6-Day Kilimanjaro Climbing via Marangu Route

After breakfast, you’ll be picked up from your hotel and transferred to the Kilimanjaro National Park Gate. Once park formalities are completed, the trek begins through dense rainforest, rich with lush vegetation and home to black-and-white colobus monkeys.

After about four hours of hiking, you reach Mandara Hut, your stop for the day. Following some rest, your guide may take you on a short walk to Maundi Crater for sweeping views toward the Kenyan interior. Dinner and an overnight stay are at the hut.

The day starts with an early breakfast before leaving Mandara Hut. Shortly after, you pass the timberline and enter the heath and moorland zone, where the landscape opens up and vegetation becomes sparse.

After approximately 4–6 hours of hiking, you arrive at Horombo Hut, situated at 3,700 meters. From here, enjoy impressive views of Mawenzi, Kibo, and the vast Maasai Steppe. Dinner and an overnight stay are at the hut.

Today is an important acclimatization day, which plays a key role in improving your chances of reaching the summit. After a relaxed breakfast, you set out on a 4–5 hour hike to Zebra Rocks at 4,020 meters, named for their striking black-and-white stripes.

After returning to Horombo Hut, a warm lunch awaits. The afternoon is free to rest, relax, and prepare for the next stage of the climb.

Today’s stage is long and demanding. The well-defined trail passes the Last Water Point before entering the wide, nearly vegetation-free Saddle, which connects the peaks of Kibo and Mawenzi.

After about 5–6 hours of trekking, you reach Kibo Hut, your base for the summit attempt. An early dinner is served, followed by an early night’s rest in preparation for the long night ascent ahead.

Today is summit day—the most challenging and rewarding stage of the climb. You’ll be woken around 11:00pm, and after a light meal, begin the long ascent while the lava ash is still frozen, making the footing more stable. The climb is steady and demanding, passing Hans Meyer Cave at 5,220 meters as you continue upward through the night.

At sunrise, you reach Gillman’s Point (5,681 m) on the crater rim, where the first light begins to warm the mountain. After another 1–2 hours of hiking, you arrive at Uhuru Peak (5,895 m), the highest point in Africa. Take time to celebrate reaching the “Roof of Africa” before beginning your descent.

The route down follows the same path, now faster as the scree has thawed. Back at Kibo Hut, a warm meal and short rest allow you to recover before continuing the descent to Horombo Hut (3,700 m), where you will spend the night.

The final stage of the trek descends through the heath and moorland zone to Mandara Hut (2,700 m), where a warm lunch awaits. From there, the trail continues through lush tropical rainforest, leading back to the Kilimanjaro National Park Gate (1,860 m) after about six hours of hiking.

At the gate, you say goodbye to your mountain guides and porters before transferring back to Moshi. A hot shower and some well-earned rest mark the successful completion of your Kilimanjaro climb.