Climb Kilimanjaro

Upon your arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport, you’ll be met by a member of the LHO team who will personally pick you up and transfer you in our private shuttle to the hotel. Your LHO Team Leader will be at the hotel to greet you. Once you’ve settled in, your gear will be checked to ensure you have everything you need.

If you arrive early, you can explore the lively town of Moshi at the base of Kilimanjaro. For coffee and pie enthusiasts, we recommend the Union Coffee Shop in town. Your LHO Team Leader will send you a message with more recommendations of things to do closer to your trip date.

On your first night, we’ll gather for a team briefing and dinner at a trendy Moshi restaurant. Sometimes our dinners are hosted at our hotel if we feel that it would give everyone more time to prepare their belongings and get enough rest for the adventure ahead of us. This will be your first chance to meet fellow participants and your lead local guides. It’s also an opportunity to learn about the exciting experience we’ve prepared for you and ask any questions you may have.

Distance: 7.5 KM | Ascent: 817 M | Descent: 11 M | Max Altitude: 2,734 M

Our first day on the trail begins after breakfast and hotel checkout. We’ll head to the Marangu gate by a private shuttle, about an hour’s drive away, where we’ll complete check-in procedures. Checking into Kilimanjaro Park can take around one hour. During this time, we’ll serve a hot lunch at the gate while we prepare for the hike.

The initial part of the trail takes us through the lush rainforest, offering opportunities to spot wildlife, including monkeys. This section showcases the trail’s most beautiful flora, allowing plenty of time for photos. The trail challenge fluctuates between steeper inclines and milder ascents. Our LHO team will be helping you find a comfortable and sustainable pace to walk and enable you to get into the rhythm of Kilimanjaro. We anticipate reaching Mandara Hut (2,734 m), our home for the night, close to sunset, where a delicious dinner will be served.

For many of us, this may be our first time ever in mountain lodges. Not to worry! We’ll give everyone a brief induction about lodge etiquette, where the bathrooms are, where to find things like tea and coffee or hot water for washing up, and what’s the best in-lodge strategy to maximize sleeping comfort.

Distance: 11.7 KM | Ascent: 1041 M | Descent: 39 M | Max Altitude: 3,700 M

On our second day, we start early, with the aim of leaving the rainforest behind and entering the short grass vegetation zone. Our first morning on the mountain can sometimes feel a little overwhelming as we pack up, have breakfast, perform individual health checks, and head out for the first time. You’ll get the hang of it faster than you think, and your LHO Team Leader will be around to help you throughout.

Once we hit the trail, the landscape will transition gradually from jungle to alpine as we ascend to 3,700 meters. The vegetation will start to shrink in size, and the views beyond the mountain will start to open up to us. The feel of the trail is a stark contrast to our previous day. The mud of the rainforest is replaced by dryer soil. The towering vegetation gives way to open views of the summit crater, Mawnzi Peak, and beyond.

A hot lunch will be served at the halfway point along the trail. The Marangu route has designated picnic areas that have fixed toilets as well as tables and benches. After lunch, we’ll continue our gradual ascent.  Horombo Hut is at 3,700 meters. We typically arrive in the mid-afternoon. That gives us just enough time to check in, wash up, and relax before dinner.  The evening offers spectacular sunset views that are unrivaled anywhere else on the mountain.

Distance: 12.3 KM | Ascent: 895 M | Descent: 895 M | Max Altitude: 4,350 M

Day three is an acclimatization day. This means we’ll be heading into high altitude and returning to rest at lower altitudes to allow our bodies to recover. After a relatively late breakfast, we’ll ascend in the direction of Mawenzi, Kilimanjaro’s second-highest crater. The trek passes by a beautiful rock with black and white stripes known as the Zebra rock.

Most expeditions stop here on this day. However, our experience has shown that the mild altitude gain associated with Zebra rock is not enough to properly help our bodies acclimatize and is not worth the effort and energy needed to get there. That’s why we uniquely choose to hike all the way to Mawenzi Hut (4,350 meters), the base camp of Mawenzi Peak. This approach not only offers spectacular views of the second-highest peak of Kilimanjaro but also allows for maximum acclimatization. Lunch will be served at Mawenzi Hut before we return to Horombo Hut for an afternoon of recovery and rest.

Distance: 7.9 KM | Ascent: 460 M | Descent: 282 KM | Max Altitude: 4,700 M

After breakfast, we hike through the moorland and alpine desert of Kilimanjaro’s upper altitudes. Along the way, we’ll pass by the Maua River, a small mountain stream that feels out of place given how dry this section of the mountain is. The river is surrounded by Dendrosenecio Kilimanjaro trees, which are unique to Kilimanjaro.

As we continue, the terrain becomes flatter, and the vegetation begins to disappear altogether. The Kibu crater, Kilimanjaro’s highest crater where Uhuru Peak is located, will be straight ahead of us, with each passing hour bringing the massive cone closer to us. As we approach, we’ll be flanked by two small mountains on either side. This section of the trail is known as the saddle. A hot lunch will be served at a designated picnic area on the saddle before we continue in an eastbound direction to Kibu Hut (4,700 m), the summit base camp of Kilimanjaro.

Distance: 3.2 KM | Ascent: 450 M | Descent: 450 M | Max Altitude: 5,000 M

Most expeditions push to the summit on the night they arrive at Kibu Hut. We’ve found that this falls outside our margin of safety because it does not give trekkers enough time to properly acclimatize. That’s why we’ve included an additional day within the itinerary dedicated purely to recovery, rest, and acclimatization. It isn’t solely a rest day. We will do a short trek up to William’s Point at 5,000 meters to give ourselves that extra opportunity to acclimatize before returning to Kibu Hut for lunch, followed by an afternoon of rest.

A summit briefing will be held at lunchtime where we’ll go through all the details and answer everyone’s questions. We’ll also have an early dinner so that we have enough time to sleep before our wakeup call at midnight.

Distance: 19.2 KM | Ascent: 1196 M | Descent: 2200 M | Max Altitude: 5,895 M

We typically start walking between midnight and 1 am, depending on the overall pace of the group. Before moving, we’ll stock up on snacks and have the opportunity to eat some biscuits and drink hot tea.

The trail starts gradually with long sections of moderate incline as we reach William’s Point. From there the trail navigates between big boulders that increase in numbers the closer we get to the crater rim. The most challenging section of the trail is the final 100 meters to Gilman’s Point largely because of the rocky obstructions on the trail that require some concentration to walk over. Reaching Gillman’s point is always a welcomed relief because the crater rim opens up in front of us, it is possible to see the summit on the other side, and the trail changes from a sustained incline to a flatter surface. The halfway point between Gilaman’s and the summit is Stella Point. This is where all the classic routes of Kilimanjaro merge. From Stella Point, it’s a relatively easy 40-minute ascent with the glaciers of Africa now flanking us on either side and the crater ridge visibly beneath us. On clear days, we can see the vast Savanna plains extending into Tanzania on our left and Kenya on our right. Your LHO Team Leader will be there to capture it all for you so that you can just focus on living these deeply transformative final steps to Uhuru Peak, the summit of Kilimanjaro.

After taking our summit photos and taking it all in, we’ll descend directly to Kibu, where we’ll rest for a couple of hours and have lunch. Following lunch, we’ll continue our descent to Horombo camp where oxygen is high, and the best sleep of your life awaits!

Distance: 19.2 KM | Ascent: 42 M | Descent: 1838 M | Max Altitude: 3,720 M

The last morning is always bittersweet. On one hand, we can’t wait to shower and reflect on the transformational journey we just shared. On the other hand, we are never really ready to say goodbye to the people who made it all possible. This is coupled with the fact that we still have a full day of trekking ahead of us!

Before departing Horombo for the final trek to the gate, our LHO Team will treat us to the customary farewell party at the camp. Our team of porters, guides, chefs, and camp staff will give you a send-off like no other. This will be the last time you’ll see the full team and an opportunity to provide them with a tip. Your LHO Team Leader will brief you privately on how we collect tips for this adventure.

After a full team photo, we’ll make our way down to Mandara Hut for lunch and then onwards to the gate, through the familiar rainforest.

Our teams will quickly perform the check-out procedures. Shortly after, we’ll be on our way to the hotel and the hot showers that we never take for granted ever again!

Our journey comes to an end with a team dinner hosted by your LHO Team Leader and the LHO guides.

The final day is dedicated to airport transfers. Breakfast is included at our hotel. Team members will be shuttled to the airport depending on flight times. Please be sure to communicate the correct flight times when you fill out your Team Details Form prior to this experience. Please make sure to communicate any changes to your LHO Team Leader as early as possible to ensure that arrangements are made.