Kilimanjaro Machame Route, 5 Nights

This is a beautiful 5 night/6 day route following the Machame and Barranco Valleys before making a direct ascent to the Kibo Summit. Only 5 nights on the mountain makes acclimatization more difficult, it helps to have spent two nights at our 6,000 ft private camp on Mt Meru. This route traverses under the massive southern glaciers of the mountain offering stunning views of the Southern Ice Fields. The final ascent is up and down the same trail so it has the great advantage of allowing everyone to climb as high as they can before descending with a guide.

Day 1: Pre- Trip briefing and equipment check. Our guide will meet you anywhere within an hour of Arusha for the briefing and equipment check. He will arrange with you the departure time for tomorrows start of your Kili climb. We are also happy to help you with your hotel reservations and hotel transfers. Just ask.

Day 2: MACHAME CAMP (9,000') (day 1 on the mountain) (see mountain camp info) Drive from the Lodge to the Machame Park Gate, we begin our climb by hiking about 7 hours through the Montane Forest to camp on the forest edge.
Day 3: ABOVE EAST SHIRA PLATEAU (11,800') (day 2 on mountain) Another five hours of hiking takes us above the old Shira Hut to our camp in Kilimanjaro's Upper Heath Zone.

Day 4: BARANCO CAMP (13,000') (day 3 on mountain) The route for day three ascends to 14,000 feet, then dips down below Lava Tower to camp in the Great Baranco Valley. From this camp the views of the Great Breach Wall are better than anywhere else on the mountain.

Day 5: BARAFU CAMP (15,500') (day 4 on mountain) We climb out of the Baranco Valley and traverse under the glaciers of the southern slopes of Kilimanjaro with spectacular views of the mountain's Southern Glaciers. After descending into Karanga Valley, we make a final 1600 foot ascent to Barafu Camp

Day 6: SUMMIT AND MWEKA CAMP (19,340' - 10,500') (day 5 on mountain) Our 4000 foot ascent to the summit from Barafu Camp will start at around 1:00 AM.. This will allow us to be near the crater rim at sunrise and on top of Kilimanjaro (Uhuru Peak) a few hours later. After taking in the view from the top of Africa, we will begin the long descent back to Barafu Hut and on down to Mweka Hut.

Day 7: Transfer to your hotel. (day 6 on the mountain) A final morning's descent of 4,500 feet brings us to the road. We will have lunch and transfer to your lodge. Again if you would like us to book your hotel and transfers onward let us know and we can do the bookings.

Other climbing itineraries

Hiking in the heath zone
Trails on the scree
Barranco, Camp with a with
breakfast in camp
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