6 days · Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro — Machame Route, 6 Days
Machame without the Karanga rest day. It works, but it asks more of you, and we will say so if we think you should take the seven-day version instead.
Is this trip for you?
Trip type
Private expedition
Your own guides, cook and porters, on your own dates. We do not merge you into someone else's group, which means the pace is set by your party and nobody else's summit night.
Ages
10 and over
Kilimanjaro National Park sets a minimum age of ten. Beyond that we go on how you answer our health questions rather than on your age, and we may ask for a doctor's note first.
Fitness
Good general fitness
No technical climbing and no ropes on any route we run. What it asks for is five to eight hours of walking a day for a week, and one very long night. Three months of hill walking beforehand is worth more than any gym programme.
Group size: Private party, with guides, a cook and porters sized to it
Day by day.
-
1
Machame Gate to Machame Camp
An hour from Moshi to the gate, registration, and a steady climb through dense, wet rainforest to Machame Camp at 3,010 m.
- Altitude
- Machame Gate 1,790 m → Machame Camp 3,010 m
- Distance
- 12.6 km / 7.8 mi
- Walking
- 7 hours
- Habitat
- Dense rainforest
- Meals
- Lunch and dinner
-
2
Machame Camp to Shira 2
Up through the last of the forest and steeply onto the Shira Plateau, with Meru behind you across the plain. Shira 2 Camp at 3,900 m.
- Altitude
- Machame Camp 3,010 m → Shira 2 3,900 m
- Distance
- 5.4 km / 3.4 mi
- Walking
- 5 hours
- Habitat
- Forest onto the Shira Plateau
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
-
3
Shira 2 to Barranco, via the Lava Tower
Across the high moorland and beneath the Lava Tower and the Western Breach, to 4,640 m at the day's high point before descending to Barranco at 3,960 m.
- Altitude
- Shira 2 3,900 m → Lava Tower 4,640 m → Barranco 3,960 m
- Distance
- 10 km / 6.2 mi
- Walking
- 8 hours
- Habitat
- High moorland and upland desert
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
-
4
Barranco to Barafu
The long version of the day: the Barranco Wall, then under the glaciers, through the Karanga valley — the last fresh water before the summit — and on across the scree to Barafu Camp at 4,640 m. Eight hours, and the reason we would rather you took the seven-day route.
- Altitude
- Barranco 3,960 m → Karanga valley → Barafu 4,640 m
- Distance
- 8.5 km / 5.3 mi
- Walking
- 8 hours
- Habitat
- Alpine desert and scree
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
-
5
Summit day, then Mweka Camp
Away at midnight, four to five hours of scree to Stella Point at 5,739 m, then the rim to Uhuru Peak at 5,895 m. Back to Barafu for breakfast and down to Mweka Camp at 3,100 m.
- Altitude
- Barafu 4,640 m → Uhuru Peak 5,895 m → Mweka Camp 3,100 m
- Distance
- 16.4 km / 10.2 mi
- Walking
- 13 to 15 hours
- Habitat
- Arctic summit zone, then moorland
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
-
6
Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate
Down through the rainforest to Mweka Gate at 1,630 m, certificates, and back to the hotel.
- Altitude
- Mweka Camp 3,100 m → Mweka Gate 1,630 m
- Distance
- 9.1 km / 5.7 mi
- Walking
- 3 hours
- Habitat
- Rainforest
- Meals
- Breakfast
Where you sleep.
On the mountain
Three-season mountain tents, sleeping mats, and a mess tent with a table and chairs. Three meals a day cooked on the mountain, and filtered water throughout. Marangu is the exception: it uses the park's huts throughout.
Before and after
Bed and breakfast in Moshi the night before the climb and the night you come down, with hot water, laundry and somewhere to leave the luggage you are not carrying up.
Upgrades
A portable flush toilet with its own tent is US$70 per toilet and tent for the climb, and is the upgrade most parties are glad they took. Single tents and a walk-in tent with a camp bed are available on request, as is an extra night in Moshi at either end, which most climbers who fly in the same day end up wishing they had booked. We also hire out clothing, mountain kit and sleeping bags - though we would rather you brought your own boots.
We book against availability for your dates rather than naming a property we may not be able to get you into. Your written quotation names every lodge and camp before you pay anything.
What is included
- Park fees and camping fees
- 18% VAT on tour fees and services
- Three-season mountain tents
- Transport to and from the mountain gate
- Professional mountain guides, a cook and porters
- Three meals a day on the mountain
- Filtered water throughout the trek
- Accommodation before and after the trek
- Fair wages for the mountain crew, at the rates set by Kilimanjaro National Park (KINAPA) and the Kilimanjaro Association of Tour Operators (KIATO)
- Private airport transfers both ways
Not included
- Flights
- Visa fees
- Travel insurance
- Sleeping bag
- Tips for the mountain crew
- Items of a personal nature
- Alcoholic and soft drinks
- Laundry services
- A doctor travelling with the group
- A portable flush toilet with its own tent, which is US$70 per toilet and tent
When to go.
January to mid-March — warm and clear
The warmest climbing window, with clear mornings and a good chance of snow on the summit cone. Busy, but less so than the northern-hemisphere summer.
June to October — cold, dry and busy
The most reliable weather of the year and the highest traffic on the mountain. Nights are the coldest, which is what a proper sleeping bag is for.
Late March to May, and November
The rainy months. We do run climbs then, on the northern and western routes that sit in the mountain's rain shadow, but you should expect wet forest days and we will say so plainly before you book.
Questions about this trip.
Is six days too fast?
It is the shortest Machame we will run, and we run it for people with recent altitude experience. Day four combines two normal days into eight or nine hours and arrives at Barafu with less in reserve than we like.
What exactly is cut compared with the seven-day?
The night at Karanga. You walk Barranco to Barafu in one push instead of two.
Should I book this to save money?
Only if the dates force it. The extra day costs less than a second attempt at the mountain, which is what a failed summit really costs.
On this route
Where you will be.
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Make this itinerary yours.
Add days, drop a park, change the pace. This is a starting point, not a fixed departure.