After your long flight, you’ll be pleased to spend your first night in comfort at your hotel, the Planet Lodge in Arusha. If you have chosen to be picked-up by us from Kilimanjaro International Airport, your driver will be waiting to meet and welcome you and take you to your hotel in Arusha to relax after your flight. Your adventure has begun!

After an early breakfast at your hotel (08.00hrs), we depart one hour later and arrive at the Marangu Gate (1970 meters) around 11.00hrs, ready for registration and the start of the trek.

Excitement builds as the porters load up equipment and you meet the professional trekking team who will accompany you up the mountain. Starting on the south-east side of Kilimanjaro, at an altitude of 1970 metres and finishing the day at 2700 metres, our total walking time today to Mandara Hut – where we will spend the night – is around 4 – 5 hours (excluding breaks), during which we cover just over 8km/5miles. Today’s walk, though almost entirely uphill, is a pleasant one, with perhaps the chance to see some blue monkeys or to admire the rainforest vegetation on the ascent. The rainforest is the chief feature of today’s landscape, though you may also encounter waterfalls, depending on the season. Look out for the bright red impatiens kilimanjari flower, an iconic symbol of the mountain, perhaps some blue monkeys, colourful lizards or streams of busy red ants on the insect superhighway. Don’t worry if you are not a nature expert, as your mountain guides will amaze you with their knowledge!

We start the walk late in the morning, take our picnic lunch at around 14.00hrs, and then continue the walk until we reach the hut about 17.00hrs. You will have time to relax and reflect on the day’s walk, chat to your guides or play cards. Dinner is prepared by your mountain chef and his team, and served at 19.30hrs.

At the end of the day, the mountain’s giant heathers and bearded lichen begin to show themselves for the first time; you will realise the diversity of the mountain. The Mandara A-frame Huts, where you will sleep, feature solar-powered lighting, while water is supplied from a stream and there are flush toilets. As you will be sleeping in dormitory-style accommodation with others, bringing some earplugs is advisable!

Our early 07.00hrs breakfast prepares us for an 08.30hrs departure and today our 12km/7miles walk will take between 6 and 8 hours of actual walking time (excluding breaks) and we will climb a total of 1020 metres to the finishing-point at Horombo (altitude: 3720 metres).

On the way we will enjoy our picnic lunch at 13.00hrs, before continuing our climb and arriving at the huts at Horombo (3720 meters) around 16.00hrs, with dinner served at 18.00hrs. On today’s walk, you will note that the forest landscape is quickly replaced by moorland and heather, as our route takes us past the renowned Maundi Crater. Altogether, the scenery today becomes more barren and largely treeless, but nevertheless some of Kilimanjaro’s iconic plant species can be seen today. Look out for the fascinating giant groundsels, lobelias and proteas. If you are lucky enough to have a clear day, you should get the first chance to see the snow-capped peak of Kibo and also the distinctive Mawenzi peak. Like Mandara (2700 meters), the camp at Horombo (3720 meters) also consists of A-Frame huts and caters for those on the way up the mountain and those on the way back down. Once again, you will be in dormitory accommodation.

Today is our extra day for acclimatization, a very important part of our program as it allows vital extra time for adapting to the mountain air, which becomes ever thinner as we ascend. We give everyone the option today to visit the Zebra Rocks (4100 meters), which involves a 90-minute climb and a return descent to the Horombo Hut (3720 meters) for a second night. Don’t expect to see a zebra at these rocks, however, as they take their name from their stripy black and white colour, caused by the effects of mineral-laden water on the lava rockface.

Horombo is a busy stopover, being used by both climbers and descenders on Marangu, as well as those descending on the Rongai route. The presence of abundant water at Horombo (3720 meters) means that you have the ‘luxury’ of toilets and even washbasins! Look around you today and you will notice that you are reaching the point where the moorland scenery runs out, to be replaced by Alpine desert. And although there are definitely no zebra here, you may be surprised to find some species of rodents and birds this high on the mountain.

From our Horombo starting point a 3720m, today we ascend a further 983 metres, covering around 10km/6miles and aiming to arrive at the hut at Kibo (4703 meters) for our overnight stop by around 16.00hrs. We’ll start early once again, with a 07.00hrs breakfast and a 08.30hrs departure. Our walk to the Kibo Huts is expected to take us around 6-8 hours.

Our backdrop today is mainly Alpine desert terrain. Where the path divides on our walk, we choose to take the southern (left-hand) route. On this path we take the opportunity to fill up our water reserves at the Maua River, the last useable water supply at a height of around 4,000 metres. At first today’s stage is rather steep, and there is less vegetation, but we are rewarded with our first sight of some of the famous ‘cones’ of Kilimanjaro. Picnic lunch is once again scheduled for 13.00hrs. After the Maua River, we climb towards the Mawenzi Ridge and across the barren, dry terrain known as The Saddle and head for the huts, which are at the bottom of the Kibo summit. Dinner tonight is at 17.30hrs and you are advised to get to bed early, in preparation for the midnight departure for the summit. The Kibo Huts are quite basic, being made of stone.

Our schedule for our ‘Summit Day’ is necessarily very different to our other days on the mountain. Rising at 23.00hrs, we take our tea and biscuits (23.30hrs) before a midnight departure. Today, we have around 1192 metres to climb, on what will be our toughest day, with around 10-13 hours of actual walking time and a total distance of 22km/14miles.

Our expectation is to reach the summit from 07.00hrs onwards. We begin on a rocky path, and then climb via a series of zig-zags which get ever tighter as we climb.

Our reference points on our ascent today are, first, William’s Point (5131 metres), Hans Meyer Cave (5258 metres) and then Gillman’s Point (5719 metres). The focus today is on walking pole pole – that is, slowly. On reaching the Uhuru Peak (5895 meters), we take time to celebrate the successful climb, take those essential photos and congratulate ourselves, before making the descent to return to Kibo hut (4703 meters) for about 11.00hrs. There we take a very well-deserved, two-hour rest and enjoy a welcome Brunch. Setting off again at 14.00hrs, we continue our descent until we reach the now-familiar Horombo Hut (3720 meters) for about 17.00hrs. Dinner today will be served at 19.00hrs

After breakfast at our now-familiar time of 07.00hrs, we take the chance to thank our hard-working guides and porters at the important ‘Tipping Celebration’. Afterwards, we depart from Horombo Huts (3720 meters) and start our descent down towards Marangu Gate (1970 meters), stopping at Mandara Hut (2700 meters) around midday for a cooked lunch.

Marangu Gate (1970 meters), is usually reached by 16.00hrs, and today’s section is approximately 20km/12miles which takes us between 5 to 7 hours of walking time. Having reached Marangu Gate (1970 meters), you will be presented with your certificate, a fitting souvenir recognising your tremendous achievement. We then return by vehicle to Arusha, to the comfort of your lodge, for your overnight stay and some deserved relaxation. Or perhaps, if you still have some energy, you can celebrate your wonderful achievement. After all, you have just climbed Africa’s highest mountain!

After a good night’s rest at your lodge, you will take breakfast ready for the scheduled check-out by 10.00hrs. (If you wish to remain in the hotel during the day, please advise us of this when you book your trip and we will inform you of the cost for a ‘day room’ which allows you to stay until 18:00hrs, and then make the booking on your behalf.)

If you have booked a transfer to the airport, you will be collected from your hotel and dropped off at the airport. For those travellers who have booked to go on safari, our guide will be meeting you in the evening to provide you with a briefing.