7 Days Kilimanjaro Rongai Route Itinerary

Day 1: Moshi to Rongai Gate to Simba Camp

You will have an early breakfast. Transfer by our vehicles through many villages and coffee plantations for a 2-3 hour drive to Rongai Gate (1,950 m/6,398 ft). After signing in and preparing the porters, you will start hiking on a wide path winding through fields of maize and potatoes and then enter montane forest. You will then start to climb gently but consistently through attractive forest that shelters a variety of wildlife. The forest begins to become thinner as you arrive at Simba Camp (2,600 m/8,530 ft) with fantastic views over the Kenyan plains.

• Elevation (m): 1,387/915 m to 1,950 m to 2,750 m
• Distance: 9 km
• Hiking Time: 4 hours
• Habitat: Montane Forest

Day 2: Simba Camp to Kikelewa Camp

After an early breakfast you will have a steady ascent to the second cave, where you will stop for lunch. You leave the direct trail at this point and strike out across the moorland on a smaller path toward the Mawenzi side peak to Kikelewa Camp in a sheltered valley. At the Kikelewa Camp you will settle in for your dinner and overnight rest.

• Elevation: 2,750 m to 3,600 m
• Distance: 17 km
• Hiking Time: 7 hours
• Habitat: Moorland

Day 3: Kikelewa camp to Mawenzi turn hut

After breakfast you will face a short, steep climb up grassy slopes, rewarded by superb all-around views, immersed in the vast surrounding wilderness. Soon after, you leave the vegetation behind and arrive at the Mawenzi Tarn Camp, which is situated in a spectacular cirque directly beneath the towering spires of Mawenzi Peak. After this hike, you will reach the Mawenzi Turn Hut camp, where you will also see the amazing dry lake with no inlet as well as outlet. Here you will have lunch and rest and dinner and an overnight stay at this camp.

• Elevation: 3,600m to 4,330m
• Distance: 7km
• Hiking Time: 4 hours
• Habitat: Semi-Desert

Day 4: Acclimatization day (6-day itinerary skips this day)

This is your extra day on the mountain, and you will spend two nights at Mawenzi Tarn. You will hike up towards Mawenzi for a splendid acclimatization hike. Then after returning back to the camp for lunch, dinner, and an overnight stay at the camp.

Day 5: Mawenzi Tarn hut to Kibo Huts camp

After an early breakfast you will cross the lunar desert of the saddle between Kibo Peak and Mawenzi Peak to Kibo Huts at the bottom of Kibo’s crater wall. You should spend the remainder of the day resting and preparing for your summit climb.

• Elevation: 4,330 m to 4,695 m
• Distance: 8km
• Hiking Time: 5 hours
• Habitat: Alpine Desert

Day 6: Summit Day! Kibo Huts camp to Uhuru Peak to Horombo Huts camp

Wake up at midnight for a light breakfast and then prepare for your summit ascent. The goal is to climb before dawn so that you can reach Uhuru Peak shortly before or after sunrise. Leave for the peak at 12:00 am, switchback up steep scree or possibly snow, and reach Gilman’s Point on the crater rim at 5,861 m/18,640 ft between 4 and 6 am. At this point, you will have views of the fabled crater and its ice caps facing you. Then after 2 hours of hiking along the Kibo crater rim near the celebrated snows, it takes you to Kilimanjaro’s true summit, Uhuru Peak. Here you will spend some time taking photos, but it will depend on how you feel. After your summit activities are done, descend back to the Kibo Huts, have lunch, rest, collect your equipment, and continue going down, re-crossing the saddle to the Horombo Huts. Have dinner and stay overnight at Horombo camp.

• Elevation: 4,695 m to 5,895 m to 3,690 m
• Distance: 4 km up, 14 km down
• Hiking Time: 10-15 hours
• Habitat: Alpine Desert.

Day 7: Horombo Huts camp to Marangu Gate to Moshi

After a long and enjoyable sleep you will be awakened for breakfast and packing up, starting the descent through the moorland to Mandara Huts. Here you will have lunch and then proceed with your triumphant recessional down through lush forest to Marangu Gate. Here you will sign out, and then a vehicle will take you back to the hotel, where it is definitely time for certificate presentation and celebration.

• Elevation: 3,690 m to 1,830 m to 1,387 m
• Distance: 18 km
• Hiking Time: 5-7 hours