Upon
arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport, you will be met by a representative and transferred to your hotel. Nestled in the heart
of a coffee estate, Mountain Village Lodge is an imaginative recreation
of a traditional African village. The lodge offers wide timbered decks
with views over Lake Duluti and traditionally designed rondavel rooms
with a makuti thatch roof made of banana stems. Enjoy dinner at the
lodge.
Day 2
After
breakfast at the lodge, transfer to Arusha National Park. In
anticipation of the climb ahead, acclimate today as you walk with a
ranger through the park. Located between Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru,
Arusha National Park has a wide range of habitat, from the string of
crater lakes with flocks of water birds, to highland mountain forest
and on up to the imposing summit of Mt. Meru. At 14,990 feet, Mt. Meru
is the fifth highest peak in Africa. The mountain forest contains a
wealth of birds and other animals, including bushbuck, easily glimpsed
in the glades between the ancient cedar trees, or black and white
colobus monkey climbing along the branches. The geology of the area is
reflected in the impressive view of the ash cone and cliff face leading
to the summit of Mt. Meru. Enjoy a picnic lunch, followed by afternoon
game drives. This evening, you have a group orientation before you
enjoy a welcome dinner.
Day 3
After
breakfast, you are driven across the Masai Steppe to our trailhead at
the Lemosho Glades at the foot of Kilimanjaro. The drive takes about 3
hours. After the registration that takes about one hour, you drive for
another hour to the trail head. You start with a gentle walk through
St. John's flowers, giant fig and dense forests up to the camp. Your
camp is set up near huts once used for shelter on the mountain. As you
make your way up through the forested terrain, you may see colobus
monkey and signs of elephant.
Hiking time - 5 hours
Elevation - 9,000 feet
Day 4
After
breakfast in the forest, you start a slow walk to aid acclimatization.
Travel through a savannah of tall grasses and bearded heather, ghostly
landscapes of volcanic lava, caves and foamy streams framed by giant
groundsels. Shira offers magnificent views of the Great Rift Valley,
studded with mountains. Among them Mt. Meru and Longido are especially
prominent. With abundant bird life all around you, you trek out of the
forest and walk up into the Hagenia zone - moor land, through a
savannah of tall grasses and bearded heather. At the half way point
between the forest camp and Shira Camp, you stop for lunch. The Shira
Cone rises about 660 meters above the plateau. Beyond it to the west is
the Shira Ridge, a steep rise reaching more than 1300 feet above
plateau level at its trig point. The southern ridge of the Shira
Plateau has two dramatic peaks called Cathedral and the Needle. Your
final destination is the Shira Caldera, a high desert Plateau, where on
clear days you will get views of Kibo. Your camp is set on the Shira
Plateau.
Total hiking time 7 hours
Elevation - 12,000 feet
Day 5
Today
you wake up with a breathtaking view of the entire Western Breech and
Gredner Glacier. You view the Shira Plateau, Shira Needle, and Shira
Cathedral. You might see some eland, buffalo, duikers, and jackals!
Today's route takes you through the immense alpine heather zone
approaching Kibo massif from the west and steadily upward to Shira 2
Camp where you spend the night. Tonight we celebrate the arrival of
2009. Total hiking time - 4 hours
Elevation - 12,535 feet
Day 6
Proceed
steadily upward through the heather and into the barren high-altitude
desert, toward the "Shark's Tooth." The trek is about 2-3 hours to Moir
Camp, one of the least visited camps on the mountain, nestled between
very black and spherical, volcanic topography. The location affords the
stunning views overlooking the Shira Plateau and Amboseli Game Reserve.
At Moir Camp, you can further your acclimatization with a nature hike
down to Fischer Camp named after Scott Fischer, the famous mountaineer;
or you might decide to hike up towards the Gredner Glacier.
Total hiking time - 5 hours
Elevation - 13,900 feet
Day 7
After
breakfast, you continue to acclimatize with a hike up to the Lava Tower
that will take about 4 hours. Deep gorges (barrancos) have been carved
into the soft rocks and ashes of Kilimanjaro. The most impressive of
these is the Great Barranco below the Western Breach (15,100 feet).
Here you feel dwarfed by the immense size of this free standing
weathered rock measuring 320 feet in height. You might attempt to climb
the tower or simply relax and take photos of the Western Breach.
Total hiking time - 4 hours
Elevation - 15,092 feet
Day 8
As
you start getting closer to the summit, you notice more wind and a
significant drop in temperature. At this point the weather becomes
unpredictable and a clear day you see the whole Shira Plateau and Mt.
Meru below you on the Western side. The steep screed paths are
interspersed with rocky steps which require hands to be used and care
to be taken not to dislodge rocks on those below. The crater rim is
reached at about 5700 m and the summit is still about 1 kilometer away
in a straight line but 3 kilometers via Stella Point. First the crater
must be traversed passing the remnants of the Furtwangler Glacier, then
the rim regained by Stella Point before the final section to the
summit. Here you enjoy a hot lunch with a break of about one hour.
Later on you proceed up to the Arrow Glacier Camp at the foot of the
Great Western Breach.
Spend the rest of the day relaxing and acclimatizing or exploring the
surrounding area.
Total hiking time 2.5 hours
Elevation 15,748 feet
Day 9
In
the early morning after your wake up call, you continue to enjoy views
of Western Breach and the Breach Wall. On a clear day you can see some
of the Rift Valley Mountain Giants protruding above the clouds - Mt.
Meru Peak, Londigo, Kitumbeni and Oldonio Lengai. The first phase to
the summit takes about one hour after which you are required to rest
for 10 minutes. This cycle continues for a period of 4 hours followed
by lunch in sub-freezing temperatures. Hot lunch will be served an hour
and a half before the Crater Rim. Your camp will be ready for you on
the Crater floor (18,372 feet). The rest of the day can be spent
exploring the area or relaxing in camp with splendid views of Kibo Peak
and Reusch Crater. Kibo Peak overhead will be seemingly just out of
reach (19,343 feet). Kibo's glacier summit, the highest point in
Africa, is a 1.2 miles x 1.7 miles caldera with an inner crater nearly
a mile wide, and inside that a deep, 1148 feet wide central pit.
Kibo is the best preserved center; it has three concentric craters and
the outer crater rim leads up to Uhuru Summit - the chief summit
waiting to meet your challenge the following morning!
Total hike: 5 - 6 hours from Arrow Glacier Camp to Crater Camp
Elevation: 18,832 feet
Day 10
This
morning you are awakened early to start your final ascent! It will take
you approximately 1.5 hours to climb from Crater Camp up to the Summit.
Once at the summit, which you reach in time to watch the beautiful
sunrise, you can pride yourself on your great achievement - at 19,340
feet, the Uhuru Peak is the highest point in Africa. Uhuru, when
translated from Swahili to English, means Freedom! Enjoy a celebratory
glass of champagne, and take in the breathtaking scenery and abundant
photos. After time on the peak, begin the descent to your last campsite
on the mountain. You leave the snowcap behind, and pass through loose
scree marking the beginning of the familiar ghostlike alpine desert
rocky landscape. The hike will take you down Barafu Valley to your
first stop which will be after 3 hours. From here you continue your
descent for another 1.5 hours to reach the millennium camp and proceed
to Mweka Camp.
Total day hiking: 7.5 hours
Elevation: 10,170 feet.
Day 11
This
morning you experience a different setting all around you - it is
filled with bird life, sounds of Colobus and Blue Faced monkeys in a
land filled with lush forests on the slopes of the silent giant - the
shining mountain or as the Maasai know it as Oldoinio Naibor - the
white mountain. You continue with your descent towards Mweka Gate
through the mountain forest filled with age old trees, vines, orchids,
Spanish moss, flowers, birds and butterflies. You finally reach the
base of the mountain, where your representative
meets you for lunch. Then it is a transfer to Mountain Village Lodge
where a day room is waiting for those returning home on a later flight.
For those continuing your journey on the post Mt. Kilimanjaro Climb
Masai Mara option, enjoy accommodations at the Mountain Village lodge
overnight.
Day 12
Tonight will be spent at the Mt. Village Lodge.
Day 13
Transfer to Kilimanjaro Airport for flight to Masai Mara via Nairobi. Transfer to Olonana.
Days 14-15
Spend
two days in this magnificent savannah country, the northern extension
of the Serengeti ecosystem. On morning and afternoon game drives,
search for impala, Grant's and Thompson's gazelle and lion.
Day 16
Today you fly to Nairobi, with free time prior to this evening's international flight.
*****All itineraries are subject to change without notice.
