Kilimanjaro 6-day Rongai route

You will be picked up from the Airport (JRO) and transferred to your hotel in Moshi, where you will meet your mountain guide and office representative for meet & greetings followed by your pre trek briefing and kit check. This day, our team will be answering any question about your upcoming adventure to make sure everyone is ready to go!

After breakfast at your hotel, we transfer to Marangu gate where we complete the National Park formalities. It will take an hour of drive from Moshi and 2hr 30 min from Arusha to get to Marangu gate. Then, you will proceed to Nalemoru gate for another 1 hr of drive. We then register to enter the park and start our trek; steadily ascending through beautiful rainforest. Today’s trek is just around 3 hour only, which makes it a magnificent way to start our challenge! Night Camp: Simba Camp (2,625m/ 8,610 ft).

Altitude Change: ↑605 m/ 985 ft
Trekking Distance/ Time: 8 km/ 5 miles (3-4 hr)

The day begin with an impressive welcome of Kibo peak glowing on the sky while the summit of Mawenzi lying further to the east. The vegetation is low right through the heather and moorland and after about 2 hours of walk we will be at around 3,200 m/ 10,500 ft where trees become smaller and rocky terrain appears! We reach 1^st Rongai Cave at 3,350 m/ 11,000 ft and 2^nd Cave at 3,480 m/ 11,410 ft where we will break for a lunch before proceeding to our day’s final leg; Kikelelwa Camp where we will spend the night. Night Camp: Kikelelwa Camp (3,630 m/ 11,910 ft).

Altitude Change:↑1,005 m/ 3,300 ft
Trekking Distance/ Time:10 km/ 6 miles (5-6 hrs)

It is another day that we start our trek in heather and moorland vegetation towards strenuous rocky and tricky sections of the trail that we will sometime need to use our hands to cross the ridge before reaching the Mawenzi Tarn Hut. Mawenzi Tarn Hut is the most beautiful Camp on Kilimanjaro with a small lake and an extraordinary scenery of the Mawenzi massif! Night Camp: Mawenzi Tarn Hut Camp (4,310 m/ 14,140 ft).

Altitude Change:↑680 m/ 2,230 ft
Trekking Distance/ Time:5 km/ 3 miles (3-4 hr)

We leave early at 7:30 am towards Kibo saddle and choose the School Hut (4,715m/ 15,470 ft) as our Base Camp for our preparation to the summit attempt. The other option is Kibo Huts. Both two trails run parallel to each other for about a kilometer before rejoin at Hans Meyer Cave (5,200 m/ 17,060 ft). From here the trail is mostly rocky and a bit strenuous, and due to high altitude, one could feel tired and the rate of heart beat increased.

We will be keeping our pace to a slow rhythm as we need to conserve as much energy as we can for the summit attempt later this evening. We will arrive at our Camp after 5 good hours where we will have a good rest followed by an early dinner (at 5 pm) before getting our heads down, as we will be woken at 11 pm for our summit attempt! Night Camp: School Huts (4,715 m/ 15,470 ft)

Altitude Change:↑405 m/ 1,330 ft
Trekking Distance/ Time:8 km/ 5 miles (4-5 hr)

We leave the Camp at 11:30 pm or a bit early after having a little snack/ porridge or soup/ tea or coffee – most of our mountain gears will be left at the Camp already packed for your porters to move all your stuff to Kibo Huts where we will be on our return after the summit late in the morning. We shouldn’t forget head torch, our filled up water bottles & few snacks. The next 5 hours are spent trekking to Stella Point (5,750m) over scree and rock, where we will be rewarded with magnificent and spectacular views of the ice cliffs which surround us, and the majestic views to the Mawenzi and Kibo Peaks – trekking just does not get any better than this! We now make regular rest stops every 15 minutes or so, to aid our chances of reaching to the Peak at 5,895 m/ 19,341 ft. We push on to the summit with an amazing sun rise and aim to reach the top by about 6:30 or 7 am. We start our long descent via Gilman’s Point and back to Kibo Huts, where we will enjoy some lunch and a good rest. Our descent then continues down to Horombo Huts (4,703 m/ 15,430 ft) – today is a very long, emotional day, but at the same time, so memorable and exhilarating. Night Camp: Horombo Huts (3,720m/ 12,205 ft).

Altitude Change: ↑↓1,180 m/ 3,870 ft & Then , ↓ 2,175 m/ 12,700 ft
Trekking Distance/ Time:21 km/ 13 miles (12-14 hr)

Our final descent start with a nice breakfast followed by tipping ceremony; then we continue trekking for about 6 hours to make the 1,880 meters descent back to Marangu gate. Lunch will be served either at Mandara Huts or at Marangu gate. We take the vehicle transfer back to our Lodge in Moshi for a well-deserved hot shower or cool soak in the pool! This evening, we meet as a group to contemplate our achievements with a Great Dinner at your Lodge.

Altitude Change: ↓1,880m/ 6,168 ft
Trekking Distance/ Time: 18 km/ 11 miles (5-6 hr)

After breakfast there may be some free time to relax at the lodge or go shopping in Moshi and then leave your hotel in Moshi for your transfer to the airport to catch your departure flight

Safari and Zanzibar add-ons are available if you wish to continue exploring Tanzania.