life of EASE......spirit of ADVENTURE
Sample Itinerary:
Kilimanjaro via Machame route
(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.
Transfer and Registration.
You will normally be collected at 0730 from your hotel. 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
Day 2
Trek from Machame Camp to Shira Camp (3847m) on southern edge of Shira Plateau. It is normal to experience mild headaches on this day which should be alleviated with paracetamol. Those choosing to take Diamox should begin their course this morning with half a tablet (125mg) in the morning and the other half with supper in the evening. Distance is 5.2km.
Day 3
Trek from Shira Camp to Lava Tower (4642m). If the weather’s good you can ask your guide to guide you to the summit of the Lava Tower (4688m) where the views are excellent. Lunch is normally taken at the foot of the tower. Descend from Lava to Barranco Camp (3984m). Distance from Shira to Lava Tower is 7.0km. Distance from Lava Tower to Barranco is 3.7km.
Day 4
Trek from Barranco Camp to Barafu Camp (4681m) via the 257m high Breach Wall across the valley from Barranco. You should be aware that there are three rises and falls before reaching Karanga Camp where we have lunch at 4040m. From Karanga the route ascends 640m to Barafu. Aim to get to sleep as soon as possible as you will be woken at around 2300-0000 to begin your assault.
Don’t worry about waking yourself for meals - your staff will wake you for these. You probably won’t feel like eating but please endeavour to do so as you’ll need the energy reserves. 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. Distance from Barranco to Barafu is 9.4km.
Day 5
Around midnight (your guide will judge the time that is optimal for you based on your pace thus far) quit camp for the assault via Stella Point (5752m) to the summit. Tonight is very difficult - particularly the final 500m - and you’ll need to commit to fight for the summit. You will inevitably feel like giving up and going to sleep. This is normal and can be overcome with perseverance. When resting please ensure you only stand or sit and do not lie down or close your eyes. Please trust your guide; he is very adept at judging whether your condition will allow safe progress or whether you have succumbed to high altitude sickness. (Acute Mountain Sickness). Nausea and headaches are normal and around a quarter of climbers will vomit at or near Stella Point.
While very uncomfortable, these are not symptoms that are indicative of being at risk, per se. The onset of cerebral and pulmonary oedema are marked by distinctive early warning symptoms that your guide is capable of identifying. Please maintain regular dialogue with him and frequently update him on how you are feeling.
When you reach Stella Point you will sit and rest. At this point the body often thinks you have finished your uphill fight and will be trying to coerce you into giving up and turning around. While you may genuinely believe that you have already exhausted your reserves in reaching this point, this is actually very unlikely to be so.
Remember that you are only 143 vertical metres short of the summit, the journey from here is much less steep, and you have plenty of time for further pauses. If you do feel the need to give up at Stella Point please try to push on a little further towards the summit before making your final decision. In most cases this act of re-establishing momentum is enough to persuade the mind and body to co-operate with your intentions and you will ordinarily find hidden reserves for a final push, reserves that you were not aware you still had.
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 or you will probably regret not having done so at a later stage.
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:
Barafu to Stella Point: 3.3km Stella Point to Summit: 1.2km Summit to Barafu: 4.5km
Barafu to Mweka Camp: 6.3km
Total = 15.3km
Day 6
Descend from Mweka Camp (or Millennium) to Mweka Gate (1641m) where we sign the summit register and you will receive your Certificate of Achievement.
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.