with Acacia Africa

DAY 1 Transfer Nairobi to Moshi

From Nairobi we travel by scheduled bus to Moshi. You will be collected between 07:15am – 07:30am (selected departure points only) and you should arrive in Moshi in the late afternoon. The shuttle crosses the Athi Plain and continues to the border point at Namanga. Once formalities are complete we continue to Arusha where you may be asked to change buses for the final drive 80km to Moshi. The remainder of the day is at leisure – to relax and prepare for the following days trek.

DAY 2 Trek to Mandara Huts

After breakfast and a briefing from your guide, we leave Moshi and drive 45 minutes t6o Marangu Gate on the eastern side of the mountain. We begin our trek here, walking through forests tall eucalyptuses, home to a range of birdlife and colobus monkeys which we may see jumping though the canopy. It can be muddy here, so trekking poles and gaiters may help. After a stop for lunch we may have the time to detour to Maundi Crater, from where there are beautiful views across the surrounding region, including Southern Kenya across the border. We aim to reach Mandara Huts, our first camp in the late afternoon. Our porters and cook arrive at camp before us to start setting up and preparing dinner.

DAY 3 Trek to Horombo Huts,

We rise early and continue our trek after breakfast, hilking through rainforests glades and follow an ascending path up through unique mountain heathland on the slopes of the Mawenzi massif consisting of giant lobelias and groundsel vegetarian, some which reach over 3 meters high. Continuing on we enter the area of low shrubs and moorlands where we take lunch. Although a long and quiet strenuous walk, there are amazing views of Mawenzi from the moorland and by the time we reach our huts we have views of Kibo itself. We arrive at Horombo Huts at approximately 3pm where there is time to rest before dinner.

NB. You may start to feel the effects of altitude sickness here. To aid your acclimatisation we can provide an extra day here at Horombo. On this day you could chose to either rest or take a day walk to a basecamp below the lesser peak Mawenzi. See below for more information.

DAY 4 Trek to Kibo Huts,

If feeling energetic you could rise early this morning and catch great photos of the sunrise over Kilimanjaro. After breakfast we set off and climb through the dwindling moorland which blends into a rocky moonscape as you enter the sweeping saddle connecting Mawenzi and Kibo. Stopping for lunch we have great views of the peak and will be able to view the summit route we’ll be taking early tomorrow morning. This afternoon we cross the surprisingly wide saddle of alpine desert, to the foot of Kibo at Kibo Huts. This evenings camp does not have running water so our porter will prepare washing water for us. We will also eat early so you have as much sleep as possible before our very early start for the summit. At this altitude we will be looking out for signs of altitude sickness. While many people are affected by mild altitude sickness, the guides will advise if symptoms are acute and summit should not be attempted.

DAY 5 Trek to Uhuru Peak,

We wake at midnight to a light breakfast and leave the camp at 1am for the ascent. Our goal is to climb before dawn so that we reach Uhuru Peak shortly after sunrise. Setting off, we take switchbacks across a large scree slope and reach Gillman’s Point on the crater rim at 5686m between 5-7am. Here, views of the fabled crater and possible ice caps great you. After another 2 hours of hiking along the crater rim you have the final push to reach Kilimanjaro’s true summit at Uhuru Peak. This is Africa’s highest point and the highest for approximately 500 kilometres!

On the summit we enjoy our accomplishment and enjoy the view of the surrounding plains as they wake up to the day before our descent back down. It is another 7-8 hours descent back to Horombo but a new view looking down! We arrive back, eat dinner prepared by the cook and get some well earned sleep.

DAY 6 Trek to Marangu Gate

Today after a healthy breakfast we descend back through the moorland to the Mandara Huts. We have lunch there before our triumphant return back through lush forest to the park gate. We should reach there by approximately 2-3 pm. Saying our goodbyes and tipping our cooks, porters and guides we transfer back to our hotel in Moshi, where its definitely time for a celebration and relax! Tonight you will be contacted by the guide who will be taking you on safari, and arrangements made for your departure for the following morning.

DAY 7 Lake Manyara National Park

We depart Moshi and pass through Arusha and across the Rift Valley to the first of three magnificent national parks. We set up camp in the village of Mto Wa Mbu (sometimes known as ‘Mosquito Creek’), located just outside the national park at the foot of the Rift’s western escarpment. ‘Mto’ has a host of souvenir and craft stalls within walking distance of the campsite, but our main focus is the nearby Lake Manyara National Park and we spend the afternoon in the area game driving. The park is dominated by a giant soda lake and is known for its birdlife, lion and hippo. It’s an interesting and exciting introduction to Tanzania’s wealth of wildlife.

We return to the campsite this evening for dinner.

DAY 8 - 9 Olduvai Gorge & Serengeti National Park

We leave ‘Mto’ and ascend the escarpment – ask your driver to stop for the spectacular view over Lake Manyara and the Rift Valley. Noticeably cooler at the top we pass through the fertile Tanzanian highlands and enter the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Once inside the National Park we make our way around the rim of the crater and descend to the Serengeti and briefly visit the famous Olduvai Gorge - the site of archaeological digs of pre historic man. We finally enter the Serengeti itself where we shall spend the next two nights. The park’s wide horizons and open plains provide perhaps the most evocative images of Africa. The name ‘Serengeti’ derives from the Masai ‘Siringitu’ – ‘the place where land moves on forever’. By day we game drive around the flat rift valley floor, following our experienced guide’s intuition and knowledge of recent sightings. Between June and October there may be the chance to see wildebeest and other grazers moving in their thousands across the valley floor to the greener pastures in the north. ‘The migration’ as it is called, is a phenomenal spectacle and attracts many predators including lion, leopard and hyena who prey on their young when they calve later in the year. While in the Serengeti, we camp in official campsites but wildlife – including lion, elephant, hyena – may roam through our camp at night - an unforgettable experience!

DAY 10 Ngorongoro Crater

From the wide expanses of the Serengeti, we return to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and ascend the outer wall of the crater. The Ngorongoro is a World Heritage Site with a biosphere of concentrated fauna and flora second to none. The view from the rim is definitely ‘photo material’ and after stopping to admire the fantastic scenery below, we descend the steep access road onto the crater floor for an afternoon game viewing. Most of the major mammals can be found here and we hope to view lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo, gazelle, wildebeest and zebra, as well as a variety of birdlife, attracted by the crater’s soda lake. As the afternoon draws to a close, we drive back up the wall for our last night at camp.

DAY 11 Return to Nairobi

We journey back across the Rift Valley to Arusha in time to catch the afternoon shuttle to Nairobi. We aim to arrive in Kenya’s capital towards the early evening (traffic permitted where our tour ends.

• There is no additional information for this tour