Mount Kilimanjaro Climbing Safari Tour
TGSTKIL 06 - Shira Route Trip
Depending on its condition and the weather, this track provides an
access route for 4WD vehicles to within 1 hour of the Shira Hut. The
Shira Plateau is very beautiful with good views of the Western
Glaciers. There are several fine minor summits to be climbed; the
Shira Needle can be gained by a scramble and provides a nice
viewpoint.
Day 1 Moshi (915 m/3,000 ft)
Arrive at the Kilimanjaro International Airport. You will be met at
the airport and transferred to the Springlands Hotel or similar
hotel in Moshi for your overnight.
Day
2 Moshi (915 m/3,000 ft) to Shira Gate (1,830 m/6,000 ft) to Shira
Camp 2 (3,840 m/12,600 ft) 18 km, 5-7 hours Montane Forest
After breakfast and a briefing from your guide, leave Moshi and
drive for several hours to the Shira Gate on the western side of
Kilimanjaro, register with the national park. Begin hiking, and
enter the rainforest immediately. Your walk through the rainforest
is on a winding muddy trail up a ridge. At these lower elevations,
it can be wet and muddy, so gaiters and trekking poles will help.
Stop halfway for lunch, and reach the Shira Camp in the afternoon.
Unpack, rest, and have some tea or coffee. Dinner is served during
the early evening at 7 PM.
Day 3 Shira Camp 2 (3,840 m/12,600 ft) to Lava Tower (4,630
m/15,190 ft) to Barranco Camp (3,950 m/12,960 ft) 15 km, 7 hours
Semi-Desert
After breakfast, you will hike east up a steepening path above the
highest vegetation toward Kilimanjaro’s looming mass. After several
hours, you walk through a rocky landscape to reach the prominent
landmark called Lava Tower at 4,630 m/15,190 ft. This chunky remnant
of Kilimanjaro’s earlier volcanic activity is several hundred feet
high, and the trail passes right below it. For extra credit, the
sure-footed can scramble to the top of the tower. After a lunch stop
near Lava Tower, descend for 2 hours below the lower cliffs of the
Western Breach and Breach Wall to Barranco Camp at 3,950 m/12,960
ft. There are numerous photo opportunities on this hike, especially
if the walls are festooned with ice. Barranco Camp is in a valley
below the Breach and Great Barranco Walls, which should provide you
with a memorable sunset while you wait for your dinner. On this day,
be careful to notice any signs of altitude sickness.
Day
4 Barranco Camp (3,900 m/12,800 ft) to Karanga Camp (4,200 m/13,780
ft) 7 km, 4 hours Alpine Desert
After breakfast, we continue up a steep ridge to the great Barranco
Wall, then you climb this imposing obstacle, which turns out to be
easier than it looks. Topping out just below the Heim Glacier, you
can now appreciate just how beautiful Kilimanjaro really is. With
Kibo’s glaciers soaring overhead, you descend into the lush Karanga
Valley to the Karanga Valley campsite. From the camp, you can look
east and see the jagged peaks of Mawenzi jutting into the African
sky. After a hot lunch in camp, your afternoon is at leisure for
resting or exploring. After two long days, this short day is very
important for your acclimatization, since your summit push is about
to start.
Day 5 Karanga Camp (4,200 m/13,780 ft) to Barafu Camp (4,550
m/14,930 ft) 13 km, 8 hours Alpine Desert
In the morning, you hike east over intervening ridges and valleys to
join the Mweka Route, which will be your descent route. Turn left
toward the mountain and hike up the ridge through a sparse landscape
for another hour to the Barafu Hut where you will receive a hot
lunch. The last water on the route is in the Karanga Valley; there
is no water at Barafu Camp, even though Barafu is the Swahili word
for “ice.” The famous snows of Kilimanjaro are far above Barafu Camp
near the summit of the mountain. Your tent will be pitched on a
narrow, stony, wind-swept ridge, so make sure that you familiarize
yourself with the terrain before dark to avoid any accidents.
Prepare your equipment and warm clothing for your summit climb, and
drink a lot of fluids. After an early dinner, go to bed for a few
hours of precious sleep.
Day 6 Summit Day! Barafu Camp (4,550 m/14,930 ft) to Uhuru
Peak (5,895 m/19,340 ft) to Mweka Camp (3,100 m/10,170 ft) 7 km up,
23 km down 8 hours up, 7-8 hours down Scree and seasonal snow
You will rise around 11:30 PM, and after some steaming tea and
biscuits, you shuffle off into the night. Your 6-hour climb
northwest up through heavy scree between the Rebmann and Ratzel
glaciers to Stella Point on the crater rim is the most challenging
part of the route for most climbers. At Stella Point (5,685 m/18,650
ft) you stop for a short rest and a chance to see a supremely
sanguine sunrise. At Stella Point you join the top part of the
Marangu Route, but do not stop here too long, as it will be
extremely difficult to start again due to cold and fatigue.
Depending on the season and recent storms, you may encounter snow on
your remaining hike along the rim to Uhuru Peak. On the summit, you
can enjoy your accomplishment and know that you are creating a day
that you will remember for the rest of your life. After your 3-hour
descent from the summit back to Barafu Camp, you will have a
well-earned but short rest, collect your gear, and hike down a rock
and scree path into the moorland and eventually into the forest to
Mweka Camp (3,100 m/10,170 ft). This camp is in the upper forest, so
you can expect mist or rain in the late afternoon. Dinner, and
washing water will be prepared, and the camp office sells drinking
water, soft drinks, chocolates, and beer!
Day 7 Mweka Camp (3,100 m/10,170 ft) to Mweka Gate (1,980 m/6,500
ft) to Moshi (890 m/2,920 ft) 15 km, 3 hours Forest
After
a well-deserved breakfast, it is a short, scenic, 3-hour hike back
to the park gate. Don’t give your porters any tips until you and all
your gear have reached the gate safely, but do remember to tip your
staff at the gate. At Mweka Gate, you can sign your name and add
details in a register. This is also where successful climbers
receive their summit certificates. Climbers who reached Stella Point
are issued green certificates and those who reached Uhuru Peak
receive gold certificates. From the Mweka Gate, you will continue
down to the Mweka Village, possibly a muddy, 3 km, 1 hour hike if
the road is too muddy for vehicles. In the Mweka Village you will be
served a delicious hot lunch after which you are driven back to
Moshi for an overdue hot shower and comfortable night in our
Springlands Hotel or similar hotel.
Day 8 Moshi
Depart for the airport or other destinations in Tanzania or Kenya. A
trip to the beaches at Zanzibar is a good way to recuperate. We can
arrange many reasonably priced trips and safaris around Moshi and
the Kilimanjaro region.
Basically, the above price include:
Guarantee Price, Guarantee Departure.
Free scheduled bus shuttle Nairobi-Arusha- Moshi-Nairobi.
2 nights accommodations in a mid-class hotel (Bed and Breakfast),
before and after the climb.
Accommodation in mountain tents/huts.
Meals (3 meals a day),
All park fees, including mountain rescue fees, and government taxes.
Services of our own trained English-speaking mountain guide, and a
skilled cook, and enough numbers of porters for your luggage,
Transport from your hotel to the mountain, and back to your hotel.
The price does not include:
-Item of personal nature.
-Tips to guide and porters
