Description

Mount Kilimanjaro Marangu Route

The Mount Kilimanjaro Marangu Route, which is the easiest and shortest route to Kilimanjaro’s summit and is known as the “Coca Cola” or “tourist” route. This is the only route on Kilimanjaro with the comforts of solar-powered sleeping huts and comfortable beds at every camp. The huts are communal, and each bunk has a sponge mattress and pillow.

There are 60 beds at Mount Kilimanjaro Marangu Route at Mandara and Kibo Huts and 120 beds at Horombo Hut. All climbing groups, often from several countries around the world, share meals in dining huts providing a jovial and energetic atmosphere. Soft drinks, bottled water, and beer may be for sale at the huts. This route is usually done in 5 days, but you can do it in 6 days for better acclimatization. You can spend your extra day resting at Horombo or climbing to a basecamp below Kibo’s sub peak Mawenzi.

Arrive at the Kilimanjaro International Airport – Moshi

You will be met at the airport and transferred to Osy Grands Hotel in Moshi for your overnight. The rest of the day is free. Relax, take a stroll, enjoy the sights and sounds. Get plenty of rest – tomorrow will be huge!

Dinner and Overnight at Osy Grand Hotel

Day 1: Moshi to Marangu Gate

After breakfast and a briefing from your guide, leave Moshi at 9 AM, drive for 45 minutes to the Marangu Gate on the eastern side of Kilimanjaro, register with the national park, and begin hiking at 10:30 AM. In the rainforest, look for towering Eucalyptus trees, bird life, and Colubus monkeys. At these lower elevations, it can be wet and muddy, so gaiters and trekking poles will help. Shorts and t-shirts should be sufficient, but keep your rain gear and warmer clothing handy. Stop halfway for lunch, and reach the Mandara Huts at 2 or 3 PM. Unpack, rest, and have some tea or coffee. A 15 minute side trip to Maundy Crater is a good way to see the surroundings including Northern Tanzania and Kenya. Dinner is served during the early evening at 7 PM. Bathrooms with running water are available.

Day 2: Mandara Huts (2,740 m/9,000 ft)

Horombo Huts (3,690 m/12,100 ft)

11 km, 6-8 hours Heath land

Wake to a 7:30 AM breakfast, and pack for your next trek. Break camp by 8:30 AM, hike for an hour through rainforest glades, then follow an ascending path through heath land where you can look for giant lobelias and groundsels. Continue up into open moorlands where small shrubs are the main vegetation. Stop halfway for lunch, where you can enjoy amazing views of Mawenzi. Arrive at the Horombo Huts by 3 PM, where you can see Kibo’s summit. Rest, unpack, and prepare for dinner. Bathrooms with running water are available.

You may start to feel the effects of altitude here, and to aid your acclimatization, you can choose to spend an extra day resting at Horombo or climbing to a base camp below Kibo’s sub peak Mawenzi.

Day 3: Horombo Huts (3,690 m/12,100 ft) to Kibo Huts (4,695 m/15,400 ft)

10 km, 6-8 hours Alpine Desert

Wake to breakfast as usual, but if you wake early you can get some great photos of the sunrise. The first part of the day’s hike climbs through the dwindling heath land that blends into a moonscape as you enter the sweeping saddle connecting Mawenzi and Kibo. When you stop for lunch, and later when you cross this surprisingly large saddle, you can examine the summit climb up Kibo that you will be starting in just a few hours. Be careful to notice any signs of altitude sickness. There is no running water at the Kibo Huts.

Day 4: Summit Day! Kibo Huts (4,695 m/15,400 ft)

Uhuru Peak (5,895 m/19,340 ft) to Horombo Huts (3,690 m/12,100 ft)

4 km up, 14 km down – 10-15 hours – Alpine Desert

Wake at midnight to a light breakfast, and then prepare for your summit ascent. The goal is to climb before dawn so that you can reach Uhuru Peak shortly after sunrise. Leave at 1 AM, switchback up steep scree or possibly snow, and reach Gilman’s Point on the crater rim at 5,861 m/18,640 ft between 5 and 7 AM. Here, views of the fabled crater and its icecaps greet you. Another 2 hours of hiking along the crater rim near the celebrated snows takes you to Kilimanjaro true summit, Uhuru Peak, by 9 AM. This is Africa’s highest point, and you would have to travel more than 3,000 miles toward the Himalayas to find a higher peak! Be sure to have your picture taken at the summit to show your friends. After your summit stay, descend back to the Kibo Huts, have lunch, rest, collect your things, and re cross the saddle to the Horombo Huts. Eat dinner and get some well-deserved sleep!

You do the beginning of this climb in the dark with headlamps or flashlights. It will be very cold until you start descending, so you will need all of your warm layers. This is, by far, the most difficult part of the trek. Slowly slowly, or, “pole pole,” and an optimistic attitude will get you there!

Day 5: Horombo Huts (3,690 m/12,100 ft)

Marangu Gate  (1,830 m/6,000 ft) to Moshi (890 m/2,920 ft)

18 km, 5-7 hours

Wake as usual, pack, and descend through the moorland to the Mandara Huts. Have lunch there then continue your triumphant recessional down through lush forest to the park gate, which you should reach around 2 or 3 PM. Remember to tip your guides, cooks, and porters, since you will be leaving them here. A vehicle will take you back to the Osy grand Hotel or similar hotel in Moshi, where it is definitely time for celebration!

Dinner and Overnight at Osy Grand Hotel

Day 6: Depart for the airport or other destinations in Tanzania

Depending with the time of your flight departure, our drive will come to the hotel to pick you up for trip to the Airport to catch a flight back home. Or else a trip to the beaches at Zanzibar is a good way to recuperate. We can arrange many reasonably priced trips and safaris around Moshi and the Kilimanjaro region.

Kwa heri ya kuonana – (Good bye and see you again

Included Services

• Local tourist taxes
• Certified Mountain guide and Porters
• Park or reserve entry fees – where applicable
• Guides salary and allowances and park fees
• Game drives or sightseeing as detailed on the itinerary – where indicated
• All meals at hotels as mentioned in the itinerary – ( Breakfast – Lunch – Dinner )
• Pick up from airport of arrival and drop off to the airport of departure while on safari
• Transport based on excellent 4X4 Vehicle (Landcruiser) with open roof for game viewing
• Full board Accommodation and If accommodation is fully booked we’ll suggest a comparable alternative

Excluded Services

• International flights
• Tips and gratuities, which are optional
• Airport customs entry visas (currently US$ 50 per person)

Optional Services

• Extra nights on the Mountain
• Optional Tours, e.g Safari and Cultural Tours

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