info@gemukaadventures.com   || +255 785 463 870

7 Days Kilimanjaro Machame Route

Be inspired to climb the Machame route with Gemuka Adventures.

Trip Overview

7 Days Kilimanjaro Machame Route

Kilimanjaro Machame Route is the second most popular route, 26 km long, and it is considered the most beautiful route up Kilimanjaro. With a gradual ascend through the forest you emerge to see wide views of the moorland on Shira plateau, Kibo and Western Breach. The different kinds of vegetation found along the route, make it the most scenic route. The accommodation is in mountain tents.

Please Note: We only organize private treks, there will be only yourself and your travel partner(s) on the tour!

This itinerary starts and ends in Arusha or Moshi. An additional day’s stay in Arusha can be booked for an extra.

You arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport in Arusha after a 9–12-hour flight. Upon arrival, you will be transferred to your hotel in Arusha for dinner and night. You then spend the day preparing for the trek ahead. At the mandatory briefing, you go through everything that will happen in the next few days, you double-check all the equipment, and not least, you get to know hiking! In the evening, you enjoy a good dinner at the hotel in good company. Then you are ready to go to bed, more excited than ever!

Dinner and night at Mount Meru Game Lodge.

Starting from Arusha/Moshi, you start the day with a bus trip to Machame Gate. There, among other things, you get your hiking permits approved. Along the way to the gate, you’ll pass the coffee, and banana plantations. You have lunch at the entrance to the national park before starting a hike on a path through a dense and humid jungle. In the evening you arrive at the Machame Camp, and eat a good and nutritious dinner together in the fair tent, prepared by your company chef.

Elevation: 5,380 ft to 9,350 ft

Hiking Time:  5-7 hours

Distance: 11 km | 7 miles

Habitat: Rain Forest

All meals included.

Today’s segment of the ascent will continue across beautiful heath land and afro-alpine moorland with magnificent views of Kilimanjaro Peak. We begin up the steep track through a savannah of tall grasses, and trees of Giant Heather and Erica. Scramble around large boulders as you enter the moorland zone, marked by lobelia and senecia plants, and volcanic rocks draped with lichen beards, which protect wild alpine flowers growing at their bases. We’ll overnight at Shira Camp (12,615 feet, 4-5 hours of walking).

All meals included.

We’ll draw nearer the peak as we get closer to the Lava Tower. The trek becomes a bit more strenuous as the trail steepens on the approach to the lava Tower, a 300 foot tall volcanic plug which marks an exposed pass at 15,000 feet. In the afternoon, descend the steep track into the Great Barranco Valley. Barranco Camp is set on a col (flat area) enclosed on three sides with steep valley walls and the Kibo massif itself. Hanging glaciers glint in the sunshine above, amidst the eerie landscape of plants such as the giant groundsels (SenecioKilimanjari), and the uniquely endemic Giant Lobelia. Then we slowly ascent to our overnight stop at Barranco Camp (12,990 feet, 5-6 hours of walking).

All meals included.

The day will begin with a descent into the Gorge, before we climb its eastern wall where we will enjoy views of Kilimanjaro’s ice fields, an equatorial anomaly. We will continue trekking following the lava ridge to the Barafu Camp. The temperature will grow colder and the landscape more sparse as we near Barafu Camp. Barafu Camp is set on a small, exposed flat area on a ridge, acting as a base camp from which you will make your summit attempt at midnight tonight.

Barafu Camp (15,225 feet, 6-7 hours of walking)

Just after midnight we are starting a challenging trek (12-18 hours of trekking). You begin trekking at 12:00 to 1am, passing between the Rebmann and Tarzel glaciers to the rim at Stella Point. The temperatures range from just below freezing at midnight, to between 10 deg. F (-12 deg. C) To –10 F. (-23 deg. C) Just before dawn at the summit. As dawn nears, we’ll summit at Uhuru Peak, the highest point in Africa at 19,340 feet. Uhuru will be the culmination of – and the reward for – 6-7 hours of strenuous hiking. We’ll then descend back to Barafu Camp, resting for a while before continuing our descent to Mweka Camp (10,105 feet, 3-4 hours of walking on the descent).

All meals included.

We’ll make our final descent to the park gate, a walk of about 2 to 3 hours. After bidding our farewells to our guide and porters, we’ll take you to Arusha or Moshi for extension.

End of 7 Days Kilimanjaro Machame Route

Quick Booking/Inquiry Form

WHY BOOK WITH US?

Trekking & Climbing