5 Days Kilimanjaro Climb Marangu Route
Description
Marangu Route 5 Days Climbing with 2 Nights in Hotel / lodge
Highlights
Highest Point | 5895 m /19340 ft |
Trail Access | Marangu gate via. Moshi Town |
Highlights | Kilimanjaro Summit, Icefields, Mawenzi Peak, Unique Flora |
Trek Duration Options | 5 Days Trekking and 2 Days Extra |
Itinerary
Day 1 Arusha / Moshi (890 m /2,920 ft)
When clients arrive at the Kilimanjaro International Airport or Dar es Salaam International Airport, you will be met at the airport by our representatives and transferred to the hotel in Arusha or Moshi or whichever clients preferred place for overnight. You can start your trek any day, any month of the year!
Day 2 Moshi (890 m/2,920 ft) to Marangu Gate (1,830 m/6,000 ft) approx 45 km, and from Marangu gate to Mandara Huts (2,740 m/9,000 ft) 12 km, 4-5 hours Montane Forest
After breakfast and a briefing from your guide, leave at the Hotel or Residential at 8:00AM, drive for 50 minutes, from Moshi to the Marangu Gate or 2 Hrs and 30 mins, drive from Arusha to Marangu Gate on the eastern side of Kilimanjaro park. After arrived at the gate register with the national park, and begin hiking at round 09:30 am.
A 15 minute side trip to Maundy Crater is a good way to see the surroundings including Northern Tanzania and Kenya. Dinner is served during the early evening at around 07:00 PM. Bathrooms with running water are available at Huts, you will have dinner and overnight at Mandara Huts.
Day 3 Mandara Huts (2,740 m/9,000 ft) to Horombo Huts (3,690 m/12,100 ft) 11 km, 6-8 hours - Heath land.
On this day you will wake up at around 06:30am, prepared for breakfast which you will take at around 07:00am and after breakfast, pack for another day, next trek. Porters will break camp by 8:00AM, and the all group continue hiking to the next Camp. 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 will have Dinner and overnight at Horombo Hut.
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 for acclimatization.
Day 4 Horombo Huts (3,690 m/12,100 ft) to Kibo Huts (4,695 m/15,400 ft) 10 km, 6-8 hours Alpine Desert
You will wake up at around 06:30am and get prepared for breakfast and at around 07:00am you will have a 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. On this day you will have very few hours of sleep, and your night will be very short.
You will have a long walk from Horombo to Kibo Hut and after evening meals at around 06:30pm, you will have a short rest and sleep for 3hrs from 07:30pm, as you will need to wake up at 10:30pm and start getting your summit gears ready. The start to climb to summit will be at around 11:30pm. The goal is to climb before dawn so that you can reach Uhuru Peak shortly after sunrise. Switchback up steep scree or possibly snow, and reach Gilman’s Point on the crater rim at 5,861 m/18,640 ft between 05:00am to o6:00 am.
Day 5 - Summit Day! The hike from 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, 14 km down 10-15 hours walking in Alpine Desert.
You will be already walking more than half way to summit. Here, views of the fabled crater and its icecaps greet you. Sun Rise can be seen at around 05:30am. Another 1 hr to 2 hours of hiking along the crater rim near the celebrated snows takes you to Kilimanjaro true summit, Uhuru Peak, by 07:00am. You are now at Africa’s highest point! After Dinner and get some well-deserved sleep, Overnight at Horombo Hut.
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 attitude will get you there!
Day 6 Horombo Huts (3,690 m/12,100 ft) to Marangu Gate (1,830 m/6,000 ft) to Moshi (890 m/2,920 ft) 18 km, 5-7 hours walking down to Marangu gate
As this will be your last day on the mountain, you will need to wake up as usual at around 06:30am, pack, and then you will get your breakfast at 07:00am and start descend at around 07:45am from Horombo, 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 02:00pm or 03:00 PM. Remember to tip your guides, cooks, and porters, since you will be leaving them here at the Gate, as most of them are living at the home and their villages are just nearby so they will not need to back to Moshi Town with the group and then return back to the mountain in Marangu villages where they stay with their families. A vehicle will take you back to the hotel or similar lodging in Moshi or Arusha, where it is definitely time for celebration!
Day 7 Moshi / Depart to Another Location
Depart for the airport or other destinations in Tanzania or Kenya. A trip to the beaches at Zanzibar is a good way to recuperate. We can arrange many reasonably priced trips and safaris around Moshi or Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar
Important Note/s
Extra Day for Acclimatization (Optional, for climbers with no Mt. climbing experience)
You can add an extra day at the Horombo Huts (3,690 m/12,100 ft). You can spend a full day and a second night at Horombo. The extra day will help you acclimatize, and further your understanding of the mountain’s weather and altitude. After your pause, you will continue up to Kibo Huts on your fourth day for your midnight start to the summit.