9 Days Climbing Kilimanjaro, Lemosho-Shira route in 6 days

Day 1: Arrival Kilimanjaro airport

Upon your arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport, our guide will take you to the hotel. Here you can recover from the flight and get used to the African environment. An acclimatization day in the hotel on day two is recommended, but you can also start the climb the next day.

Day 2: Drop off at the starting point (3,500 m/ 11,482 ft) – Shira 2 Camp (3,900 m/ 12,795 ft)

Elevation gain: 400 m | Distance: 11 km. | Walking time: 5-6 hours | Difficulty: easy | Environment: meadows

Your guide and his team will come to the hotel in the morning, after which you will drive by car (approximately 4 hours drive) to the west entrance of Kilimanjaro National Park (2,200 m). This ride goes through the beautiful tropical rainforest, after which you arrive at the drop-off point at 3,500 meters. Here you can enjoy a beautiful view of the Shira plateau for the first time.

The walking route to the first camp is a flat walk. This allows you to get used to the high altitude.

This will be your first day at this altitude, so it is highly recommended that you follow these instructions from this point forward:

1. Drink as much water as possible
2. Consider taking a Diamox pill if you have symptoms of altitude sickness.

Day 3: Shira 2 Camp (3,900 m/ 12,795 ft) – Lava Tower (4,630 m/ 15,190 ft) – Barranco Camp (3,960 m/ 12,992)

Elevation gain: 730 m | Elevation gain: 670 m | Distance: 12 km. | Walking time: 6-8 hours | Difficulty: medium | Environment: heather

Today the Lemosho route joins the Machame route. Today’s hike leads from Shira Camp 2 to the beautiful Lava Tower. This part of the climb has many asents and descents and offers beautiful views along the way. It is a long hike and you may start to feel a bit uncomfortable because of the height. It is therefore important to stay at Lava Tower for 1 to 2 hours in order for your body to adjust to the altitude. We will use this time to have lunch here. After lunch, you descend to Barranco Camp. Here you will encounter strange looking flowering plants that grow up to five meters high!

The Barranco Camp is located at the foot of the imposing Barranco Wall, which is impressive due to its sheer size and steepness. Fortunately, the path leading to it is not that difficult.

Option: If there are participants who prefer to choose a lower altitude route (instead of lava tower), it can be adjusted to a one with a maximum altitude of 4400 meters.

Day 4: Barranco Camp (3960 m/ 12,992 ft) – Karanga Camp (4035 m/ 13,238 ft)

Elevation gain: 75 m/ 246 ft | Distance: 5 km | Walking time: 4-5 hours | Difficulty: medium | Environment: heather

After breakfast you depart from Barranco Camp to the Barranco Wall. For many people this is their favorite part of the climb, partly because of the beautiful views. Once at the top of the Barranco Wall, for example, you have a spectacular view to the left of Kibo Volcano and to the right of Mount Meru. Afterwards a more difficult hike starts to reach Karanga Camp. This route has many ascents and descents, but our guides are experts in choosing the right route and the right pace. When the camp is reached, it is time for lunch. After a few hours of rest, you can take an acclimatization hike in the direction of Barafu Camp, where you can complete an ascent with 300 meters elevation gain and then descend back to Karanga camp.

Day 5: Karanga Camp (4035 m/ 13,238 ft) – Barafu Camp (4640 m/ 15,223 ft)

Elevation gain: 605 m/ 1,984 ft | Distance: 6 km | Walking time: 4-5 hours | Difficulty: medium | Environment: alpine desert

After breakfast the hike to Barafu Camp starts. This is the starting point for your ascent to the Uhuru Peak – the top of Kilimanjaro! You will arrive at the camp around lunch. Tents are set up in advance to relax on arrival at the camp. After you regain your strength, you can take an acclimatization hike to Kosovo Summit Camp (4800m) and then back to Barafu Camp. There, a hot meal will be served when you return and you can relax for the rest of the day before starting the ascent to the top of Kilimanjaro around midnight!

Day 6: Barafu Camp (4640 m/ 15,223 ft) – Uhuru Peak (5895 m/ 19,340 ft) – Millennium Camp (3820 m/ 12,532 ft)

Elevation gain: 1255 m/ 4,117 ft | Elevation loss: 2075 m/ 6,807 ft | Distance: 15 km | Walking time: 8-12 hours | Difficulty: difficult | Environment: arctic

At night you depart Barafu Camp to start your ascent to the summit of Kilimanjaro (Uhuru Peak). It is a climb on good trails and the most challenging part is the high altitude. There is one personal guide per two climbers in order to keep a close eye on the climbers physically and mentally health.

Once you reach the summit you can enjoy a beautiful sunrise, which is quite impressive at this height! After a small party at the top, you can descend to the nearest glacier if you wish. Then you return to Barafu Camp to start the descent to Millennium Camp after 2 hours of rest. When descending, pay close attention to where you put your feet to prevent any injury.

Day 7: Millennium Camp (3820 m/ 12,532 ft) – Mweka Gate (1650 m/ 5,413 ft)

Elevation loss: 2170 m/ 7119 ft | Distance: 12 km. | Walking time: 4-5 hours Difficulty: easy | Environment: rain forest

The Camp is located in a tropical rainforest. You will awake with a pleasant feeling due to the reduction in altitude and the satisfaction of reaching the summit. After breakfast you will exit the park and the entire group comes together to congratulate each other and your driver will bring you back to the hotel where you can relax and rest.

Day 8-9: Kilimanjaro Airport

Today you can take it easy and possibly explore the area. If you don’t feel like going home yet, you can stay an extra day at the lodge or extend the trip with a beautiful safari through Tanzania or one of our combined tours.