Climb Kilimanjaro via Machame Route and Safari

Upon arriving at Kilimanjaro International Airport, proceed through customs, collect your luggage, and exit past the security area. Our friendly kilisherpas driver will be waiting for you, holding a sign with your name. They will assist with your luggage and guide you to our comfortable, air-conditioned transfer van, where you’ll find cold water to help you refresh. We offer flexible pick-up times, day or night, at no extra charge. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the reassurance that you’re now in the capable hands of kilisherpas Travel.

Transfer from your hotel to Machame Gate for registration. Our porters prepare and pack our supplies and luggage before we start our ascent along the forest trail to Machame Camp at 3000m. We will stay here overnight.

After breakfast we start walking, leaving the rainforest behind, and continue our ascent, crossing a small valley and up to a steep rocky ridge, covered with heather. Our route now turns west into a river gorge until we reach Shira Cave Camp. It will be colder tonight than the previous night with temperatures possibly falling below freezing.

Today we will climb up to 4600m to the base of the Lava Tower for lunch and acclimatisation. This will be our toughest day so far and you may, for the first time, feel the altitude. After lunch we will descend again by almost 650m to Barranco Camp, following the ‘walk high, sleep low’ golden rue of acclimatisation. Our descent to Barranco Camp takes about 2 hours and offers great opportunities to take some beautiful photographs of the Western Breach and Breach Wall. The camp is situated in a valley below the Breach and Great Barranco Wall.

A short, but fun, day starting with a scramble to the top of the Great Barranco Wall. We then traverse over scree to the Karanga Valley (3930m) beneath the icefalls of the Heim, Kersten and Decken Glaciers. We will stay overnight at Karanga campsite.

We leave Karanga campsite behind to meet the junction connecting with the Mweka descent trail. From here we continue up to Barafu Camp. Here we can rest, enjoy dinner, and prepare for the summit day. The camp offers amazing views of the summit and the two peaks of Mawenzi and Kibo.

You will be woken around 23:30 with tea and biscuits. We start our trek to the summit between the Rebman and Ratzel glaciers through heavy scree up to Stella Point on the crater rim. This is the most mentally and physically challenging part of the trek. At Stella Point (5732m), we will stop for a short rest and hopefully be in time to witness the magnificent sunrise (weather permitting). We are now only an hour away from the summit, Uhuru Peak (5895m), the highest point on Mount Kilimanjaro and the continent of Africa. From the summit, we descend down to Mweka camp site, via Barafu Camp for lunch. Trekking poles will be needed for the loose scree going down to Mweka Camp (3100m). Later in the evening, we will enjoy our last dinner on the mountain and a well-earned sleep.

Your final day on the trek, departing after breakfast we descend a further 1300m to the Mweka Park Gate to pick up your summit certificates from the Park Headquarters. Transfer to your hotel.

Our safari guide and vehicle will collect you from your hotel and we will drive to Lake Manyara, arriving with plenty of time for an afternoon game-drive. Located beneath the cliffs of the Manyara Escarpment, on the edge of the Rift Valley, Lake Manyara National Park is famous for its large alkaline soda lake which is home to the pink flamingo, yellow-billed stork and heron. If you are lucky you may get chance to see the tree climbing lions, which are unique to this national park. Watch out though for some fun and antics from the local baboon population; Lake Manyara is believed to have the largest number of these primates in the World! We will spend the night at a safari lodge in Karatu.

After an early breakfast, we will drive to the fascinating wildlife arena of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a “must see” safari destination. Home to more than 25,000 large mammals, it is not unusual to see all of the ‘Big Five’ (buffalo, elephant, rhino, lion and leopard) in a single day. The crater, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is over 260km2 (100 miles2) and was formed when a massive volcano exploded and collapsed on itself two - three million years ago. It is now the largest intact volcanic caldera in the world and often referred to as “Africa’s Eden”. Driving through the Ngorongoro Highlands, we will arrive at the crater rim and then descend down 610m (2000 feet) onto its floor to start our safari extravaganza. After our game drive we will return to our safari lodge.

The Tarangire River runs through the park attracting a huge number of elephants, buffalo, giraffe and antelope, particularly in the dry season between June to October. It is not uncommon to see large herds of elephants roaming through Tarangire's savannah grasses or taking shade under the odd looking "upside down trees" (baobab) that are dotted around the park. The park is also a must for avid birdwatchers, boasting over 550 different bird species, the most diverse in Africa, including the Kori Bustard, the heaviest flying bird in the World! Late afternoon we will start our journey back to Arusha for onward transfer to Kilimanjaro airport. We expect to be back in Arusha by 5pm, so you will need to book a flight that departs after 9pm. Otherwise, we can arrange an additional night at a hotel in Arusha for you for extra cost.