6 Days Umbwe Route Kilimanjaro Climb

You will meet our Mangokili Adventures driver at Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO), and he will take you to your hotel in Moshi town. There, you’ll meet your guide. He or she will ask you about your upcoming hike and check your gear to make sure you have everything you need for the mountain. On this day, you can rent the gear you forgot.

Spend the night at the Lindrin lodge or the Park View hotel. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all included in the price.

At 8 a.m., leave Moshi for Umbwe Gate, where you’ll meet our porters, guides, and cooks. They’ll be with you for the next six days as you hike to Uhuru Peak, the highest point in Africa. After you get there, wait at the gate while we sign you up for the climb and the porters and guides finish making final plans. About 6 hours from the gate, your first day’s destination is Cave Bivouac Camp. Some parts of the trail are steep and can be slippery. Walk through Kilimanjaro’s cloud forest, which has trees with moss on them. As the hike goes on, the forest will thin out, and you’ll be able to see heather, tall grass, and wildflowers. Porters and cooks will go ahead of you to set up the camp before you get there.

• The hike takes between 4 and 6 hours and the

-elevation gain is 1,050 meters (3,445 feet).

The first part of the path keeps going along the ridge. When you leave the forest, keep going through the open moorlands until you reach Barranco Camp. Most people think that Barranco, which is surrounded by giant senecios and lobelias, is the most beautiful place to camp on the Umbwe Trail. Barranco is in a valley, so the sun rises later than at the other camps.

• The total gain in height is 1,100 meters, or 3,610 feet
• Time to walk: 5–7 hours

After breakfast, you can leave Barranco Camp and go to Karanga Valley. The first part of the day is a 1.5-hour climb up the Barranco Wall. This is the hardest part of the day, and you might need to use your hands to help you climb in some places. After you reach the top, you can walk on fairly flat ground for a while before taking a short, steep descent into the green Karanga River Valley.

• Elevation Gain: 250 meters, 820 feet • Distance: 7 Kilometers
• Time to walk: 3–5 hours

Start the hike to Barafu Camp after breakfast. On the way to Barafu, you can see some of Kibo’s glaciers and the spot where the Mweka trail and the Machame trail meet. On day four, hike by the Heim, Kersten, and Decken Glaciers. Even though the path to Barafu goes through a barren alpine desert, Barafu Camp has beautiful views of the Kibo and Mawenzi peaks. Try to sleep after dinner, because you have to get up before midnight to hike to the top.

• Change in altitude: 400 meters (1,320 feet)
• Time to walk: 3–5 hours

Start the last climb to Uhuru Peak around midnight. Use your headlamp to walk for the next six hours. The most difficult part of the trek is getting up to the crater rim. The trail is very steep until you get to Stella Point on the edge of the crater.

From Stella Point to Uhuru Peak is a gradual climb that isn’t too hard compared to other hikes. But because of the high altitude, the hike is long and hard. The hike to the crater rim takes about an hour. When you reach Uhuru, take pictures of your guide and the rest of your group at the top before you start going down to Mweka Camp. On the way back down from Uhuru, you can look at the mountain, the crater, the clouds, and the glaciers.

You can eat breakfast and take a short break at Barafu Camp. You still have three to five hours to go until you get to Mweka Camp.

• Elevation Gain: 1,295 meters, 4,240 feet
• Elevation Loss: 2,795 meters, 9,170 feet
• It takes 6 hours to get to the rim, 1 hour to get to Uhuru, 3–4 hours to get back to Barafu, and 4 hours to get to Mweka.

After breakfast, walk through the forest to Mweka Gate to finish the trek. After it rains, the path may be slippery. At the lower station of Mweka Gate, our vehicles will be waiting to take you back to Moshi.

• Drop in altitude: 1,600 meters (5,250 feet)
• The hike will take 4 hours

Stay at the Lindrin lodge or the Park View hotel. The price includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

You have the rest of the day to relax before your flight home after the Kilimanjaro trek. Depending on what time your flight leaves, you could go to Moshi town and buy some souvenirs before heading to the airport. You can add Zanzibar and other places to your trip to Tanzania if you want to see more.

It comes with breakfast.