Mt Kilimanjaro Climb - Rongai (ex. Kili Airport)
Trip Length |
Trip Code |
| 8 days | PFJR |
Minimum Passengers |
|
| 4 people | |
Maximum Passengers |
|
| 15 people | |
Countries Visited |
|
| Tanzania | |
Start City |
End City |
| Kilimanjaro Airport | Kilimanjaro Airport |
Trek to the highest point in Africa – enjoy mountain scenery, sensational views and a great sense of achievement! The Rongai route is one of the least travelled paths to the summit so it's the perfect route if you want to beat some of the crowds on the other tracks.
Why we love it:
- The chance to tick an item off your bucket list and trek 5895 metres to the summit of Africa’s highest peak, Mt Kilimanjaro!
- Celebrating your achievement with a swim, a cold beer and the best hot shower of your life at Kilimanjaro Mountain Resort
- Pass through a variety of different climactic and vegetation zones on the mountain, including lush farmland, delightful rainforest, alpine moorland, volcanic desert, glaciers, ice and snow.
Day to Day Itinerary
Day 1: Marangu
Accommodation: Kilimanjaro Mountain Lodge or similar, Marangu
Activities:
- On arrival in Kilimanjaro Airport, you will be met and transferred to your hotel in Marangu. The rest of the day is at your leisure. As this is an arrival day, you can arrive at any time.
- In the evening there’ll be a briefing on the trek when you’ll receive your own personal trek pack containing a kit bag that your porter will carry, sleep sheet, down jacket and sleeping mat. You’ll need to transfer your other personal possessions into your trek pack.
- Please note there are no credit card facilities at the Marangu hotel
Day 2: Marangu - Moorland Camp
Travel time: Approx 3-4 hours walking
Meals included: 1 breakfast, 1 lunch, 1 dinner
Accommodation: Moorland Camp or similar, Rongai Route
Activities:
- Today you’ll meet up with your porters and guides after breakfast at the hotel, and transfer to the Rongai Gate where you’ll complete your registration procedures.
- From here, you’ll travel by vehicle to the village of Nale Moru at around 1950 metres.
- Today’s walk is about three to four hours, a gradual ascent beginning on a small path that winds its way through fields of maize and potatoes before entering pine forest through to the edge of the moorland zone at around 2600 metres. Extensive views over the Kenyan plains will be a highlight of today's camp.
- Please note that it can be wet in the rainforest.
- The night is spent camping at Moorland Camp.
Day 3: Kikelewa Cave
Travel time: Approx 6-7 hours walking
Meals included: 1 breakfast, 1 lunch, 1 dinner
Accommodation: Kikelelwa Caves or similar, Rongai Route
Activities:
- After breakfast, you’ll set off around 8am to head up to the Kikelewa Caves. Today your walking time will be about six to seven hours.
- From your overnight campsite a steady ascent is made up to ‘Second Cave’ at 3450 metres where you’ll be rewarded with superb views of Kibo and the Eastern icefields of the crater rim.
- Leaving the main trail after lunch we travel across the Mooreland on smaller paths towards the jagged Mawenzi peaks.
- Tonight we camp near Kikelewa Caves at 3800 metres.
Day 4: Mawenzi Tarn Camp
Travel time: Approx 3-4 hours walking
Meals included: 1 breakfast, 1 lunch, 1 dinner
Accommodation: Mawenzi Tarn Camp or similar, Rongai Route
Activities:
- Today's walk is a shorter one at three to four hours, but involves some steeper terrain. Leaving camp a short but steep climb up grassy slopes is rewarded by a real sense of wilderness and stunning 360 degree views. The vegetation zone is left behind shortly before we reach our next campsite at Mawenzi Tarn at around 4330 metres.
Day 5: Kibo Campsite
Travel time: Approx 4-5 hours walking
Meals included: 1 breakfast, 1 lunch, 1 dinner
Accommodation: Outward bound Campsite or similar, Rongai Route
Activities:
- Today we’ll cross the lunar desert of the ‘Saddle’ between Mawenzi and Kibo. Our camp tonight is the Outward Bound campsite at about 4730 metres. This campsite is spectacularly located at the bottom of the Kibo crater wall.
- The remainder of the day is spent resting in preparation for the final summit ascent.
Day 6: Summit - Horombo Camp
Travel time: Approx 11-15 hours walking
Meals included: 1 breakfast, 1 lunch, 1 dinner
Accommodation: Horombo Camp or similar, Rongai Route
Activities:
- Today’s the big day! We will start the final, and by far the steepest and most demanding part of the climb by torchlight around 1am’this morning.
- We’ll plod very slowly in the darkness on a switchback trail through loose volcanic scree to reach the crater rim at Gillman’s Point at 5685 metres. We will rest there for a short time to enjoy the spectacular sunrise over Mawenzi.
- Those who are still feeling strong can make the three hour round trip to Uhuru Peak at 5895 metres, passing close to the spectacular glaciers and ice cliffs that still occupy most of the summit area.
- The descent to Kibo, at 4700 metres, is surprisingly fast and, after a little rest, we’ll continue the descent to reach our final campsite at Horombo at 3720 metres.
Day 7: Marangu
Travel time: Approx 5-7 hours walking
Meals included: 1 breakfast
Accommodation: Kilimanjaro Mountain Lodge or similar, Marangu
Activities:
- A final day of walking precedes a well earned rest at Kilimanjaro Mountain Resort in Marangu. A steady descent takes us down through moorland to Mandara Hut at 2700 metres. The descent continues through lovely lush forest on a good path to the National Park gate at Marangu at 1700 metres.
- At the gate you can often buy beers (or from the villages on the way back). There’s then just a very short hike to the road head where you’ll be met by the vehicle and transferred back to the hotel for a swim, a beer, and a VERY welcome hot shower! Celebrations at the hotel will, no doubt, continue into the evening!
Day 8: Kilimanjaro Airport
Meals included: 1 breakfast
Activities:
- In the morning you will be picked up by your transfer vehicle and driven from Marangu to Kilimanjaro Airport. This transfer is a group transfer and will depart Marangu in the early morning.
- Your tour ends on arrival in Kilimanjaro Airport
- If you’d like to book a private departure transfer to meet your flight this can be done at additional cost and needs to be booked in advance.
Your Trip
What to know
A solo transfer surcharge will apply to this tour if you are the only client travelling from Kilimanjaro Airport on the tour.
What's Included
- A specialist local mountain guide
- Services of porters/cook while on mountain climb
- Arrival transfer
- Accommodation
- Transport
- Entrance fees
Non-included Meals
Most meals are included on your trip (except for North America trips - please refer to your day-to-day itinerary). However, sometimes we think you'll benefit from getting out and discovering the local cuisine. So when a meal is not included, it's a great opportunity to try something new. For group trips, ask your leader for tips on where to get the best meal, or you might decide to dine out as a group and experience the fun together.
Not Included
- International flights
- Airport departure taxes
- Departure transfer
- Visas
- Meals unless specified in the itinerary
- Insurance
- Laundry - but there will be opportunity to do some hand-washing in the camps where we stay for two or more nights.
- Optional tours or activities during free time
- Tips - this is something to consider, and it might be worthwhile speaking to your group about making a group contribution at the end of the trip.
- Daily budget
What to know
VaccinationsVaccinations may be required for this trip. Talk to your doctor about the up-to-date information for this region.
Visas and PermitsIt is your responsibility to ensure you have all required visas for your trip. Rules and regulations governing the issuance of visas are constantly changing, and vary for different nationalities and you should check visa requirements with your travel agent or relevant consular authority well before travel.
Tanzania
Australians, Americans, Canadians, British and New Zealanders currently require a visa for Tanzania. For all other nationalities please reconfirm your visa requirements with your travel agent. Care must be taken to ensure that your visa does not expire before your proposed date of entry to Tanzania (visas are usually valid for three months from the date of issue).
It is recommended that visas should be obtained before departure. A visa fee of US$50 is charged to most foreign nationals. A visa fee of US$100 is charged for US citizens.
You are required to have travel insurance before heading off on a Peregrine trip. Insurance can be organised by your Peregrine representative or your travel agent.
Responsible Travel
Our Responsible Travel ethos is at the heart of everything we do, from getting the basics right like respecting local cultures and the environment, to initiating projects that make positive contributions to communities, to our staff’s fundraising efforts and offsetting our carbon emissions.
Please visit our Responsible Travel (http://www.peregrineadventures.com/rt) page for more information.
Our Pre Departure Information or Travel Dossier (provided upon booking a trip) provides tips on how you can show respect for the local customs and culture in the country you are travelling in.
The information listed above is a brief description of some things you may need to consider when booking a trip. Once a tour is booked you will be provided with a link to your Travel Dossier which will contain detailed Pre Departure information.
Further Reading
TanzaniaEast Africa - Lonely Planet Going Down River Road - Meja Mwangi Flame Trees of Thika - Elspeth Huxley
Important Information
During the climb, luggage weight is restricted to a maximum of 12kg.
Please note there are no laundry services available on the climb.
About this Information
The information provided here is given in good faith and has been compiled with all reasonable care. However, things change and some of the information may become out of date. Please keep this in mind when you read it and check with us if you want to be sure about something. The document was correct at time of printing, but you can check online for the most up to date version. If you have any queries, please contact your travel agent or our staff in Australia. We are here to help you!
Last Updated
16 May 2013