Description

DAY1: DRIVE, ARUSHA TO LEMOSHO GATE 7,500ft. THEN HIKE TO FOREST CAMP
9,000ft.
After breakfast at Hotels at Arusha, we drive to Lemosho Gate trailhead, 7,500ft. We do Park entry
formalities and take lunch. After lunch, we start the climb. The hike is through Mountain Rain Forest. On
the way up, we may have the opportunity to see the beautiful Black and White Colobus Monkeys on
trees. After hiking for 2 hours and 30 minutes to 3 hours, we arrive at the Forest Camp 9,000ft. Dinner
and overnight.

DAY2 : FOREST CAMP 9,000ft TO SHIRA 2 Camp 12,500ft .
We take breakfast early and prepare.
Today is one of our longest hiking days. We hike for 2 hours into the Mountain Rain Forest and arrive at
the Heath zone is characterized and dominated by tall Heather plants that will get shorter and shorter
the high we go.
We continue the hike along the Shira Ridge at a slow pace as it is steep and take many water and trail
food breaks. We arrived at the end of the Ridge at the Rim of Shira Caldera, where views of Kibo Peak
above us are exhilarating on clear days. We keep hiking to descend and walk along the Shira Plateau to
arrive at the Shira 1 Camp at 11,500ft. It is where we took our lunch, rested, and refilled with more water.
Now we are on the mixture of Heath and Moorland zones. We take many water breaks as we are
exposed to the Sun and need to wear lots of Sunscreen and wide-brim hats. We continue our hike along
the beautiful Plateau of the Shira Caldera and arrive at our beautiful Camp at Shira 2 Camp at 12,500ft.
Dinner and overnight.

DAY3: SHIRA 2 CAMP 12,500ft TO LAVA TOWER LUNCH SPOT 15,200ft TO
BARRANCO CAMP 13,000ft.
We take breakfast at Shira 2 camp and prepare for a long ascent.
We are heading up to the base of the Mountain at Lava Tower 15,200ft for lunch, spend time
acclimatizing, and descend to our Barranco Camp.
We hike along the Moorland zone and arrive at the Alpine zone. We are above the Clouds and more
exposed to the Sun; therefore, we need good cover from the Sunlight and take water breaks regularly
while ascending at a slow pace to aid in the proper acclimatization. We arrive at Lava Tower at 15,200ft
for lunch, take a short rest, refilled with more water, and then descend for about 2 hours to arrive at
Barranco Camp at 13,000ft for dinner and overnight.

DAY4: BARRANCO CAMP 13,000ft TO KARRANGA CAMP 13,500ft.
We take breakfast,  then bundled up as it is cold as we are at the bottom of a valley above us that has Layers of frozen
glaciers in the Tundra zone.
We prepare to scramble through the Barranco wall, approximately 800ft high. Some of us may feel
comfortable wearing warm gloves. We scramble through this wall that needs certain sections to be
careful and take as much time as we need. We arrive at the top and take a long water break and eat our
trail food to raise our energy levels. We again descend to the Valley and transverse along the Alpine zone
before descent to Karanga Valley and the ascent to Karanga Ridge to our Karanga Camp at 13,500ft for
lunch and rest.
In the late afternoon, we have another optional short nature hike to aid in the acclimatization, and back
to the camp for tea and popcorn: dinner and overnight.

DAY5: KARANGA CAMP 13,500ft to BARAFU CAMP 15,200ft.
After breakfast, We start our hike slowly as we ascend the Alpine desert zone. As usual, we may take several water
breaks before taking the long one at the end of Karanga Ridge. Here, we take a long water break with
trail food. At this location, on a clear day, you can see Barafu Camp on the next Ridge.
We walk along the flat section, ascend to Barafu Camp at 15,200ft for lunch, and prepare for the
midnight Summit attempt. Dinner and overnight.

DAY6: SUMMIT UHURU PEAK 19,340ft AND DESCEND TO MILLENNIUM CAMP
12,700ft OR MWEKA CAMP 10,000ft.
We start our schedule early or late, depending on the group’s strength and level of preparation.
We make a wake-up call at midnight for the group to make their final preparations. Dress warmly. Take
breakfast and start the final push to the Summit. We take a slow but steady pace with breaks to drink
lots of fluids and eat easily digested food to aid in the proper acclimatization and stabilize our body
energy as it is a long ascent followed by a long descent. At Sunrise time, we expect the group to arrive at
the Rim of the Crater at Stella Point at 19,000ft. We take a break, rest, take more water and food
and assess the group’s health and strong.
Then we hike slowly for 90 minutes to arrive at Uhuru Peak, 19,340ft.
Dream of come true, Congratulations!
You are now at the top of Africa.
The World’s highest free-standing single Peak. Time to enjoy and take many photos of the most
beautiful Scenery of the Summit surroundings.
What goes up must go down.
We descend slowly and carefully through the same route to return to our Barafu Camp 15,200ft for a
long rest.
Take lunch and descend to either Millennium Camp 12,700ft or Mweka Camp 10,000ft. This will be
decided by your head guide depending on the group’s strength.
Dinner and overnight.

DAY7: MILLENNIUM CAMP 12,700ft OR MWEKA CAMP 10,000ft TO MWEKA GATE
5,600ft AND THE HOTELS AT ARUSHA.
We take breakfast and organize tipping for our climb crew to reward them as they have done a great job
supporting us in reaching the Summit.
We start the descent to Mweka Gate.
We are tired, and so we descend slowly and carefully. We are on the side of the Mountain facing the
The Indian Ocean; therefore, may be wet, muddy, and slippery. Hiking poles may be beneficial.
We arrive at Mweka Camp, where we do our final formalities of exiting the Mountain and receiving our
Summit arrival Certificates. We take the short drive to the Village Souvenir Center, where we eat our
lunch and have the opportunity of buying the most precious Tanzanite stone and some souvenirs for our
friends back home.
We drive for 90 minutes to arrive at our Hotel in Arusha for a hot shower. Then GET ready for Safari
tomorrow.
END OF THE CLIMB.