life of EASE......spirit of ADVENTURE
Sample Itinerary:
Kilimanjaro Machame route with Crater Night & Excursion
(Eight 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. 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
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 at this point, but we encourage you to do so because your body needs the fuel.Distance from Barranco to Barafu is 9.4km.
Day 5
At leisure at Barafu Camp with optional excursions at guide’s discretion. Please discuss your physical condition and preferences with your guide. Please eat slowly and copiously and ensure you keep asking the staff for more fluids.
In our experience those who do not succeed in reaching the summit usually fail in their attempt because of exhaustion aggravated by a lack of sleep and loss of reserves that are the deleterious effects of prolonged exposure to high altitude. The 6 day route itself has excellent acclimatisation features and a failure to acclimatise adequately is not usually the cause of failure to summit. In consideration of this we therefore do not usually adhere to the standard 7 day schedule, but instead we press on to Barafu on day 4 and use day 5 as a day of rest with optional pre-assault excursion to no higher than 5,000m to fine-tune our acclimatisation, and to see a little of the ridge that will be asscended tonight in darkness.
Please ensure that you take advantage of the opportunities afforded by this route configuration to get a complete night’s sleep on Night 4 and to stock up reserves and hydrate thoroughly for tonight’s assault. The usual 7 day route stops to overnight on Day 4 at Karanga Camp, which can be seen a little to the right of the main valley in the above profile, at around the 5.8km mark at an elevation of 4040m. Stopping at Karanga in our view offsets some of the advantage of the extra day in that it still requires the climber to ascend the very substantial ground seen to the right of the 6km mark, having to cover 640 vertical metres before getting only a few hours sleep, before beginning the assault. This method is not the most efficient use of Day 4 however if on the basis of the group’s rate of progress to this point, the guide judges that the group will be over-stretched by covering the full journey on Day 4 from Barranco to Barafu, he will revert to the standard 7 day schedule. You are advised to get all your gear ready for the summit bid before you go to sleep this evening as you may feel disoriented when awoken.
Day 6
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 draw on inner strength to fight for the summit.
When you reach Stella Point you will sit and rest. At Stella Point 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 rest stops.
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 to make sure you capture and record your memories.
From the summit you will continue to press westwards, passing Furtwangler Point at 5894m, before descending a steep scree slope to Crater Camp at 5729m. Having settled and enjoyed refreshments at Crater Camp you have the option of requesting that your guide accompany you to the top of the Breach Wall to watch the sunset over the Shira Plateau.
Distances on summit day:
Barafu to Stella Point: 3.3km Stella Point to Summit: 1.2km Summit to Crater Camp: 0.9km
Total summit day’s distance: 5.4km
Day 7
This morning, provided climbers are feeling strong and motivated and are judged by the guide to be in good health, we rise up from Crater Camp towards the very centre of Kibo and the Reusch Ash Pit viewpoint at 5845m. From here views are enjoyed towards the summit and into the centre of the volcanic cone where fumeroles and sulphur emissions can often be seen. Strength permitting, we continue to circumnavigate the Ash Pit towards the Eastern Icefields and Stella Point, where we begin the descent to Barafu Camp, this time moving left of our ascent route into the Southeast Valley, descending via its loose scree slopes. There is clear logic is descending a loose scree slope; it is far easier on the knees and as the ground collapses underfoot if you take short quick strides it’s easy to maintain momentum. We do short bursts and take regular rests, pausing to photograph the Saddle beneath us and Kenya to our left. At Barafu Camp we have a short refreshment break before continuing to Mweka Camp 3090m where we overnight again.
Crater Camp to Stella Point via Crater Excursion: 5.2km
Stella Point to Barafu Camp: 3.3km
Barafu to Mweka Camp: 6.3km
Total day’s distance: 14.8km
Day 8
This morning we 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.