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Safari itinerary

Mount Meru — Four Days on the Volcano

Duration 4 days
Group Private departure
Pace Active
Best season June – February

Meru is the mountain people climb instead of Kilimanjaro, or a week before it. Four days up and down, an armed ranger with you the whole way because the lower slopes hold buffalo, and a summit ridge that is genuinely spectacular — a narrow crescent around the blown-out crater with Kilimanjaro floating on the horizon.

As acclimatisation before Kilimanjaro it is close to ideal. As a trip on its own it is quieter, cheaper and, some people will tell you, better.

Parks visited Arusha National Park
Highlights

What makes this trip

  • Giraffe and buffalo on the walk in, with a park ranger
  • The crater rim ridge to Socialist Peak at sunrise
  • Kilimanjaro across the plain from the summit
  • A fraction of the traffic Kilimanjaro carries
  • The best acclimatisation week there is
Day by day

The itinerary

Collected in Arusha and walking by mid-morning. Four or five hours through open woodland with a ranger — giraffe, buffalo and warthog on the way — to the first hut.

Overnight: Miriakamba huts, 2,514 m Meals: L, D

A steeper three or four hours through montane forest and out onto the heath. Afternoon walk up Little Meru for the acclimatisation and the view.

Overnight: Saddle huts, 3,570 m Meals: B, L, D

Leave around two in the morning along the crater rim to Socialist Peak for sunrise, with Kilimanjaro on the horizon. Back down to Saddle for breakfast and on to Miriakamba.

Overnight: Miriakamba huts, 2,514 m Meals: B, L, D

A last two or three hours out through the forest, with time for the Tululusia falls if legs allow, then the drive back to Arusha.

Overnight: — Meals: B, L
The price

What is and is not included

Included

  • All park and rescue fees
  • Guide, assistant guides, cook and porters
  • Mountain tents, mess tent, table and chairs
  • All meals on the mountain
  • Two nights in Moshi, before and after
  • Airport transfers
  • Pulse oximeter checks twice daily
  • Flying Doctors evacuation cover

Not included

  • International flights
  • Tanzanian visa
  • Travel and medical insurance
  • Personal climbing gear and sleeping bag
  • Tips for the mountain crew
  • Drinks and personal items
Before you ask

Common questions

Steeper and more exposed in places, particularly the summit ridge, but a thousand metres lower and two thirds shorter. Most people find the walking harder and the altitude much easier.

Because the lower slopes are inside a national park with buffalo and elephant in it. The ranger is armed and it is a legal requirement, not an upsell.

Finish Meru three to five days before you start Kilimanjaro. Long enough to recover, short enough that you keep the acclimatisation.

Enquire

Ask about this itinerary

Want it longer, shorter, in a different month, or at a different level of camp? Say so — we will price the version you actually want.

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Ask us anything — routes, seasons, camps, budgets. A specialist in Arusha answers, usually the same working day.

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