7 Days 6 Nights Roof of Africa Trekking (Marangu Route)

You will be picked up by our staff from Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) and driven to your accommodation in Arusha. Participants will be given a short briefing for the climb the next day. Kits and the necessary equipment will be checked as well.

The drive from Moshi to the Kilimanjaro National Park gate takes about 50 minutes. The journey passes through the village of Marangu, which is located on the lower slopes of the mountain. Once you reach the park gate, all hikers are requested to sign in at the Park office and make their final preparations for the climb. Porters will be seen arranging and loading their packs, containing the food, water, cooking gas as well as most of your equipment.

From Mandara hut, the trail passes through a short stretch of forest, skirts the base of the Maundi Crater and then emerges into a transition from rain forest to moorland. It is well worth a short detour to scramble up the rim of the Maundi Crater for your first impressive view of the Kibo Crater. On a clear day, Kibo will glimmer in the distance, with sightings of majestic glaciers in the morning sun.

Horombo hut is a village of huts perched on a small plateau, with buildings similar to Mandara with a capacity of 120 climbers! Horombo is normally bustling with hikers, guides and porters, with an atmosphere of adventure and excitement. You will meet both ascending and descending hikers here. This extra day and night at Horombo is for additional acclimatization. A hike towards the Mawenzi hut, passing the Zebra Rocks on the way (about 3 hours up and 1,5 hours down) is strongly recommended.

After breakfast, we continue our ascent into the Alpine desert habitat. From Horombo, there are two trails to the “Saddle” (which refers to the area located between the peaks of Mawenzi and Kibo). There is an upper route (right hand fork) and lower route (left hand fork) to choose from. The upper route should be very familiar, as you will have climbed most of it the previous day towards Mawenzi hut. This section is very stony and eroded.

You will rise around 23h20, and after some tea and biscuits you shuffle off into the night, and this is where the going really gets tough. The first section of the trail consists of a rocky path to the Hans Meyer Cave (5150m) and also offers a good resting spot. The path then zigzags up to Gillman’s point (5 681m), which is located on the crater rim. This section is very steep with a lot of stone scree, requiring great physical and mental effort. This is probably the most demanding section of the entire route. Do the Kili shuffle and move slowly.

From Gillmans Point, you will normally encounter snow all the way up to Uhuru peak (5895m), the highest point in Africa. Weather conditions on the summit will determine how long you will be able to spend, taking photographs, before the 3-hour descent back to Kibo Hut. After a short rest, you gather all the gear you left behind for the ascent and head down to Horombo hut (3 hours) for your overnight. The return to Horombo hut will seem surprisingly fast compared to the ascent. The total time spent walking on this day is around 14 hours, so be prepared for a very tough day. Later in the evening, you will have your last dinner on the mountain and have your well-earned sleep.

After breakfast, we continue our descent for around 6 hours passing the Mandara hut down to the Marangu gate. At Marangu gate, successful climbers receive their summit certificates. Those climbers who reached Gillman’s Point (5685m) are issued with green certificates, and those who reached Uhuru Peak (5895m) receive gold certificates. Afterwards, we drive back to Moshi for a long overdue hot shower and celebration.