pm. 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 Three
Mandara Huts (2,740 m/9,000 ft) to Horombo Huts (3,690 m/12,100 ft) 12 km, 5-6 hours Heath-land.
Wake to a 7:30 am breakfast and pack for your next trek. Break camp by 8:30 am, hike for an hour through rainforest glades, then follow an ascending path through heath-land where you can look for giant lobelias and groundsels.
Continue up into open moorlands where small shrubs are the main vegetation. Stop halfway for lunch, where you can enjoy amazing views of Mawenzi. Arrive at the Horombo Huts by 3 pm, where you can see Kibo’s summit. 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 base camp below Kibo’s sub peak Mawenzi.
Day Four
Horombo Huts (3,690 m/12,100 ft) to Kibo Huts (4,695 m/15,400 ft) 5-8 km, 3 hours Alpine Desert.
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 heath-land 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 Five
Summit Day! Kibo Huts (4,695 m/15,400 ft) to Uhuru Peak (5,895 m/19,340 ft) to Horombo Huts (3,690 m/12,100 ft) 4 km up, 12 km down 5-6 hours Alpine Desert.
Wake 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.
Leave at 1 am, switchback 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 stay, you will descend back to the Kibo Huts, have lunch, rest and re-cross 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. It will be very cold until you start descending, so you will need all of your warm layers. This is, by far, the most difficult part of the trek. Slowly slowly, or, “pole pole”, and an optimistic adventure attitude will get you there!
Day Six
Horombo Huts (3,690 m/12,100 ft) to Marangu Gate (1,830 m/6,000 ft) to Moshi (890 m/2,920 ft) 32 km, 12-14 hours
Wake up as usual, pack, and descend through the moorland to the Mandara Huts. Have lunch there then continue your triumphant recessional down through lush forest to the park gate, which you should reach around 3:00 pm.
Remember to tip (what you feel is good) your guides, cooks, and porters, since you will be leaving them here. A vehicle will take you back to the Pamoja Hotel or similar hotel in Arusha, where it is definitely time for celebrations!
Day Seven
Back to Nairobi or Continue for a Safari to Serengeti or to the famous Ngorongoro Crater.
You can take a Shuttle back to Nairobi or continue for a Safari to Serengeti National Park or to the well know Ngorongoro Crater. You can also take your flight back home. Well, beyond doubt; it’s a Lifetime Mountaineering Experience!
Thank you for giving us an opportunity to serve you!
For more information: [email protected] | +254 721 955202
Office: 5th Parklands Avenue, Angels Nest, Nairobi, Kenya.