Kilimanjaro Challenge: Machame Route Adventure

Arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport, where you’ll be greeted by your guide and transferred to your hotel in Arusha. Relax, meet your team, and go through a trek briefing in the evening, covering details like gear, route, and safety tips.

• Accommodation: Arusha Planet Lodge or similar

Your adventure begins! After breakfast, drive to Machame Gate (1,800m), where your team will handle permits and gear. Start trekking through the rainforest zone, a lush area where you might spot blue monkeys and colorful birds. After 5–7 hours, you’ll reach Machame Camp, surrounded by giant heathers and moss-covered trees.

• Elevation Gain: 1,200m
• Distance: 11 km
• Duration: 5–7 hours
• Accommodation: Machame Camp (tented)

Leave the rainforest behind as you ascend to Shira Camp. The trail becomes steeper, and you’ll start to feel the change in vegetation as you enter the heath and moorland zone. Views of Mount Meru and Kilimanjaro’s peak, Kibo, open up along the trail. After a 4–6-hour trek, you’ll arrive at Shira Camp on a scenic plateau.

• Elevation Gain: 840m
• Distance: 5 km
• Duration: 4–6 hours
• Accommodation: Shira Camp (tented)

Today is an acclimatization day with a gradual ascent to Lava Tower before descending to Barranco Camp. This day helps your body adapt to the higher altitude as you spend time trekking to Lava Tower, then descend to a lower elevation for the night. Lava Tower provides amazing views and a feeling of accomplishment as you reach an impressive height. The trek then leads down to Barranco Camp in a dramatic valley, surrounded by towering cliffs.

• Elevation Gain: 760m (then descend to 3,950m)
• Distance: 10 km
• Duration: 6–8 hours
• Accommodation: Barranco Camp (tented)

Start the day with the Barranco Wall, an exhilarating rock scramble that requires a bit of hands-on climbing but is manageable and safe. After the Wall, the trail smooths out as you trek through a landscape of alpine desert toward Karanga Camp. This camp is another important acclimatization stop, setting you up for a strong summit attempt.

• Elevation Gain: 85m
• Distance: 5 km
• Duration: 4–5 hours
• Accommodation: Karanga Camp (tented)

Today’s hike is relatively short but steep as you make your way to Barafu Camp, the base camp for the summit attempt. Barafu, which means "ice" in Swahili, offers an austere yet beautiful environment with views of the Kibo peak and Mawenzi peak. After arriving, rest, have an early dinner, and prepare for the summit night. You’ll start the climb just after midnight.

• Elevation Gain: 638m
• Distance: 4 km
• Duration: 3–4 hours
• Accommodation: Barafu Camp (tented)

Summit night! Start around midnight, trekking up steep, rocky slopes through the arctic zone. This section is challenging, but after several hours you’ll reach Stella Point (5,739m), where you’ll rest briefly before continuing along the crater rim to Uhuru Peak. Reaching Uhuru Peak at sunrise is a life-changing moment with 360-degree views over Tanzania. After photos, celebrations, and rest, start your descent back to Mweka Camp for your last night on the mountain.

• Elevation Gain: 1,222m
• Elevation Loss: 2,795m
• Distance: 14 km (7 km to summit, 7 km to Mweka Camp)
• Duration: 12–15 hours
• Accommodation: Mweka Camp (tented)

After breakfast, make your final descent through the rainforest to Mweka Gate, where you’ll collect your summit certificate. The journey ends with a drive back to Arusha for a well-deserved rest, a hot shower, and perhaps a celebratory meal with your fellow trekkers.

• Elevation Loss: 1,430m
• Distance: 10 km
• Duration: 3–4 hours
• Accommodation: Arusha Planet Lodge or similar