Today, your driver will pick you up and drive you to Londorossi Gate to arrange the paperwork (entry formalities). Then drive for about an hour to the Lemosho trailhead. Upon arrival at the trailhead, we eat lunch, before we start walking for about 3 hours through the forest, to the first campsite. This charming camp is situated under a big tree and with plenty of monkeys and birds around.

Early in the morning, we set off for the next camp and hiked through forests, savannahs, and heather. Halfway through, stop to have lunch and enjoy the great views of the Shira Ridge. After a long hike, we reach the Shira Plateau, one of the highest altitudes in the world. If you stand on the plateau, you can see Kilimanjaro’s impressive Kibo Peak. We made a gentle descent to Shira 1 Camp.

Enjoy the amazing views this morning and try to spot wildlife, such as antelope, jackals, and buffalo. We hike for about 4 hours through the alpine heather zone towards Kibo’s Peak, across the Shira Plateau, to Shira Camp 2 in the moorland fields. We continue to Moir Hut, a spot on the base of Lent Hills. A variety of walks are available on Lent Hills, which gives your body time to acclimate to the altitudes of Kilimanjaro.

We leave the camp in the morning to hike for about 3 hours to the Lava Tower. This is a large rock formation that was formed from lava when Kilimanjaro was still an active volcano. We now descend the valley to Barranco Camp, located below the Great Barranco Wall. Here we rest, enjoy dinner, and stay overnight. Your day starts and ends at the same elevation to give your body time to acclimatize and prepare for the summit day.

This is one of the best and most adventurous parts of the route. After breakfast, we start with a descent to the base of the Barranco Wall and continue climbing up a steep cliff. Enjoy the amazing sightings of Kibo and Mount Meru. We leave Barranco and continue on a steep ridge, passing the Barranco Wall, to the Karanga Valley campsite. This is a short day to give your body time to adapt and acclimatize.

After breakfast, we leave Karanga and continue up to the Barafu Hut for about 2–3 hours. At this point, you have views of the summit from many perspectives. Here we make camp, rest, enjoy an early dinner, and prepare for the summit at midnight. This is the last night before we summit the mighty Kilimanjaro. You can already see the peaks of Mawenzi and Kibo from this location.

At midnight, we started the most challenging part of the hike. It begins with a rocky part and zigzags to the crater rim at Stella Point (18,600 ft). From Stella Point, it’s just another hour to Kilimanjaro’s summit (Uhuru Peak). If you reach the summit on time, you can see the most beautiful sunrise ever. Enjoy the overwhelming sense of achievement. It’s time for a short celebration and to take awesome pictures. From the summit, we make our descent to Mweka Camp, stopping at Barafu for lunch. This is a tough climbing day (8–14 hours) from Barafu Camp to the summit and back to Barafu Camp. The last challenge is another 2-4 hours downhill from Barafu Camp to Mweka Camp.

This last hike down takes you through the forest to the Mweka Park Gate, where you receive your summit certificates. At these lower elevations, it can be wet and muddy. Shorts and T-shirts will probably be plenty to wear. From the gate, you continue another hour to Mweka Village. A vehicle will meet you at Mweka Village to drive you back to the hotel in Moshi or Arusha.