13 Days Lemosho Climb and Safari

Route Overview

Beginning at Londorossi Gate, 2360 meters above sea level, with an approach far to the west of the mountain, the Lemosho route climb begins. It travels through a magnificent jungle where some of the most unusual fauna in the area may frequently be spotted. Shira Ridge, the third top of the mountain, is reached by continuing up the path. Before reaching Shira camp on the main Machame path, you must first cross the renowned Shira plateau and see the breathtaking Shira Cathedral. This enables a few days of peaceful climbing while seeing some amazing terrain before using the more popular route to the summit. Instead of going back the way you came, you will take the Mweka trail down once you’ve reached the summit.

On a four-day safari to the Serengeti, a wonderful location to explore at any time of year, get a true experience of Tanzania. You will also go to two of Tanzania’s most well-known national parks: Tarangire, where elephant families gather all year long along the Tarangire River, and Ngorongoro, where you have the best chance of sighting the Big Five.

Route Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival

To get to Kilimanjaro International Airport, every hiker must arrange their own flights (JRO). We will set up a private transfer for you from JRO to your hotel. You will meet your local Tito Tanzania agent that evening or early the next morning and receive a thorough pre-climb briefing.

Transport: Private transfer (0.8 hour, 40 km)
Accommodation: Hotel

Day 2: Lemosho Gate to Mti Mkubwa Camp

Transfer in a 4WD to the Lemosho Park Entrance to register. Before we start our ascent up the woodland trail to Mti Mkubwa (Big Tree) campsite at 2895m, our porters prepare and load our provisions and bags. We’ll spend the night here.

Transport: 1.7 hours, 80 km
Hiking time: 3 – 4 hours
Ascent: 535 m
altitude: 2895 m
Accommodation: Camping
Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Day 3: Mti Mkubwa Camp to Shira 1 Camp

Shira Cathedral is magnificently visible as we travel farther east on the Shira Plateau. To get to Shira 1 Camp for dinner and overnight camping at 3500m, we cross a moorland meadow. The beautiful glaciers of the Western Breach will be visible by now. Tonight will be significantly colder than last night, with potential lows below zero.

Hiking time: 5 – 6 hours
Ascent: 605 m
altitude: 3500 m
Accommodation: Camping
Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Day 4: Shira 1 Camp to Moir Hut

The trail becomes steeper as it enters the moorland region as we leave the forest behind. You can reach Moir Hut, which offers stunning views of the Arrow glacier, by walking across the high-altitude Shira Caldera at a moderate gradient. Here at 4200m, we’ll set up camp for the night.

Hiking time: 6 – 7 hours
Ascent: 700 m
altitude: 4200 m
Accommodation: Camping
Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Day 5: Moir Hut to Barranco Camp Via Lava Tower

We will ascend to 4600 meters today and descend to the base of the Lava Tower for lunch and acclimatization. Our hardest day thus far will be today, and you might feel the effects of the altitude for the first time. Following the acclimatization maxim “hike high, sleep low,” we will descend once again by over 650 meters to Barranco Camp after lunch. We descend to Barranco Camp over a two-hour period, which provides wonderful possibilities to capture some breathtaking images of the Western Breach and Breach Wall. The camp is located in a valley between the Great Barranco Wall and the Breach.

Hiking time: 6 – 7 hours
Ascent: 400 m
Descent: 650 m
altitude: 4600 m
Accomodation: Camping
Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Day 6: Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp

A quick but enjoyable day that begins with a climb up the Great Barranco Wall. To reach the Karanga Valley (3930m), which is located beneath the icefalls of the Heim, Kersten, and Decken Glaciers, we then travel through scree. At the campsite at Karanga, we’ll spend the night.

Hiking time: 4 hours
Ascent: 260 m
Descent: 280 m
altitude: 4210 m
Accommodation: Camping
Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Day 7: Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp

In order to reach the intersection with the Mweka downhill trail, we leave the Karanga campground behind. We then ascend to Barafu Camp from here. You have now finished the Southern Circuit, which gives numerous perspectives of the summit. We may rest, eat dinner, and get ready for the summit day in camp. From here, it is possible to see Mawenzi and Kibo’s two peaks in full view.

Hiking time: 3 – 4 hours
Ascent: 670 m
altitude: 4600 m
Accommodation: Camping
Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Day 8: Barafu Camp to Summit to Mweka Camp

Around 23:30, tea and cakes will awaken you. Starting between the Rebman and Ratzel glaciers, we ascend to Stella Point on the crater rim on our ascent to the summit. The hardest portion of the walk both psychologically and physically is this. We’ll take a little break at Stella Point (5732m), where we’re hoping to arrive in time to see the spectacular sunrise (weather permitting). The highest point on Mount Kilimanjaro on the African continent, Uhuru Peak (5895m), is now only an hour away. We take Barafu for lunch before descending to Mweka camp site from the peak. You’ll need trekking poles for the loose scree leading down to Mweka Camp (3100m). We will have our final meal on the mountain later in the evening before a well-deserved rest.

Hiking time: 13 – 16 hours
Ascent: 1295 m
Descent: 2795 m
altitude: 5895 m
Accommodation: Camping
Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Day 9: Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate

This is your last day of the journey; after breakfast, we continue our descent of 1300 meters to the Mweka Park Gate, where you can pick up your summit certificates from the park headquarters. to your hotel by transfer.

Transport: 0.6 hour, 17 km
Hiking time: 3 – 4 hours
Descent: 1300 m<br>Max. altitude: 3100 m
Accommodation: Hotel
Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch

Day 10: Moshi to Tarangire

We will pick you up from your accommodation with our safari driver and vehicle, and then drive to Tarangire National Park, arriving in plenty of time for an afternoon game-drive. A large number of elephants, buffalo, giraffes, and antelope are drawn to the Tarangire River, which flows through the park, especially between June and October when it is dry. Large elephant herds can frequently be seen wandering through Tarangire’s savannah grasslands or resting in the shade of the park’s many bizarre-looking “upside-down trees,” or baobab. The park also has the most diversified collection of birds in Africa, with over 550 different species, including the largest flying bird in the world, the Kori Bustard! In Karatu, we’ll spend the night at a safari lodge.

Accommodation: Safari Lodge
Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Day 11: Serengeti

After breakfast, we will travel for around four and a half hours through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area to the Serengeti, stopping along the way for a picnic lunch. The Serengeti offers some of the most thrilling game viewing, even when the migration is quiet, thanks to its enormous herds of buffalo, smaller herds of elephant and giraffe, as well as huge numbers of eland, topi, hartebeest, impala, and Grant’s gazelle. We will spend tonight in a tented camp deep within the Serengeti.

Accommodation: Safari Lodge
Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Day 12: Serengeti

We’ll leave this morning with a picnic lunch to go wildlife viewing in the Serengeti. One of the best game parks in the world is the Serengeti National Park. It is Tanzania’s oldest game reserve, translating to “endless plains” in the Maasai language, and is well-known for its part in the annual Great Migration, during which an estimated two million herbivorous animals—mostly wildebeest and zebra—move from the Serengeti to Kenya’s Maasai Mara Game Reserve. We will depart the Serengeti in the afternoon and go back to Karatu.

Accommodation: Safari Lodge
Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Day 13: Ngorongoro to Arusha to Kilimanjaro Airport

We’ll drive to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area’s amazing wildlife arena after an early breakfast. The crater, which is more than 260km2 (100 miles2) in size, was created about 2-3 million years ago when a sizable volcano erupted and collapsed on itself. It is currently the world’s largest preserved volcanic caldera. With more than 25,000 huge mammals living there, it is common to witness all five members of the “Big Five” (elephant, rhinoceros, lion, tiger, and leopard) in a single day.

We will depart for Arusha in the late afternoon to catch a flight out of Kilimanjaro. You will need to reserve a flight that departs after 9pm because we anticipate arriving back in Arusha by 5pm. If not, we may book you a hotel room in Arusha for an extra night.