life of EASE......spirit of ADVENTURE
Sample Itinerary:
Kilimanjaro Machame via Western Breach
(Six days)
Day 1
Breakfast at your hotel is served from 0700. Please ensure that you have packed your bags before breakfast, have signed over your extra luggage that will not be required on the mountain to reception, and have deposited your valuables into the hotel’s safe.need to amend this to 0800. Should you wish to confirm this in advance please enquire via a text message to +255 78 777 5895. Your driver will transfer you some 1 hour 20 minutes to Machame Gate where we complete registration formalities. Climbers should have their passport numbers for their registry entries but are advised to have kept their passports and valuables in the hotel safe (excluding the amount they will budget for tipping their crew). Please also note that following any transfer it is customary to tip the driver, $5 - $10 per group is usual.
Trek from Machame Gate (1828m) to Machame Camp (3020m). The distance is 10.8km, over 1200m of elevation gain. Today can be quite tiring, particularly the final two hours.
Day 2
Trek from Machame Camp to Shira Camp (3847m) on southern edge of Shira Plateau. Distance is 5.2km.
Day 3
We trek from Shira Camp to Lava Tower (4642m). If the weather’s good you can ask your guide to lead you to the summit of the Lava Tower (4688m) where the views are excellent. Lunch is normally taken at the foot of the tower. Distance from Shira Cave Camp to Lava Tower is 6.6km. Afternoon acclimatisation excursions from Lava Tower to Arrow Glacier Camp before returning to Lava Tower Camp to overnight.
In the event that your guide feels spending tonight at 4642m would not help your acclimatisation, he may choose for you to descend to Barranco Camp (3965m) to overnight. Distance from Lava Tower to Barranco is 3.7km.
Day 4
Trek from Lava Tower Camp (or Barranco Camp if used) to Arrow Glacier Campsite (4871m). Though only a short distance is covered today - 2.5km, taking approximately 1.5 hours, the walk is still exhausting. Afternoonacclimatisation excursions on the Western Breach Assault route. You probably won’t feel like eating or drinking at this point, but please try to do so as your body needs the fuel now. You are advised to get all your gear ready for the summit bid before you go to sleep as you may feel disoriented when awoken for the assault at 0500.
Day 5
Around 0530 (your guide will judge the time that is optimal for you based on your pace thus far) quit camp for the assault via the Western Breach / Crater rim (5725m) to the summit. The Western Breach assault route to the summit, while the shortest, time wise, is also the steepest. This morning is very difficult and you’ll need to draw on inner strength to help you achieve the summit.
When you reach the crater rim you will sit, rest and admire the views out to the west, and the Furtwangler Glacier to your immediate east. At this point you are only 170 vertical metres short of the summit, the journey from here is much less steep, and you have plenty of time for short rest stops as you proceed towards Crater Camp (5729m).
From Crater Camp, it is only a short climb (max 1 hour) via the zig-zag track to the summit,passing Furtwangler Point at 5894m .
On the summit your guide will advise how much time you can spend there in consideration of your condition, your timings, and the weather. The brain does not function very intelligently at this altitude so please remember to take many photographs in all directions so that your memories are recorded.
From the summit you will turn around and descend to Stella Point. When you reach Stella Point your guide may opt to switch left onto the loose scree, a departure from the ridge up which you ascended. On arrival at Barafu you would usually have time to rest an hour or so before continuing the descent after some refreshments.
From Barafu you will usually descend to Mweka Camp (3090m) for overnight. If your guide judges that a shorter day will benefit you and preserve sore knees and ankles, he may decide to stop short at Millennium Camp (3820m) instead.
Distances on Summit Day
Arrow Glacier Camp to Crater Camp: 3.5km
Crater Camp to Summit: 0.7km Summit to Crater Camp = 0.8km Summit to Barafu: 4.5km
Barafu to Mweka Camp: 6.3km
Total distance on summit day : 15.8km
Day 6
This morning we descend from Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate (1641m) where we sign the summit register. After signing we de- scend a further 15 minutes on foot to Mweka Village to meet our transport, as the park authorities prefer groups’ vehicles to avoid congesting the area immediately beside Mweka gate as this is an important thoroughfare for casualty evacuations and is served by a single track road.
Transfer from the gate back to Arusha. You should return back to Arusha sometime between 2 and 5pm, depending on your descent pace. Distance from Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate is 8.5km.
Typical tips for mountain crew tend to average some 10-15% of climb cost. All climbers’ contributions are usually added together and the total amount is presented to the chief guide at Mweka Gate. Our guides always divide these tips fairly amongst their crew according to a customary scale that is determined by the responsibilities and experience of each staff member
PLEASE NOTE: Your safety is our business. All our Mountain Guides are highly trained in guiding at altitude and hold relevant, current First Aid Qualifications. In all matters of safety the decision of the Chief Guide is final.