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 to Marangu 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). Climbers under 16 years of age, however are required to present their passports to the KINAPA gate staff as proof of their eligibility to climb on a concessionary permit. Failure to do this will result in a cash surcharge being imposed by KINAPA of USD 590 per under-16 climber. Please also note that following any transfer it is customary to tip the driver, $5 - $10 per group is usual.

Trek up through the rainforest from Marangu Gate (1860m) to Mandara Huts Camp (2715m). Lunch will be taken at the guides discretion - normally at Kisamboni. The total distance today is 8.1km, over 850m of elevation gain. Optional late afternoon excursion to the Maundi Crater.

Day2.

Trek through moorland from Mandara Huts to Horombo Huts (3720m) on the lower southern edge of the Mawenzi Saddle. It is normal to experience mild headaches on this day which should be alleviated with paracetamol. Those choosing to take Diamox may wish to begin the course this morning. Distance is 11.6km.

Day 3.

Acclimatisation trek from Horombo Huts (4642m) via Zebra Rocks to Mawenzi ‘Camel Back’ (4612m max elevation).

Today affords excellent views from the saddle to both Mawenzi Peak to the north east, and Kibo to the west. Lunch is taken at guides discretion, either en-route, or on return to Horombo Huts.

Spending the night this low in a significantly more oxygen-rich environment than experienced during the day ensures that the body has sufficient reprieve to be able to make the necessary adaptive changes that it has identified the need for during its exposure to the environmental factors associated with high altitude over the last 24 hours. Tomorrow morning, even though you may feel quite tired you will nonetheless be better prepared for your approach to the high camp than you would have been had you not taken this acclimatisation excursion. Distance from Horombo Huts to Mawenzi ‘Camel Back’ is 6.0km.

Day 4.

Trek from Horombo Huts via Kibo Huts (4713m) to School Huts (4717m) (availability permitting).

Follow the southern path from Horombo Huts to Kibo Huts. As you progress from Maua River (3940m) the terrain will change from sparse vegetation to more barren terrain. Pass to the left of Middle Red Hill (small parasitic cone) and enter the flat saddle between Kibo and Mawenzi which while having dramatic landscape, can also be very windswept. From here we head off along the long uphill trek towards Kibo Huts, and thereafter on to School Hut if space available. 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 please try because your body needs fuel. 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.

Distance today is 9.2kms to Kibo Huts and a further 0.8kms to School Huts.

Day 5.

At leisure at either Kibo or School Huts 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.

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.

Aim to get to sleep today 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 please try because your body needs fuel. 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.

Day6.

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 Hans Meyer Cave (5151m) and Gillman’s Point (5681m) to the summit. Tonight is very difficult 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 a potentially dangerous condition and to proceed will not be safe. 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 Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) and its related problems is usually 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 Gillman’s 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 214 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 Gillman’s Point please try to push on a little further towards Stella Point (5752m) 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 and then back to Gillman’s Point. Descent from here is via a loose scree slope. This 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 Kibo Huts we have a short refreshment break before continuing to Horombo 3705m (via the Mawenzi route) where we overnight again.

Distances on summit day:

School Huts to Gillman’s Point:: 3.7km

Gillman’s Point to Summit: 2.0km Summit to Gillman’s Point: 2.0km Gillman’s Point to Kibo Huts: 3.4km Kibo Huts to Horombo: 9.6km

Total summit day’s distance: 20.7km

Day 7.

This morning we descend from Horombo to Marangu Gate 1860m via Mandara Huts 2715m. The day’s distance is 19.7km along very well maintained trails. (Horombo to Mandara is 11.6km and Mandara to Marangu Gate is 8.1km). This is the standard Rongai descent route and the Marangu ascent and descent route.

At Marangu Gate it is customary for climbers to tip their support staff. Ordinarily tips are collected by one of the climbers and the total amount is handed to the chief guide who himself decides how the amount should be divided amongst the rest of the crew according to a customary scale that is determined by the responsibilities and experience of each staff member. All our chief guides are thoroughly honest and fair in this regard and it is not necessary for climbers to hand out individual envelopes to each porter, cook and assistant guide, unless they specifically wish to do so. Climbers nowadays tend to tip their support crew 10-15% of what they have paid for their climb.

Arriving at Marangu Gate we sign the Register and you will be awarded your Certificate of Achievement before being collected and transferred to your hotel.

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.