DAY-0 | Arrival at {JRO}

Upon arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport you will be met by a member of the Expect in Africa Safari team who will transfer you by road to your hotel.

Accommodation : Arusha Gold Crest Hotel
Meals : Dinner & Breakfast

DAY- 1 | Depart from Arusha to Umbwe Gate to Umbwe Camp

Following an early breakfast with briefing from your guide at 9 am our staff will take you on the hour-long drive from your hotel in Arusha to the Umbwe village where your guides and porters will prepare your equipment and supplies. Kilimanjaro Park registration will be completed here and you will also receive your lunch pack. After registration, you will begin your ascent from the Umbwe gate and continue on a small vehicle path until you reach the signage notifying you have reached the Umbwe Trail. You will then climb for 5-6 hours through dense rain forest. It is impossible to miss the giant fig trees and rubber trees as in some places, their roots have overtaken the path. Although, sometimes slippery themselves they can make for good footholds when the path becomes sloppy with mud after a rain. Umbwe Camp is inside the forest and will your first stop. When you arrive, you will find your camp and tent is already set up by the porters who ran ahead. They will bring you boiled drinking water and washing water in preparation for dinner.

• Rising (ft): 5,905ft /1,800m to 9,190ft /2,800m
• Stretch: 8 km
• Hiking time: 5-7 hours
• Climatic habitat: Rain Forest

Accommodation : Umbwe Camp
Meals : All meals included

DAY- 2 | Umbwe Camp Barranco Camp

You will continue on an exposed ridge that offers you with your first view of Uhuru Peak if the clouds have parted enough. After lunch, you begin to enter into the semi-desert terrain when you trek through a garden of Senecio plants. These odd looking groundsels resemble something like a pre-historic cactus. Once you reach Barranco Camp, your porters will boil drinking and washing water before serving dinner. While you wait for your dinner you will have a chance to experience one of the most memorable sunsets you have ever seen as the sun drops through the valley. Pay attention to your body and keep your guide informed of any signs of altitude sickness

• Rising (ft): 9,190ft /2,800m to 12,800ft /3,900m
• Stretch: 8 km
• Hiking time: 4-5 hours
• Climatic habitat: Moorland

Accommodation : Barranco Camp
Meals : All meals included

DAY- 3 | Barranco Camp Acclimatization

We will spend day 3 exploring near Barranco Camp for much-needed acclimatization. Keep your camera handy to capture the scenery of the groundsel-clad campsite. Many trekkers rank this as their favorite camp on this trail, which another reason this is perfect spot for your acclimatization day.

• Stretch: 10 km
• Hiking time: 7 hrs
• Climatic habitat: Moorland

Accommodation : Barranco Camp
Meals : All meals included

DAY- 4 | Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp

After breakfast, we continue up a steep ridge to the great barranco wall, and then you climb this imposing obstacle, which turns out to be easier than it looks. Topping out just below the heim glacier, you can now appreciate just how beautiful Kilimanjaro really is. With kibo's glaciers soaring overhead, you descend into the lush karanga valley to the karanga valley campsite. From the camp, you can look east and see the jagged peaks of mawenzi jutting into the African sky. After a hot lunch in camp, your afternoon is at leisure for resting or exploring. This short day is very important for your acclimatization, since your summit push is about to start. Scramble easily to the top of the great barranco and then a traverse over screes and ridges to the karanga valley campsite

• Rising (ft): 12,960ft /3,950m to 13,780ft/4,200m
• Stretch: 7 km
• Hiking time: 4 hours
• Climatic habitat: Moorland

Accommodation : Karanga Camp
Meals : All meals included

DAY- 5 | Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp

Depart heading to east crossing over multiple ridges and valleys until you join up with the Mweka Route and turn left to continue up the ridge for an hour to reach the Barafu Hut. You will arrive at camp to find your tent pitched on a rocky ridge with high winds. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the camp before dark to be safe. Also, have your headlamp/flashlight handy if you need to leave the tent after dark. You will prepare your equipment (replace batteries for headlamp and camera) before you go to bed by 7 PM and try to catch a few hours of shuteye before your summit attempt.

• Rising (ft): 13,780ft / 4,200m to 14,930ft / 4,550m
• Stretch: 5 km
• Hiking time: 3-4 hours
• Climatic habitat: Alpine desert

Accommodation : Barafu Camp
Meals : All meals included

DAY- 6 | Barafu Camp to Uhuru Peak to Mweka Camp

Start your night at 11:30pm for tea or coffee and biscuits and then depart Barafu on your bid for the peak. You will climb 6 hours through thick scree following multiple switchbacks between the Ratzel and Rebmann glaciers until you reach Stella Point (18,650 ft/5,685 m). You have just completed what most climbers consider to be the most challenging part of their trek. Depending on your pace to this point you may get the chance to enjoy the majestic sunrise during your short rest here. Although you will be fatigued it is important to keep moving due to the extreme cold. At Stella Point you have joined up with the last bit of the Marangu Route. You will hike along the rim for another 1-2 hours until you reach your ultimate goal of Uhuru Peak. You will have time to take pictures with the world-famous Uhuru Peak sign but it is important to begin your descent soon in order to allow yourself enough time to rest at the Barafu Camp. After a 3-hour descent down sliding scree, you will reach Barafu to have a short rest while you collect your gear and then continue down the path back into the forest camp of Mweka. You might experience a little rain in the afternoon so be sure to have your rain gear in your daypack.

• Rising (ft): 14,930ft / 4,550m to 19,340ft / 5,895m to 10,170ft/ 3,100m
• Stretch: 7 km up and 22 km down
• Hiking time: 8 hours up, 9-10 hours down
• Climatic habitat: Arctic

Accommodation : Mweka Camp
Meals : All meals included

DAY- 7 | Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate

After a well-deserved breakfast, it is a short, scenic, 3-hour hike back to the park gate. Remember to tip your staff at the gate. At mweka gate, you can sign your name and add details in a register. This is also where successful climbers receive their summit certificates. Climbers who reached stella point are issued green certificates and those who reached uhuru peak receive gold certificates. From the mweka gate, you will continue down to the mweka village, possibly a muddy, 3 km, 1 hour hike if the road is too muddy for vehicles. In the mweka village you will be served a delicious hot lunch after which you are driven back to Arusha for an overdue hot shower and comfortable night at your hotel in Arusha.

• Rising (ft): 10,170ft / 3,100m to 6,500ft / 1,980m
• Stretch: 10 km
• Hiking time: 3-4 hours
• Climatic habitat: Rain Forest

Accommodation : Arusha Gold Crest Hotel
Meals : Dinner & Breakfast