​​

A free-standing, snow-covered dormant volcano, majestic Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa.  Located in northeast Tanzania, it can be seen from far into Kenya and Amboseli National Park.

75,000 people climb Kilimanjaro every year so it is not the most untouched mountain, nor is it the most arduous.  However, it is certainly a test of one’s endurance, with altitude sickness the main reason for climbers not to summit.  Although it has become a very popular challenge and the experience slightly crowded with other climbers, we still highly recommend it for anyone with even a vague interest in mountaineering.

Mt Kilimanjaro is located in North Tanzania next to some of the top safari parks in Africa, so while making an ascent its rude not to pop infor a few days to experience the Serengeti, Ngorongoro or Tarangire.
 

How high is Kilimanjaro?

 
Once you have reached the summit, you will be standing 5,895m or 19,340 feet high as Kilimanjaro is the highest free-standing mountain in the world. By comparison Everest is 8,848m. It is also commonly known as the roof of Africa, as it towers over East Africa, and the whole continent for that matter. It is so big, that if you stand at the bottom, you usually can't really see it...  
 

Mount Kilimanjaro Weather

 
March to end of May is the wet season on Mount Kilimanjaro and not a great time for trekking
 

How long does it take to climb Kilimanjaro

 
This does depend on route, but the fastest assent can take 4 nights, though most people take 6-8 nights depending on route
 

Overall Fitness Required

 
Although it is possible to simply trek a route to the pinnacle of Kibo without relying on professional climbing equipment, it remains a hard and serious endeavour that requires a level of physical fitness, stamina and a realistic awareness of the potentially damaging effects of high altitudes. We advice clients consult a doctor before attempting to scale the mountain, and have a physical check-up for overall fitness.
 

Climbing Kilimanjaro | The Phases

 

First Stage, Tropical Forest

 
With most of the old lowland forest now cultivated and settled, the first experience of the mountain environment begins with the dense vegetation of tropical montane forest between 1850m and around 2800m.

Cloud condensation mainly gathers around the forest, so this area is usually damp or drenched with rainfall, creating an intriguing mass of plant life and running rivers between endemic tree species. The area of heath just beyond the tree line also enjoys a relatively misty and damp environment as cloud clings around the density of trees. This is covered with heather and shrubs such as Erica Arborea and Stoebe Kilimandsharica, and a number of dramatic looking Proteas.
 

Open Moorland

 
From around 3,200m a wide expanse of moorland extends beyond the heath and the cloud line, so that here the skies are generally clear, making the sunshine intense during the days and the nights cool and clear.

The climbing incline remains gentle, but thinning oxygen provides less fuel to energise the muscles and can dramatically slow the pace of walking. Hardy endemic species of Giant Groundsels (Senecio) and Lobelia (Deckenii) towering up to 4m high thrive in this moorland zone and give the landscape a strangely primeval atmosphere.
 

Alpine Desert, Sparse Vegetation

 
Even higher, beyond 4,000m, oxygen levels are depleted further as the landscape develops into a more bizarre alpine desert, with sandy loose earth.  Weather conditions are so intense and temperature fluctuations so dramatic that barely any plant species survive other than everlasting flowers, mosses and lichens. Only the odd lichen survives beyond 5000m, after Kibo Huts and beyond the Saddle, where the landscape is predominantly rock and ice fields. Here, climbers experience the final steep push to the summit.
 

Saddle to Summit

 
The easterly routes, Marangu, Mweka, Loitokitok and Rongai all converge west of the saddle near Gillmans Point, between the peaks of Mawenzi and Kibo. Kibos crater is roughly circular with an inner cone extending to 5,800m, (100m lower than the summit at Uhuru Peak).
 

​

Getting there
- 128 km (80 miles) from Arusha.
- About one hour’s drive from Kilimanjaro airport.

​

What to do
- Six usual trekking routes to the summit and other more-demanding mountaineering routes.
- Day or overnight hikes on the Shira plateau. Nature trails on the lower reaches.
- Trout fishing.
- Visit the beautiful Chala crater lake on the mountain’s southeastern slopes.

​

​

​

​