6 Days Kilimanjaro Hiking Tour via the Rongai Route

Day 1: Arusha/Moshi to Rongai gate to Simba Camp

Elevation: 1387/915 m to 1950 m to 2750 m, Distance: 7 km, Hiking Time: 3 hours, Habitat: Montana Forest

You will have an early breakfast at your hotel. Transfer in our vehicles through many villages and coffee plantations for a 2–3-hour drive to Rongai. After checking in and preparing porters, begin a 6-day Rongai trek on a broad trail that winds through corn and potato fields, then enter the Montana forest. You then begin a gentle but consistent walk through an attractive forest that is home to a variety of wildlife. The forest begins to unravel as you reach Simba Camp with fantastic views across the Kenyan plains.

Day 2: Simba Camp to Kikelewa Camp

Elevation: 2750 m to 3600 m, Distance: 11 km, Hiking Time: 6 hours, Habitat: Moorland

After an early breakfast, you will ascend steadily to the second cave of Kikelewa Camp, where you will stop for lunch. At this point you leave the direct path and cross the moor on a smaller path to the Mawenzi side summit to Kikelewa camp in a sheltered valley. At Camp Kikelewa you will be content with your evening meal and your night's sleep.

Day 3: Kikelewa camp to Mawenzi turn hut

Elevation: 3600m to 4330m, Distance: 5km, Hiking Time: 4 hours, Habitat: Semi-Desert

After breakfast, take a short, steep hike up grassy slopes; rewarded with a magnificent panoramic view, immersed in the vast nature of the area. Soon leave the bush behind and arrive at Mawenzi Tarn Camp, nestled in a spectacular cirque just below the soaring peaks of Mawenzi Peak. After this trek you will reach the Mawenzi Turn hut camp where you will also see the amazing undried lake with no entry or exit. You will have lunch and rest, then have dinner and spend the night in this camp.

Day 4: Mawenzi Tarn hut to Kibo Huts camp

Elevation: 4330 m to 4695 m, Distance: 5km, Hiking Time: 5 hours, Habitat: Alpine Desert

After an early breakfast, traverse the lunar saddle desert between Kibo Peak and Mawenzi Peak to Kibo Huts at the foot of the Kibo Crater Wall. You must spend the memory of the day resting and preparing for your trek to the summit.

Day 5: Kibo Huts camp to Uhuru Peak to Horombo Huts camp

Elevation: 4695 m to 5895 m to 3690 m, Distance: 6 km up, 14 km down, Hiking Time: 10-15 hours, Habitat: Alpine Desert.

Wake up at midnight for a light breakfast, then get ready for your climb to the summit. The goal is to run before sunrise so you can reach Uhuru Peak just before or after sunrise. Exit the top at 12; 12:00 a.m., change back up steep scree or possibly snow and reach Gilman's Point. At this point you will have a view of the iconic crater and its polar caps. After 2 hours hiking on the rim of Kibo crater near the famous snow, you will get to the actual summit of Kilimanjaro, Uhuru Peak. Here you will spend few moments to take photos but it depends on how you feel. After your summit activities, you will descend back to Kibo Huts, have lunch, rest, collect your gear and continue the descent crossing the saddle to Horombo Huts. Dinner and overnight at Horombo Camp.

Day 6: Horombo Huts camp to Marangu Gate to Arusha/Moshi

Elevation: 3690 m to 1830 m to 1387 m, Distance: 18 km, Descending Time: 5-7 hours

After a long and comfortable sleep, you will be woken up for breakfast and picked up to begin the descent through the moor to the Mandara Huts. Here you will have lunch and then continue your triumphant descent through the lush forest to the gate of Marangu Park. Here you check out and then a vehicle will take you back to the hotel where it is definitely time to present the certificate and celebrate departure!