8 Days Machame Route

Day 1:

Mount Meru Game Lodge, Usa River

After clearing with customs and Immigration formalities at the airport, you will be met by your driver guide for the short transfer to your Lodge, nestled between the peaks of Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro. Spend the rest of the afternoon at leisure or visit the Game Sanctuary that has for many years provided a safe haven to African plains game.

Set 23 kilometres east of Arusha, Usa River is the capital of Tanzania’s Meru District and lies between the Ndurdoto Crater and Arusha National Park. Dotted with numerous eco-lodges and other accommodation options, the town provides an ideal base for exploring the magnificent surrounding natural landscapes. Visit the seven Momela Lakes to see vast swathes of pink flamingos, and look out for buffalos and waterbuck. The park offers an array of safari tours and the chance to see unique primates such as blue monkeys, albino baboons, and colobus monkeys (this is the only place in Tanzania’s northern safari circuit where they can be found). The spectacular Mount Meru is a fantastic achievement to climb and provides unparalleled vistas of Kilimanjaro. At Usa River’s Cultural Arts Centre, take part in drum-making and Tanzanian cooking classes or visit traditional Maasai and Meru bomas.

Overnight: Mount Meru Game Lodge

Set in beautiful and tranquil surroundings, the Mount Meru Game Lodge is nestled between the Usa river and the sanctuary. The sanctuary is home to water buffalo, birds and monkeys, including the elusive Colobus monkey. Conveniently located just 30 minutes from Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA), the lodge is an ideal starting point for your safari.

The lodge & sanctuary date back to 1959 when Dr. Von Nagy bought the property as a family home. The main building dates back to the 1930's and was originally the farm manager's house. In the first half of the 1900's most of the area on the southern slopes of Mount Meru were coffee plantations.

Dr. Von Nagy's was passionate about animals and he quickly turned his family home into an animal sanctuary and orphanage. He setup the Mount Meru Wildlife Reserve in order to protect the wildlife on Mount Meru, what is now part of Arusha National Park. He also helped the government to establish the Wildlife Collage and used his animal sanctuary and orphanage as a training facility for the students. His home and passion attracted visitors from far and wide, rooms were added to accommodate his visitors and the lodge was born.

Day 2:

Machame Camp, Mount Kilimanjaro

Breakfast at your hotel. Please seek assistance from the reception staff at the lodge to assist store your excess luggage. We have arrangement with all hotels that we put our clients, that clients can leave excess bags at the hotel at no extra charge. At 8:00m meet your guide at the lodge reception and depart to Machame Gate. The drive from Arusha to Machameg gate is around 2 hours, from Arusha town is around 2hours. Please note that you will need to know your passport numbers in order to complete your registration cards. You are advised however to leave your valuables including your passport, in the lodge safe, except for the amount in US Dollars that you will be budgeting to tip your support staff.

Trek from Machame Gate (1828m) to Machame Camp (3020m). The distance is10.8km,over 1200m of elevation gain. Today can be quite tiring, particularly the final two hours.

Kilimanjaro's snow-capped peak is one of the most awe-inspiring sights in Africa. Straddling the Kenya/Tanzania border, the iconic Mount Kilimanjaro rises up to an impressive 5896 metres above sea level. It is one of the world's highest volcanoes, the highest mountain on the African continent, and the highest free-standing mountain on earth; making it an international destination attracting trekkers and mountaineers from around the globe. Set within the Kilimanjaro National Park, Kilimanjaro emerges from the sprawling plains of Tanzania and boasts dense tropical rainforests, glacial ice fields, moorlands, and mystical moonscapes. Take on the colossal challenge of climbing this majestic mountain, explore the lush forested foothills, soak up the breathtaking views or take a wildlife safari and spot some of Africa’s diverse wildlife including: elephant, buffalo, leopard, duiker, eland, hyrax, blue monkeys and more.

Overnight: Machame Camp

The Machame Camp is one of the first pitstops along the Machame Route of Mount Kilimanjaro. From the Machame Gate, climbers will hike for about 7 hours through the rainforest to get to Machame Camp. They would overnight at the camp before heading through the moorland towards Shira Camp.

Day 3:

Shira Camp, Mount Kilimanjaro

Trek from Machame Camp to Shira Camp (3847m) on southern edge of Shira Plateau. It is normal to experience mild headaches on this day, which should be alleviated with paracetamol. Those choosing to take Diamox should begin their course this morning with half a tablet (125mg) in the morning and the other half prior to supper in the evening. Distance hiked today is5.2km.

Overnight: Shira Camp

Shira Camp forms part of the second leg of the journey up Mount Kilimanjaro. There are 2 camps - Shira Camp 1 on west side and Shira Camp 2 on the east. The Shira Plateau landscape features a tropical rainforest and shrubland where a range of flora and fauna species are found. Climbers might also spot the White Naped Raven.

Day 4:

Karanga Camp, Mount Kilimanjaro

Breakfast. Trek from Shira Camp to Lava Tower (4642m). If the weather’s good you can ask your guide to guide you to the summit of the Lava Tower (4688m) where the views are excellent. Lunch is normally taken at the foot of the tower. Descend from Lava to Barranco Camp (3984m). Distance from Shira to Lava Tower is7.0km.Distance from Lava Tower to Barranco is3.7km.

Arrive at camp, refresh (each couple will be supplied with a bowl of hot water for washing), and enjoy dinner prepared by your cook with passion!

Trek from Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp (4040m) via the 257m high Breach Wall across the valley from Barranco. You should be aware that there are three rises and falls before reaching Karanga Camp where we have lunch and overnight at4040m.

Overnight: Karanga Camp

On day 4 of the route up Mount Kilimajaro, climbers would reach the Karanga Camp. The journey would take about 5 hours and climbers get to experience the alpine desert landscape of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Day 5:

Barafu Camp, Mount Kilimanjaro

After breakfast at the camp, We depart from Karanga the route ascends 640m to Barafu. Distance from Karanga to Barafu is3.0km.It is advantageous to have a mental image of today’s profile so you don’t get psyched-out by all the rise and fall:

Overnight: Barafu Camp

Mount Kilimanjaro climbers would approach Barafu camp at about the 5th day of the journey. The word 'barafu' is the Swahili word for 'ice', which refers to the cold climate at this altitude.

Day 6:

Mweka Camp, Mount Kilimanjaro

Around midnight (your guide will judge the time that is optimal for you based on your pace thus far) quit camp for the assault via Stella Point (5752m) to the summit. Tonight is very difficult – particularly the final 500m – and you’ll need to commit to fight for the summit. You will inevitably feel like giving up and going to sleep.This is normal and can be overcome with perseverance.When resting please ensure you only stand or sit anddo not lie down or close your eyes.Please trust your guide; he is very adept at judging whether your condition will allow safe progress or whether you have succumbed to a potentially dangerous condition and to proceed will not be safe. Nausea and headaches are normal and around a quarter of climbers will vomit at or near Stella Point. While very uncomfortable, these are not symptoms that are indicative of being at risk, per se. The onset of cerebral and pulmonary oedema are marked by distinctive early warning symptoms that your guide is capable of identifying. Please maintain regular dialogue with him and frequently update him on how you are feeling.

When you reach Stella Point you will sit and rest. At this point the body often thinks you have finished your uphill fight and will be trying to coerce you into giving up and turning around. While you may genuinely believe that you have already exhausted your reserves in reaching this point, this is actually very unlikely to be so.Remember that you are only 143 vertical metres short of the summit,the journey from here is much less steep, and you have plenty of time for further pauses. If you do feel the need to give up at Stella Point please proceed towards the summit for just two minutes before making your final decision. In most cases this act of re-establishing momentum is enough to persuade the mind and body to co-operate with your intentions and you will ordinarily find hidden reserves for a final push, reserves that you were not aware you still had. Almost there!

Keep your thoughts positive, as your thoughts become your words, Keep your words positive, as your words become your actions, Keep your actions positive; as your actions become your destiny you can do it!

On the summit your guide will advise how much time you can spend there in consideration of your condition, your timings, and the weather. The brain does not function very intelligently at this altitude so please remember to take many photographs in all directions or you will probably regret not having done so at a later stage.

From the summit you will descend to Stella Point and from here your guide may opt to switch left onto the loose scree, a departure from the ridge up which you ascended. On arrival at Barafu your tents will still be erected and ready for you to rest an hour or so before continuing the descent after some refreshments.

From Barafu you will usually descend to Mweka Camp (3090m) for overnight. If your guide judges that a shorter day will benefit you and preserve sore knees and ankles, he may decide to stop short at Millennium Camp (3820m) instead.

Distances on summit day

Barafu to Stella Point:3.3km

Stella Point to Summit:1.2km

Summit to Barafu: 4.5km

Barafu to Mweka Camp:6.3km

Total = 15.3km

Overnight: Mweka Camp

Mweka Camp is the final campsite on the journey up Mount Kilimanjaro. Climbers would arrive here after a 7 hour hike from Summit Uhuru Peak.

Day 7:

Mount Meru Game Lodge, Usa River

Descend from Mweka Camp (or Millennium) to Mweka Gate (1641m). Transfer from the gate back to Moshi. You should return back to Moshi sometime between 2 and 5pm, depending on whether you slept at Mweka or Millennium, and on your descent pace. Distance from Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate is 8.5km.

Overnight: Mount Meru Game Lodge

Set in beautiful and tranquil surroundings, the Mount Meru Game Lodge is nestled between the Usa river and the sanctuary. The sanctuary is home to water buffalo, birds and monkeys, including the elusive Colobus monkey. Conveniently located just 30 minutes from Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA), the lodge is an ideal starting point for your safari.

The lodge & sanctuary date back to 1959 when Dr. Von Nagy bought the property as a family home. The main building dates back to the 1930's and was originally the farm manager's house. In the first half of the 1900's most of the area on the southern slopes of Mount Meru were coffee plantations.

Dr. Von Nagy's was passionate about animals and he quickly turned his family home into an animal sanctuary and orphanage. He setup the Mount Meru Wildlife Reserve in order to protect the wildlife on Mount Meru, what is now part of Arusha National Park. He also helped the government to establish the Wildlife Collage and used his animal sanctuary and orphanage as a training facility for the students. His home and passion attracted visitors from far and wide, rooms were added to accommodate his visitors and the lodge was born.

Day 8:

End of Itinerary

After breakfast, check out and transfer to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your departure flight back home.

End of Our Service.