Dates: January 14-22, 2024
Trip date does not include flights to and from Tanzania. Team members must plan to arrive no later than DAY 1 (January 14th) and depart no earlier than 5:00PM on DAY 9 (January 22nd). Typical flights from the USA to JRO range from around $1,100 to $2,000 depending upon departure airport. Flights are typically cheaper from the nearest major airports such as Chicago/New York/Houston/San Francisco, and we are happy to arrange flights for team members in need of this service. All flights should be purchased as soon as possible after paying your deposit.
Cost: $4,200
- A non-refundable $400 deposit is required at the time of registration to secure your spot on the team.
- $2,100 is due September 15th, 2023
- $4,200 is due November 15th, 2023
What is included:
- All ground transportation to and from the airport and to and from the starting and finishing points of the trek.
- All lodging within Tanzania, including 2 night hotel stay in a lodge near the mountain, and 6 nights in tents along the trek.
- All food within Tanzania, including 3 hot meals each day along the trek prepared by our team of Tanzanian chefs, who specialize in preparing food on the mountain.
- All government fees associated with climbing Kilimanjaro.
- Cost includes private chemical toilets which our team of porters will carry up the mountain to our various camping locations.
- All expeditions on Kilimanjaro require the services of a team of local guides, chefs, and porters. The cost of securing this team is included. Our team will include approximately 1 guide for every 2 climbers, 1 chef for every 5/6 climbers, and 3 porters for every climber. A typical expedition team can be very large.
What is NOT included:
- You are required to purchase your own flights into and out of Kilimanjaro airport (JRO). You are also responsible for paying for the Tanzania visa ($100) upon arriving at JRO.
- You are required to bring your own trekking gear (sleeping bag, day pack, clothes, hiking shoes/boots, etc.). We will provide an extensive and detailed packing/gear list for all of our participants.
- Trip cost does not include tips. You should be prepared to tip somewhere between $300 and $400. This amount covers all of the tips for all guides, chefs, and porters, and is considered quite generous (trust us, they will earn every penny).
Trek Difficulty: Very Difficult
It is possible to summit Kilimanjaro and not be in top physical condition, but we wouldn’t recommend it. Since there are very few technical elements of a Kilimanjaro trek, far too many climbers underestimate it. Most of the people who complete a Kilimanjaro summit will tell you it was the most physically demanding thing that they have ever done. This is due in large part to the extreme elevation (19,341ft) and the fact that the summit push requires a brutal gain of more than 4,000 feet in one long sustained effort.
Consequently, we require all of the members of our Kilimanjaro teams to devote themselves to a prolonged season (3 months minimum) of training leading up to their trek. Typical training will include a mix of smaller training hikes, strength work, and extensive cardiovascular exercise.
We use the completion of a half marathon as a benchmark for our Kilimanjaro trek. Though team members need not “run” a half marathon, we have found that those who cannot cover the 13.1 mile distance in a single effort in a the weeks leading up to their trek will face great difficulty at various points on Kilimanjaro.
Itinerary:
Day 1
Arrive at Kilimanjaro airport, get settled in at our hotel.
Day 2
We will recover from our travels and do a gear check with our guides.
Day 3
We will be transferring to the beginning of the Lemosho route where we will spend a bit of time checking in, connecting with our team of porters, and readying ourselves to begin our trek. This process can take quite a long time (2-4 hours), but it is fascinating to watch our porters weigh in their gear and see just how much they plan to transport up the mountain. After checking in, we will begin our trek in earnest. We will spend 4/5 hours on the trail through the rainforest gaining a little more than 2,000ft elevation until we reach Big Tree camp where we will spend our first night on the trail.
Day 4
Today we will ascend out of the rainforest and into the moorland zone of the Shira plateau. The first half of the day is a much tougher trek than the second half, but we will be ascending up to 12,800ft at Shira 2 camp where we will spend the night. This is the longest mileage day of the trek, so expect to be pretty tired by the end. The views from Shira 2 are spectacular and on a clear day you will get your first glimpses of Kibo peak as you are making the final approach into camp. By the end of day 2, most trekkers will be beginning to feel the effects of altitude and from this point on temperatures on the mountain will range from chilly to very cold.
Day 5
Today is an important day for acclimatization. We will be following the tried and true practice of hiking high and sleeping low. We will begin our day by making our way up the mountain to the lava tower (15,100ft) where we will stop for lunch. If the the weather holds, there is a beautiful view of the summit from lava tower. After lunch, we will make a pretty steep descent down toward Barranco camp (13,066ft).
Day 6
Today we begin our day by climbing the Barranco wall. This is easily the most technical portion of the entire Kilimanjaro trek. Though it is certainly intimidating, most people find this to be one of the most exciting and enjoyable stretches on Kilimanjaro. It is not “easy” to climb the Barranco wall, but those who were able to handle the rigors of the trail and elevation that got them to the wall will almost certainly be able to climb it without too much difficulty. Ascending the wall will take somewhere between 1 and 2 hours, and the views from the top are stunning. After reaching the top of the wall, the trail levels out as you cross a portion of the alpine dessert. Karanga camp (13,106ft), where we will spend the night, will be visible for the last hour and a half of the trek, but just before arriving there, we will descend sharply 400 feet only to immediately climb it right back as we make our way into camp.
Day 7
Today we will make our way up from Karanga camp past Barafu camp (15,236ft) to Kosovo camp (16,100ft). The climb to Kosovo is not particularly long, but it is steep, and unlike all of the previous days of trekking on Kilimanjaro, from this point on, there is will be no up and down…only up. The climb up to Kosovo is really the beginning of the summit push. We will arrive in Kosovo in the late morning in time to have lunch and spend the afternoon resting in our tents. We will meet together for a quick dinner in the early evening and then it is back to our tents. The goal is to get as much rest/sleep as possible to prepare for the incredibly long summit push which will begin at midnight.
Day 8
This day will be one of the longest and most memorable of your entire life. Our team will wake you at 11pm and we will begin our overnight ascent to the summit of Kibo peak at midnight. The trail is steep and watching the seemingly never-ending string of headlamps in front of you can be disheartening, but we will slowly and steadily make our way up the mountain. It is not a particularly long trail, but we will be moving incredibly slowly and somewhere between 6 and 8 hours later we will find ourselves on the crater rim at Stella Point. Watching the sunrise from the rim of the crater is truly majestic, and the combination of joy and exhaustion at reaching the summit rim can produce a lot of emotions. From Stella Point it is a short climb (but it will still take close to an hour) often on ice and snow around the rim of the crater to Uhuru Peak, the highest point in Africa.
We will enjoy a brief time at the summit taking pictures and celebrating before beginning our long journey back down the mountain. Since we will have climbed more than 4,000ft in one effort, we cannot stay long on the summit without risking altitude sickness. The descent is very long and the first two hours of descent are incredibly challenging hiking down steep slopes of scree. You will be so glad to find solid footing as you get closer back to Kosovo camp. The descent from the summit to Kosovo will take around 3 hours, we will get a brief rest in our tents, then lunch, then we will continue to make our way down to Mweka camp (10,065ft). You will not feel at all like continuing down from Kosovo to Mweka, but it is much safer to sleep lower on this night even though it makes for a nearly impossibly long day. All in all, we will be trekking for somewhere between 14 and 17 hours, but despite ascending more than 4,000ft and descending more than 9,000ft, you will feel like a new person with all of the oxygen at Mweka camp.
Day 9
Today is our last day of the trek and everyone will be ready to get off of the mountain. The day begins with 2.5 hours of a somewhat steep climb back down through the rain forrest before leveling out a bit on a 4×4 road that will take us all the way to our finishing point, the Mweka Gate. After taking a few minutes to sign out and receive our summit certificate, we will take our transport back to our hotel.
You will want to have a few dollars (<$5) with you when you arrive at Mweka gate to pay to have your bags, poles, pack cover, and shoes scrubbed. Everything (EVERYTHING) will be dirty when you come off of the mountain so getting everything cleaned for cheap is a great option.
We will all return to our hotel for a much needed shower and dinner. Some people will choose to fly out on this day. As long as your flights are evening departures this will be a possibility. Most team members will choose to rest in our hotel and depart the following morning.
We are also able to add a couple of day safari to the back end of our trip upon request. If you are interested in adding a safari, let us know and we will get you a quote for this service.