Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa’s highest mountain and the highest free-standing mountain in the world. On this adventure, we climb and trek through exotic rain forests, cross alpine deserts, pass through moorlands, scramble over volcanic boulders and cross a lunar landscape. The captivating contrast of landscapes and vegetation, from the forests and moorlands to the towering cliffs and glaciers, amaze and delight all who have experienced this wonderful trek. Venture 2 Adventures take on all six routes that Kilimanjaro has to offer – Maranga, Machame, Rongai, Shira, Limosho and Umbwe – each with their own challenges and rewards. The views from the summit are truly breath taking and we guarantee that you will carry them with you for the rest of your life.
The Marangu Route
The Marangu Route is a 10 Day trip with 5 days of trekking. This is the oldest and most well established route on Kilimanjaro. In our experience this is the easiest of the 5 routes and is usually the most popular with our trekkers.
Day 1- 5
Day 1: Meet up and depart Ireland for Tanzania late morning flight
Day 2: Arrive Kilimanjaro International Airport Tanzania. After passing through immigration, transfer by road to Hotel, allocation of room. Team meeting and brief at lunch time/early evening, Venture 2 Adventures will pay for lunch to welcome you to Tanzania. There will be a free afternoon to rest and relax around the Hotel. The group meets up for dinner, paid for by Venture 2 Adventures. Return to the hotel for a kit check and climb briefing, then bed.
Day 3: Day 1 on Kilimanjaro
After breakfast, transfer to Marangu Gate, Mt Kilimanjaro. After registration and issue of water and packed lunch, we start climb to Mandara Hut, 4 to 5 hours walk. We have lunch en route. On arrival to Mandara we register into camp, hot drink and snacks are issued. Acclimatisation walk to Maundi Crater, Dinner, Trek Brief and bed.
Day 4: Day 2 on Kilimanjaro
After breakfast, we are issued our water for the day and start to climb to Horombo Hut, 6 to 8 hours trekking depending on speed of group. We will see the first views of the Kibo summit while trekking. We have lunch on our way. When we reach Horombo, we will have tea and snacks. Later we will have dinner, trek briefing and bed.
Day 5: Day 3 on Kilimanjaro
After Breakfast, we are issued our daily ration of water and start our trek to Kibo Hut. We take our time today as we are crossing an Alpine desert at altitude, the trek will take between 6 to 8 hours. We will have our lunch on the trail. When we reach Kibo Hut, we will be given bunks, tea etc. At this point we start to put on our thermals and rest. We are now at 4750m and the air is quite thin. Early evening we will have dinner and a brief to cover the next 24 hours. We return to bed and sleep till 11pm wake up. When we get up we will have tea/coffee and a snack, we will have an issue of water, a final brief and form up ready to tackle the summit.
Day 6 - 10
Day 6: Day 4 on Kilimanjaro
At Midnight, we start our climb to Gilman’s point, passing by Hans Meyers Cave. This should take approx 5 to 6 hours. We aim to be at Gilman’s to witness the African Sunrise, one of the most exhilarating you will ever see in your life. After a short rest, we trek around the Crater rim, passing through Stellas Point and onto UHURU PEAK 5895m – The summit. This should take approx 1.5 to 2 hours. After some time to take photos we begin our descent, passing through Stellas Point and onto Gilman’s Point. After a short rest, we descend to Kibo Hut. Here we have food and a short rest. Then from here we trek back to Horombo Hut, where we have food, a short talk on the plans for the next day and then bed.
Day 7: Day 5 on Kilimanjaro
Early rise, breakfast, issue of water, then we have our Handover of Tips Ceremony to the Guides and Porters. Be prepared for an early morning sing song! Afterwards we trek back to Mandara Hut, where we stop for a short break before trekking back to Marangu Gate. This is the end of our Climb. We transfer back to the Hotel, allocation of rooms and a welcome shower. Later we will have a celebration dinner in a local Restaurant and the issuing of Certificates before returning to the Hotel for a well earned sleep.
Day 8: Free Day
This is a free day to rest relax etc., We usually organise a guided tour of the local town where we can sample some of the local food at lunchtime and visit a 1930’s coffee house , Coffee Union. In the evening, we can rest and relax at the hotel till we depart for the Airport for a night flight home
Day 9: Optional Extra Day
We have an option of staying an extra day if you wish to stay on and visit a Kids project we are involved in through the charity Childaid. If you are able, we highly recommend staying this extra day – the cost of which is completely covered by Venture 2 Adventures.
Day 9/10: Arrive back to Ireland, Transfer to your home.
End of trip.
The Machame Route
One of the most popular routes on Kilimanjaro the Machame Route is one of the most scenic places in Africa. With a moderate difficult, the route is perfect for anyone looking for an adventure and a challenge.
Day 1- 5
Day 1: Depart Ireland for Tanzania. Either early morning or late afternoon flight will depend on when you arrive in Kilimanjaro Airport Tanzania.
Day 2: Arrive in Tanzania. After immigration procedures we meeteet our driver and Transfer to Moshi Hotel. Here we will relax before a Trek Briefing, dinner and bed.
Day 3: Day 1 on Kilimanjaro
After breakfast, check out from Hotel, leaving any luggage you may wish to leave behind in storage, and transfer by road to Machame Gate to start your climb.
After Registering on Kilimanjaro at the Rangers office, you will start your trek.
Machame Gate is at the South Western edge of the National park.
The first section of the trek/climb is at low altitude and is a walk through the Rain Forest, your trek is approx 10km in Distance and will take between 5 to 7 hours depending on the speed of your group. Your destination today is Machame Camp 2835 m asl. As for each day on Kilimanjaro, all food, wate,r and tents etc. will be supplied by Venture 2 Adventures.
Day 4: Day 2 on Kilimanjaro
Machame Camp to Shira 2 Camp
After Breakfast and issue of water, you will carry on trekking through the last part of the rain forest. You will emerge from the forest onto the upper Heath land with tall wild Heathers. The path will become noticeably rockier than the previous day.
Your route will take you over the Shira Plateau where you can see Kilimanjaro’s Western Breach. At this point you are on the opposite side of the mountain to Marangu.
You will keep trekking until you reach Shira 2 Camp 3840 m asl. The total distance walked today is 6 km and takes approx 6 to 7 hours.
Day 5: Day 3 on Kilimanjaro
Shira 2 to Lava Tower to Barranco camp.
After breakfast and issue of water, you will trek towards the East. As you trek along, you will notice the landscape starting to get more barren and extremely dry and dusty. Here, you are on the edge of the Alpine desert. You will also have stunning views of Mt Meru, a neighbouring mountain. After a couple of hours trekking, you will reach the Lava Tower 4630 m asl. This is a formation of rock that was created when Kilimanjaro was an active volcano. From here you will descend to Barranco Camp 3950 m asl.
This is a challenging day, gaining altitude and then descending even though the trekking time is quite short.
Distance covered approx 5 km and walking time is approx 5 to 6 hours.
Day 6 - 10
Day 6: Day 4 on Kilimanjaro
Barranco to Karanga camp
After breakfast and daily issue of water, you will climb the Barranco wall. This is a rock formation that you will scramble, climb and walk up. It makes a welcome change from constant trekking and when you reach the plateau at the top the views are absolutely stunning. From here you will descend into the karanga valley eventually climbing a small ridge into Karanga camp 3995 m asl. Distance is approx 4 km and the trek time is approx 4 to 5 hours.
Day 7: Day 5 on Kilimanjaro
Karanga to Barafu Camp
After breakfast and daily issue of water, you start your trek to Barafu Camp. The landscape is extremely barren. Sun screen is a definite must and regardless of the weather you would be advised to cover up all exposed areas of skin. This section of the climb is prone to wind of varying strength and can cause serious wind burn on exposed skin. The distance today is approx 4 to 5 km, trek time approx 4 hours again depending on speed of group. When you reach Barafu Camp 4600m asl, you will be fed and watered and encouraged to rest up as you have an adventurous night ahead of you. You can read a book, snooze and conserve energy etc. At approx 11pm, you will be woken with tea, water, and snacks. You will then form up in a line and then at midnight be prepared to move.
Day 8: Day 6 on Kilimanjaro
Barafu to Stellars Point to Uhuru Peak to Barafu to Mweka Camp
At Midnight you depart from Barafu Camp. As you leave the camp you pass through a small boulder field and then on to a gravel surface which continues quite steeply until you reach Stellars point. Here you will take a small break, as you will have been climbing for approx 5 hours and it will be cold. After the break, you will proceed to trek up onto UHURU Peak 5895m asl. Congratulations, you are now at the Highest point in Africa, the Roof of Africa! Take heaps of photos and take a good look at the Glaciers etc. We don’t spend too long here as it is not good to stay at that altitude in the cold. We then start our descent to Stellars point and sunglasses are a must as you will be facing directly into the sun. We then descend rapidly to Barafu camp and we should be back here no later than 10.30 am. We have a short rest, lunch etc., before beginning the descent to Mweka camp. This should only take approx 3 hours or so.
We camp overnight at Mweka Camp 3100 m asl.
Day 9: Day 7 on Kilimanjaro
Mweka camp to Mweka Gate to hotel
After Breakfast and daily issue of water, be prepared for an early morning sing song and we have our issuing of tips ceremony. This is a personal thank you from us the trekkers to the guides and porters and cooks for looking after us, and when you see how we are looked after on the mountain you will see why we do this.
We then start our descent to Mweka Gate. This should take only 3 hours at a leisurely pace through the Rain Forest. At Mweka Gate, we sign out of the National Park and collect our Certificates on successful completion of the climb.
We then transfer by road to our Hotel, collect our bags that we had left in storage, get our room keys and a welcome shower before a relaxing evening and dinner.
Day 10: After breakfast, you will transfer to the airport for your onward destination, whether it is back home or a safari etc.
End of trip
The Lemosho Route
The Lemosho route is considered the most scenic trail on Kilimanjaro, granting panoramic vistas on various sides of the mountain. This route is ideal for beginners due to its low crowds and comes highly recommended for its beautiful scenery and stunning views.
Day 1- 5
Day 1: Arrive in Tanzania
After going through visa process, we meet our driver and vehicle and Transfer to Hotel. This is about a Forty minute drive and if there is little or no cloud you will get your first sighting of the Majestic Kilimanjaro.
On Arrival to the Hotel, which is set on the outskirts of Moshi Town in a beautiful quiet location, you will be allocated your rooms and the chance to freshen up.
If it is Lunchtime, we will have a leisurely lunch, paid for by Venture 2 Adventures. Later we will have dinner also hosted by Venture 2 Adventures.
After Dinner, we will have a Trek/Climb briefing and an equipment check. After this we will retire to our respective rooms for a good night’s sleep
Day 2: Day 1 on Kilimanjaro
Early Rise, Breakfast and vacate rooms.
After breakfast, we will travel by road to Londorossi Gate. This takes about 2 ½ hours. We go off the beaten track and you will see part of Rural Tanzania that most tourists miss.
At Londorossi we will sign in to the Mountain. We have to Register as the Parks Commission need to know how many people are on the Mountain. After registering, we drive for about 30 to 40 minutes to Lemosho, the start of our climb.
We start our trek and climb through the rain forest, this usually takes 2 to 3 hours depending on the fitness and speed of the group. The Africans say ‘POLE POLE’ which in English means slowly slowly – we have all the time in the world to get to our destination each day so there is no hurry.
When we reach our destination on our first day, Mti Mkubwa camp or more commonly known as the Forest Camp, we will be at a height of 2650m.
We will be given Tea and a snack, and later we will have dinner and then retire to our tents for the night after our daily briefing.
Day 3: Day 2 on Kilimanjaro
Early rise with a cup of tea or coffee and water for washing. We pack our kit in time for breakfast and start our hike to Shira 1, the next camp.
The distance we travel today is approximately 7km. We will emerge from the rain forest onto the Shira Plateau, the time to trek this distance is approx 4 to 5 hours. On arrival to Shira 1 Camp, we will have lunch and then rest up for a few hours. Later we have dinner and a briefing on the next day’s trek, our height will be 3610m.
Day 4: Day 3 on Kilimanjaro
Wake up call with Tea etc., pack kit and have breakfast. After breakfast we trek across the Shira Plateau to Shira 2 Camp, this will take approximately 4 to 4 ½ hours and the route is fairly easy going. We will walk about 10 km today and the altitude at Shira 2 is approx 3850m. We will have lunch when we arrive and then rest. After dinner we will have our daily trek brief and then off to bed.
Day 5: Day 4 on Kilimanjaro
Wake up call with tea etc., breakfast and start our trek to Baranco Hut. Today we will trek about 10 km. The terrain will get a bit rougher with the inclines being steeper etc. The climb today will take a bit longer today due to the terrain. We will have lunch en route at the Lava Tower camp, we will take about 5 to 6 hours to complete today’s trek.
When we arrive into Baranco Hut/Camp, elevation of 3900m, we will have Tea/Coffee and a snack. This place can be cold as it is situated on an outcrop and is in the shadow of the Kibo Summit and the Baranco wall, a rock formation. After dinner we have our daily brief before bed.
Point to note, most Phone Networks can be picked up so you can text or make a call home from here while standing on a particular rock!
Day 6 - 10
Day 6: Day 5 on Kilimanjaro
Wake up call as usual with breakfast then we start our trek to Karanga camp. This is about 6km and will take approximately 4 hours. The first obstacle today is to climb the Baranco Wall. This is about a 1 hour scramble to the top. It is on a well marked path but still challenging, and a great sense of achievement is felt by everyone when we summit the ‘wall’. We carry on with our trek to Karanga camp which has an elevation of 3900m.
On arrival, we have Tea/coffee and a snack and later that evening we will have dinner, Trek brief then bed.
Day 7: Day 6 on Kilimanjaro
Wake up call as usual with breakfast and then Trek to Barafu Camp.
Today the trek is quite hilly, it is approx 4km in distance and will take about 4 hours. You will still be in the Alpine desert zone till you get to the Rocky outcrop known as Barafu Camp 4673m.
We have lunch on arrival and rest up for the day. Barafu can be cold so wrapping up is essential. After dinner we will have our briefing of details and timings for the night ahead for tonight we strike out for the summit Uhuru Peak.
Sleep and rest is essential. We rest up until our wake up call at 11pm. We will have tea and biscuits then get ready in line to begin our night Hike.
Day 8: Day 7 on Kilimanjaro
Midnight at Barafu Camp we start our hike to the summit via Stella’s Point. It will be cold and dark so you will need head torches and be well wrapped up. The first part of the climb is through a boulder field, then we zig zag up loose shale till we reach Stella’s Point 5685 m. This will take approximately 6 hours.
We take a small break here and then begin our ascent up to Uhuru Peak, this will take approx another 45 mins to an hour. We don’t spend too long here. We take the usual photographs and after about 30 mins we start to make our way back to Barafu Camp via Stella’s Point.
When we reach Barafu Camp (approx 10 am) we will have a short rest then lunch. After lunch we then trek back down to Mweka Camp, 3100m, this should take about 3 to 3 ½ hours and its downhill all the way. We spend our last night on Kilimanjaro here on the edge of the forest. We have dinner before our last trek brief and then bed. Mozzie/Bug Spray is recommended here, especially if there has been any rain.
Day 9: Day 8 on Kilimanjaro
Wake up call, Tea etc. then Breakfast. After breakfast we break camp and have our handing over of tips ceremony. This is a great experience to be part of and have your video cameras/phones etc. on record. You may even be asked to take part in the singing and dancing!
We start our Trek down to Mweka Gate where we end our Kilimanjaro Climb. We sign out of the Mountain and have lunch and hopefully a well earned beer at the base of Kilimanjaro.
We then Transfer by Road to our Moshi Hotel, get our rooms and have a refreshing shower. We relax for the afternoon/early evening and present the Certs for a successful climb. At approximately 7.30pm we will go into Moshi Town for a well deserved Celebration Dinner and to sample some of the Tanzanian Night life.
Day 10: Free Day
Breakfast and a free day until it’s time to depart for home or maybe a safari or even a trip to Zanzibar. If you wish to organise a second trip then please let us know at the time of booking your climb with us and we can arrange it for you.
