We begin in Nairobi and travel by Shuttle Bus to Arusha for climbing Kilimanjaro via the Marangu Route, the easiest and shortest route to Kilimanjaro’s summit. Ending with transfer back to Nairobi.
This trip begins in Nairobi, Kenya and travels south to Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania before ending in Nairobi, Kenya.
This trip departs early every morning from Nairobi. Should you wish to explore Nairobi, an earlier arrival should be planned and accommodation can be booked through us.
Day 1: Nairobi to Moshi (NM) We depart early to meet our shuttle bus in Nairobi. After collection by the Shuttle Bus, we travel via Tanzania’s safari capital, Arusha, to our hotel in Moshi. We are delivered to the Springlands Hotel, where we are met for our Pre-Departure Meeting and briefed about what climbing Africa’s highest mountain entails. The Marangu Route is the easiest and shortest route to Kilimanjaro’s summit and is known as the “coca cola” route as it is the most popular for tourists. It is the only route that has communal sleeping huts at each stop off point, and offers bunks with sponge mattresses and pillows for your use. Tonight we spend the night at the hotel, where we have a good night’s rest before we start our climb in the morning.
Day 2: Moshi to Mandara Hut - 2743 m (B / L / D) An early start takes us to Kilimanjaro National Park, where we trek through the spectacular rain forests on the first section of our ascent, on the way to our camp at the Mandara Hut for the first night on this awesome mountain. All climbing groups, often from around the world, share dining huts along the way which provide a jovial and social atmosphere. There may be soft drinks and beer on sale in these huts so please bring along some smaller denominations of Tanzanian notes (Tanzanian Shillings) to purchase these items. Please note that the prices increase as elevation increases.
Day 3: Mandara Hut to Horombo Hut - 3760 m (B / L / D) Leaving the rain forest behind, we climb through stunningly beautiful open moor land before reaching the Horombo Hut. (Should you wish to have an extra day to acclimatise; it will be here at the Horombo Hut. The additional acclimatisation day is available at the time of booking your trip, and paid locally at a cost of aprox. US$200 per person). The stark scenery from this altitude is remarkable and the vegetation (although seemingly sparse after the rain forests) seems quite alien.
Day 4: Horombo Hut to Kibo Hut - 4730 m (B / L / D) Trekking over “The Saddle” between the Mawenzi and Kibo peaks, we arrive at Kibo Hut. This is the final stage before we ascend the summit. The total distance to the ascent is 32km (20mi).
Day 5: Kibo Hut to Uhuru Peak - 5895 m to Horombo Hut – 3760 m (B / L / D) A very early morning start takes us via Gilman’s Point, on the rim of the crater, and to Uhuru Peak. Most of your climb will be done in the dark, so bring along a head torch to make it easier to navigate the path. It will also be very cold, so this is where you’ll need all those warm layers, socks, gloves and beanie’s to see you through. As this is the last of the ascent, it is taken very slowly – or “pole pole” and an optimistic attitude along with perseverance will get you there! Once you reach Uhuru Peak, you’ll watch the sun rise over Tanzania and Kenya from Africa’s highest point. After gazing over the top of Africa and taking your photo mementos, we return to Horombo Hut for a well deserved celebration and some much needed rest.
Day 6: Horombo Hut to Moshi (B) Continue your descent and exit via the Marangu Gate, before being transferred back to the Hotel for hot showers and dinner. Tonight you can celebrate your achievement at the Hotel bar!
Day 7: Moshi to Nairobi After breakfast, the Shuttle Bus will collect us for the drive back to Nairobi. A late afternoon arrival in Nairobi marks the end of one of Africa’s most unique experiences.
Price GB£ 595 Plus Local Payment US$ 660
Single Supplement: US$100 Extra Day: US$200
Included in Trip Price: Transportation is by means of a Shuttle Bus. You must provide your own sleeping bag.
All prices & Local Payments are subject to change with prior notice. US$60 of the local payment is paid to the representative at Acacia Camp, the remainder of the local payment and single supplement (where necessary) is paid to the operator in Moshi.
Your arrival transfer and pre-trip accommodation in a dorm bed is included in your trip price. Should you choose not to make use of these, or in the event that we are not updated with your arrival details, no refund will be paid for services not used. The transfer to the shuttle from Acacia Camp to the departure point on day 1 is included in this trip.
Local Payment All passengers contribute to the Local Payment for this trip equally. It is payable to the representative of our ground handler in Moshi on day 1 of your safari. Payment should only be in US dollars cash. The single supplement is applicable if a single climber does not get allocated to a group climbing on the same date (i.e. climbs alone with own team).
Notes • Please ensure you have the correct equipment for your Kilimanjaro expedition. You can hire the following items for hire
Rucksack/Daypack: $10 Gloves $5 Balaclava: $5 Sweater: $4 Normal Standard Sleeping Bag –10C.Temp $15 Sunglasses: $7 Mont bell Sleeping Bag –25C.Temp The North Face Sleeping Bag: -25C. Temp $ 35
We provide tents and foam sleeping pads at no charge should the mountain huts not be available. Sunglasses are available for purchase in the gift shop Oxygen is available for $10/day/group of 4 pax Hyperbaric Pressure Bag (Gamow Bag): US$120/group. Hyperbaric Pressure Bags: $100/group. *prices above are subject to change without prior notice. Please budget extra in event of an increase.
• Accommodation is 2 nights Hotel in Moshi & 4 nights either camping or in base huts (dependant on availability) while on the mountain.
• Meals are provided as listed on the itinerary above. Please note that no snacks are included (energy bars, chocolate etc).
• Temperatures vary while ascending with day time temperatures on the lower mountain being warm and night temperatures cool; on the upper reaches temperatures are cold to freezing dependant on weather conditions. Please pack accordingly.
• Luggage should be packed in a backpack with a day pack for smaller daily items such as snacks, drinking water, rain jackets and camera’s etc.
• Your trekking fee includes the services of a qualified trekking guide and a porter (to carry food items etc).
• Tips/gratuities for the porters and staff are not included in your trip price or local payment. While these are completely at your own discretion, most crew have come to rely on these and so may make comments about tipping during your trip. Please only tip if you feel you have received an adequate service, and feel the individuals have warranted a gratuity.
• Clients must bring their own personal first aid kit containing all the basic items, as well as rehydration salts, muscle rub, plasters/foot cushions for blistering, head ache tablets and possibly altitude sickness tablets.
• All clients are required to have personal medical travel insurance.
• For those interested in ascending Kilimanjaro on the Rongai or Machame routes – please contact us for prices and information.
Our unique relationship with our tour operators ensures only people who have participated in a trip after making an enquiry for it at The Africa Guide can leave a review.
The email we send you when you make an enquiry has full instructions for registering a booking and leaving a review - both are free services.
Feel free to read through the reviews for any trip you like the look of.
Trips with no reviews are usually new to the The Africa Guide but are normally operated by a tour operator who is established here. Most tour operators listing here will usually have gained reviews about other trips they have listed here.
Thanks for visiting, happy travels and don't forget to send us your reviews...
I recently completed the ten day Best of Botswana tour and it was wonderful!
Although I was unable to see the Makgadakgadi Pans due to flooding at this time of year, I thoroughly enjoyed all the time spent at the Okavango Delta, Moremi Game Reserve and Chobe National Park.
My guide, Shaba, and cook, Gee, were outstanding. They were both capable, conscientious and professional. They were also very friendly and a lot of fun. It was a great trip
My 16 year old daughter and myself went on the Victoria falls, Chobe, Okavango Delta and Kruger National Park trip for 11 days in June. We had an amazing time and as it was a family trip the ages were varied so everybody got along.
The nights were quite cold but we had been prewarned and so we rugged up but the days were magical with the advantage of no bugs or flies or heat.
Do keep in mind that there is quite a few optional extras but they are not all to everyones tastes ie (we didn't do the bungy jump but did enjoy the village tours at Victoria Falls, and particuarly the horse riding at Maun and the Okavango camp out was not to be missed).
This type of tour is definitely for the more adventurous person and Gift (our tour guide) Tubby (our truck driver) and Florence (our cook) certainly looked after us. I strongly recommend this tour. We had a blast.
I had a grand time on my 35 day plus 8 days overland Africa travel safari. I am 68 years old. Amy was great, also our driver Eloise was excellent and professional and the cook Duncan was first rate.
We ate a lovely variety of well balanced meals including a full roasted pig on one occasion. The fruits and vegetables were very fresh, bought from roadside stands on the way.
We travelled to South Africa and Africa with our 13 year old daughter and had an absolutely fantastic time.
This was our first time to Africa and the experience was amazing. The tour operator was a very professional company and we were very happy with the service, price and whole package deal. It all it was a good deal and enjoyable.
Our tour left Johannesburg and travelled through to Vic Falls. We had wonderful tour guides who were Gift, Tabby and Florence.
Our time in Africa was truly an amazing experience, we saw and learn't so much and the tour staff just added to that experience.
We have had a great taste to Africa and certainly want to return to see more.
We will recommend the operator to our family and friends and will use them again when we decide on our next African adventure.
We found the 11 day tour on the internet and compared to other tours we had priced the tour was by the far the best value for money.
Our email was answered by Liezl from reservations who could not have been more patient or helpful from start to finish, might I also add we were in Harare for a month prior and last minute from Harare I organised accommodation and transfers with Liezl also.
Moving on to the tour, our guide was Gift, our driver was tabis and our cook was Florence. The food was amazing and I will definately miss sitting around the fire talking stories with Tabis, Gift and Florence, three truly amazing individuals who are assets to the company
I will definately be recommending the operator and just want to thank everyone and keep up the good work and prices.
I took the Gorilla and Game parks tour from 3/13/11 to 3/26/11.
The tour itself. I won't go over everyday, but I highly recommend this company. I was very pleased with them and will be using them on my future trips to Africa.
The guide- Our guide, Mwangi, was hilarious! He was very friendly, gave LOTS of information about the animals we saw and the countries that we visited. He was highly approachable to ask questions or to just have a friendly chat by the fireside.
Our driver- Unfortunatly I didn't talk to our driver, Nicky, very much, but he was great. I know that if I had been trying to drive down some of those roads... well, we wouldn't have made it, Ill just put it that way lol. He always got into areas where we got the best shots of wildlife.
Our cook- Mwai (I think is how you spell it) was great. He was also funny and nice to talk to. I have NO complaints about the food. I eat a lot, and I never went hungry. Breakfast was usually the same (toast, eggs (cooked to order I might add, a luxury I'm not used to while camping) ceral, stuff like that) as was lunch (sandwiches that you made yourself). For dinner there was usually a soup followed by the main course. If you wanted to get seconds, no problem. We also stopped by many stores through out the trip and you could purchase snacks if you wanted to.
Camp life- I'm not gonna lie, driving for 7-8 hours most days was kinda rough. I\'m in pretty good shape, but at the end of two weeks I wanted nothing more than to have a nice shower and sleep on a really fluffy bed. Sleeping in tents was ok (I mean, how great do you expect that to be?), but again, after driving all day, setting up your tent, dinner, then sleep, wake up the next morning at 5am, pack your tent, breakfast, and it all starts over again (after we saw the gorillas our drive time dropped a lot which really helped). Everyone was expected to clean their own dishes and help around camp, which I think is a great idea, those 3 guys can't go everything by themselves.
Final thoughts- absolutely book a tour through this company... They are informative, friendly, and will make sure that your trip to Africa is nothing but amazing. I'm sure you can do more luxury safaris, but I have no regreats about 'roughing it'. You just have to keep an open mind, and be ready for the adventure of a lifetime :)
Absolutely AMAZING is a good way to describe the vacation.
The trip from Vic Falls down to Cape Town was incredible. The guide, chef, and driver were all very friendly and fun.
The service from the operator started far earlier than my holiday. All my questions prior to the trip (even from my original enquiry) were answered in great detail and so quickly.
The places we visited and people I met along the way all made this holiday one I will never forget. This was my first overland trip and I will certainly do another one.
Thanks again for an amazing holiday in Africa (my first and definitely not my last)!!
Thanks Bronwyn for all the great information and quick replies.
The tour was really fantastic saw the big five and heaps of other animals .Gift, our tour guide ,Enos our cook and Thaibi the best driver in Africa, were really great ,could not ask for any better people to make our camping tour a real happy tour.
Highly recommended and will be back for another tour. Thanks again for a very exciting ,memerable tour.
I am very happy to say I had an absolutely wonderful time on the trip.
Our guides, Givt, Tabhi & Inus deserve great praise for doing a spectacular job throughout the trip. By the end of our 11 day trips I considered them to be good friends. They were very knowledgable of all areas we visited, were happy to share historic and current stories and insight into the different areas.
We had an amazing time in Gweru at the Antelpoe park. We had 1.5 days and got to do all of our activites. It would have been easy to spend 2.5 days there, but then again it would have been easy to spend all week there as well. Great Zimababwe and Mutopos were the highlight of our trip.
This was the best trip of my life thanks to our excellent guides and the wonderful people of Zimbabwe. We have fallen in love with Africa and cannot wait to return with them to continue exploring and sicovering a most beautiful continent, culture and people!
