Kilimanjaro National Park

Size Uhuru Peak 5,895 m — the highest point in Africa

Best time January to mid-March and June to October

Getting there Moshi is 1 hr from Kilimanjaro International (JRO)

Location Moshi, Kilimanjaro Region

Kilimanjaro is a walk, not a climb — which is what makes it possible for people who have never held an ice axe, and what makes it dangerous for people who underestimate it. Nothing on the standard routes is technical. Altitude is the whole difficulty, and altitude is beaten with days, not fitness.

That is why we will talk you out of the five-day Marangu route if you ask for it. Lemosho over seven or eight days, or Machame over seven, gives your body the nights it needs to adapt and gives you a summit attempt you might actually enjoy. The extra two days cost less than a failed attempt.

You walk through five distinct zones on the way up: farmland, rainforest, heath and moorland, alpine desert, and finally the arctic summit. Very few places on earth let you cross that much of the planet’s climate in a week on foot.

Where it is

How to get there

By air — Kilimanjaro International (JRO) is about an hour from Moshi, where climbs are briefed and start.
By road — Moshi is roughly 90 minutes from Arusha, and the route gates are one to three hours from Moshi.

Best time to visit January to mid-March and June to October

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What to see

Attractions

01

Uhuru Peak

5,895 metres, and the highest point you can walk to anywhere on earth. Summit night starts around midnight so you arrive with the sunrise.

02

The Shira Plateau

A high, open collapsed caldera on the western side. The Lemosho route crosses it on days two and three, and a one-day hike up here is possible if you are not climbing.

03

The Barranco Wall

A 250-metre scramble that looks impossible from the campsite below and turns out to be a walk with your hands in. The best morning on the mountain.

04

The glaciers

What is left of the ice cap on the crater rim. It has lost the large majority of its area in a century, and it is worth understanding what you are looking at.

What to do

Activities

Lemosho route

Seven or eight days from the west. The best acclimatisation profile of the standard routes and the quietest first two days. What we recommend.

Machame route

Seven days, busier, and a shorter drive to the gate. Climbs high and sleeps low, which is exactly what you want.

Shira Plateau day hike

One day at altitude without committing to a week. You drive to the Shira gate and walk from there.

Forest and waterfall walks

Materuni falls and the coffee farms on the lower slopes above Moshi — a good half day either side of a climb.

Itineraries

Trips that include Kilimanjaro National Park

Best summit odds

8 days Private or group

Kilimanjaro — The Lemosho Route in Eight Days