Lemosho Route 8 Days

Arrival Day: Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) to Moshi
Elevation: 1,000m to 1,200m
Distance: 50 km
Driving Time: 1 hour
Vegetation Zone: Town Our driver will be waiting for your arrival at JRO (Kilimanjaro International Airport) and transfer you to your hotel in Moshi for overnight (B & B plan). Do not worry if your flight is late or if the immigration process is taking a long time, our driver will wait just outside the secured area with a Nature Protector Adventures sign with your name on it. If you unfortunately miss a connection and won't be on your scheduled arriving flight, if you find a way to contact us that would be appreciated. Unless you have a late night arrival time, on this day we will go through an equipment check and you will have a pre-climb briefing with your guide and all questions will be answered. All equipment/clothing needed for the trek can be rented locally and are of good quality. For late night arrivals, the briefing and equipment check will be done early the next morning.

Day 1: Moshi to Londorosi Gate to Big Tree Campsite
Elevation: 1,200 m to 1,950 m to 2,850 m
Distance: 9 km
Hiking Time: 3-4 hours
Vegetation Zone: Montane Forest After breakfast, we will pick you up from your hotel your hotel and transport you to Londorosi Gate for registration. After this formality, you board the vehicle and drive again to Lemosho Glade. From this point you will start the trek across undisturbed montane forest decorated with black and white colobus monkeys to the camp where dinner and overnight will take place.

Day 2: Big Tree Campsite to Shira One Campsite
Elevation(m): 2850m to 3500m
Distance: 13km
Hiking time: 8 hours
Vegetation Zone: Moorland and heather land This is an acclimatization trek because you will gain over 650m by starting walking across a beautiful valley outside Shira’s caldera rim (3600m). After few hours you will reach into Shira Caldera. A high altitude desert, Shira is the one among the three peaks which erupted in Kilimanjaro ecosystem. The peak later collapsed and formed a crater which eventually became filled with the lava flow from Kibo Peak. Its rim is eroded and blasted away by weather and volcanic action. Camp and overnight at 3500m elevation at the Shira One Campsite.

Day 3: Shira One Campsite to Shira Two Campsite
Elevation: 3500m to 3800m
Distance: 7km
Hiking time: 5-6 hours
Vegetation Zone: Moorland and rocky This day you will trek to east across Shira Plateau visiting Cathedral Peak (3850m) for acclimatization. Arriving at this peak you will find spectacular views of Mt. Meru and Kibo Peak. We then continue trekking to Shira Two Camp where we will stay for dinner and overnight rest.

Day 4: Shira Two Campsite to Barranco Campsite
Elevation: 3800m to 3950m
Distance: 13km
Hiking time: 7-8 hours
Vegetation Zone: Moorland This is long acclimatization day. You will have an early breakfast then trek east to a junction leading to Lava Tower Rock 4600m for acclimatization. Afterwards, you will descend down to Barranco Campsite for dinner and overnight.

Day 5: Barranco Campsite to Karanga Campsite
Elevation: 3950m to 3963m
Distance: 5.5 km
Hiking time: 5 hours
Vegetation Zone: Moorland Our day starts by descending into the start of the Great Barranco, a huge ravine. We then exit steeply, up the Great Barranco Wall, which divides us from the southeastern slopes of Kibo. It’s a climb over rock, not technical but long and tiring. Passing underneath the Heim and Kersten glaciers, we head towards the Karanga valley. From here we have a steep climb up from Karanga valley to our night’s camp at Karanga Camp, set at 3963m. For those feeling strong we will go for a mid-afternoon acclimatization trek up to around 4200m before descending back to camp for the night.

Day 6: Karanga Campsite to Barafu Campsite
Elevation: 3963m to 4620m
Distance: 3 km
Hiking time: 3 hours
Vegetation Zone: Moorland After a good night’s rest and breakfast, we set off on our walk to Barafu Camp at 4640m. The climb will take us across desolate scree slopes with no vegetation around us at all. It’s a tough steep walk made more difficult by the altitude. On arriving at camp we eat and spend the afternoon resting as we prepare for a long night and day ahead. It is important to keep hydrated and warm. We have an early dinner and then try to get some sleep as we will be getting up at between 11pm and 12pm to start the climb to the summit.

Day 7: Barafu Camp/ Uhuru Peak/ Millenium Camp
Elevation: 4620m to 5895m to 3790m
Distance: 13.5km
Hiking time: 10 – 12 hours
Vegetation Zone: Desert and ice Wake at midnight to a light breakfast and then prepare for your summit ascent. The goal is to climb before dawn so that you can reach Uhuru Peak shortly before or after sunrise. The trails is a series of switchbacks up steep scree or possibly snow, and reach Stella Point on the crater rim at 5,861 m/18,640 ft between 4 and 5 AM. At this point you will be having the views of the fabled crater and its glaciers facing you. Then after 1 hour of hiking along the Kibo Crater Rim near the celebrated snows takes you to Kilimanjaro true summit, Uhuru Peak. Here you will spend some minutes taking photos and enjoying the achievement. After your summit activities done, you will descend back to the Barafu Campsite, for lunch, rest, collect your equipment, and continue down through moorland and heath zone to Millenium Campsite. Dinner and overnight at Millenium Campsite.

Day 8: Millenium Campsite to Mweka Gate
Elevation: 3100m to 1700m
Distance: 12km
Descending time: 6 hours
Vegetation Zone: Montane forest A gentle trek takes us down through the rain-forest to Mweka Gate, where we complete park formalities and receive certificates, which you can hang up with pride! We are then met by our vehicles and return to the hotel in Moshi, where you can treat yourself to a hot welcome shower.

Departure Day: Our driver will be ready to take you to Kilimanjaro Airport in time for your flight to home or your next adventure (Zanzibar? Safari?). Hotel checkout time is 10am. If you have a later departure, we can try to get the hotel to allow a late checkout or we can arrange a day room for you (extra charge if a day room is rented).
Meals: Breakfast