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Kilimanjaro Climb

Overview

Kilimanjaro represents an outstanding opportunity for high altitude trekking, with a summit elevation of 19,341 feet above sea level, yet a non-technical trail to the top. Kilimanjaro represents one of the most unique of the seven summits, as climbers traverse several distinct biomes on the way to the top. Climbers should be in good physical condition, able to hike 4,000 vertical feet in the Cascades in a day without becoming exhausted. High altitude experience is not required. 

 

Summer 2025 dates: August 9 - 20 (August 9-23 with optional safari)

$5,700 Per Person
12 Days
Difficulty
Ratio:
4:1

Trip Information

$5,700
Price based on 4 hikers per guide. 425-888-6397 x2 | info@proguiding.com

Total climb itinerary: 12 days (7 days, 6 nights spent on Kilimanjaro) or 15 days with four-day safari including Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti.

The Kilimanjaro trek is a 7-day, 6 night trek to the summit of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, the highest point in Africa. Our route is the longest and most scenic trekking route to the summit, the Lemosho Glades route. Our route not only takes in more views of the mountain’s ecosystems and geology, it also provides for a better opportunity to acclimatize for the final push to the summit. 

 

Tim Scharks will be your guide. He is a full-time professor of geography and part time trekking/mountain guide. He comes to Pro Guiding Service with extensive experience on Kilimanjaro, having summited seven times over the past 20 years. His high-altitude experience spans the globe, from Mt. Elbrus in Russia, to multiple summits of the volcanic giants of Ecuador, to Alaska’s Denali.  In addition to his experience leading groups to high elevations, Tim has studied the environment and culture of the Kilimanjaro region extensively, including leading two study abroad courses around the mountain’s base. The climb and optional safari will be enriched by Tim’s explanations placing what we experience in historical, geographical, and environmental context.

 

 

 

Duration: 12
Ratio: 4:1
Difficulty Level:
Click here to learn more about difficulty ratings.

Climbers should be in good physical condition, able to hike 4,000 vertical feet in the Cascades in a day without becoming exhausted. High altitude experience is not required. 


Private Trips Available

Don't see a date that works for you? Pro Guiding Service offers any trip or courses on a private basis. We are flexible! Call or email to inquire.
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Itinerary

Day 1 Depart USA for Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO)

Preferred flight is SEA-AMS-JRO via Delta/KLM. The most direct flights are usualy via Amsterdam (AMS) KLM Airlines flies direct to JRO. Other flight itineraries are possible but more complicated.

 

Day 2 Arrive Kilimanjaro Airport in the evening, overnight in Moshi hotel.

We arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) where you will be met and transferred to our Moshi hotel. 

 

Day 3 Briefing and gear check at hotel; afternoon exploration of Moshi town.

We’ll wake up early to start adjusting to the time zone and drive up the mountain for a tour of Kahawa Shamba, a coffee-growing co-operative on the slopes of Kilimanjaro. The community has organized a coffee tour for us to learn about how coffee is grown on Kilimanjaro and some of the challenges the farmers face. We’ll have the opportunity to walk through fields and learn about the “homegardens” of the Chagga people that call Kilimanjaro’s rainforest slopes home. At around 5,000 feet elevation, we’ll also gain a little start to acclimatization. 

 

After the coffee tour, return to our hotel for lunch, a trip briefing and gear check.

 

Option: spend the afternoon relaxing at the hotel, or venture into town to visit local markets and sightsee in Moshi town. Moshi is a smaller town located at the base of Kilimanjaro, not nearly so hectic as Arusha, a popular base for many Kilimanjaro climbs. 

 

Day 4 Umbwe Gate to Umbwe Cave Camp. (Climb day 1) 

We drive to the Machame trailhead to register for our climb, then continue to Umbwe Gate where we meet our porters and they take our overnight bags, leaving us with daypacks for the continuous uphill hike through the forest to Umbwe Cave campsite. We’ll hike very slowly to save our energy for acclimatization and enjoy nature, stopping for lunch along the way. We relax around camp in the afternoon and have the option of a short hike near camp to look for black and white Colobus monkeys in the forest canopy.

Elevation gain ~4,000’, camp at ~9,500’; 5-6 hours walking slowly, approximately 4 miles.

 

Day 5 Umbwe Cave to Barranco Camp (Climb day 2) 

Today we ascend steeply again out of the forest, through the zone of giant heather and into the alpine moorland. Each habitat is unique and is marked by its own vegetation. We camp in the center of the Great Barranco, a massive valley, ringed by the ancient volcanic flows of Kilimanjaro. The bulk of Kibo, the main summit of Kilimanjaro, towers directly above camp. This is the Breach Wall, the greatest relief of any part of Kilimanaro. Here Kilmanjaro rises 6,000 feet in just two miles to its summit. We’ll take the long way around. 

 

Elevation gain ~3,500’, camp at 13,000’; 5-6 hours walking slowly, approximately 3 miles.

 

Day 6 Acclimatization day in Barranco Camp (Climb day 3) 

We’ve ascended rapidly, so it is time to relax and breathe. It’s important to acclimatize on the approach so we can maximize our fitness for summit day. In the morning we’ll watch teams hiking up the steep Barranco “Wall”. We’ll then spend the day snacking,, drinking hot beverages, and exploring camp at a relaxed pace. 

 

Day 7 Barranco Camp to Karanga Valley (Climb day 4) 

Today starts with “breakfast,” a tongue-in-cheek reference the locals use to describe the impressive climb out of camp up the Barranco “Wall”. While rocky and steep, the path only sometimes requires the use of hands for balance and your guide and crew will help you place your hands and feet if needed. Once over the top of the wall, our path traverses several valleys and ridges before reaching Karanga Camp.

 

Elevation gain 1,200’, loss 1,000’, camp at 13,200’; 4-5 hours walking, approximately 2.5 miles.

 

Day 8 Karanga Camp to  Barafu Camp (Climb day 5) 

A very short day hiking slowly to Barafu Camp. Barafu is Kiswahili for “ice” as this camp can be quite cold. We arrive early in the afternoon, eat lunch and then rest before dinner. Tonight we go to bed before dusk as we need to rest our bodies for the big day ahead.

 

Elevation gain 2,000’, camp at 15,200’; 2-3 hours walking, approximately 2 miles.

 

Day 9 Summit Day and descent to Mweka Camp (Climb day 6) 

Summit Day! We arise before midnight and are warmed by hot tea and biscuits before setting off into the dark of night. We climb at night to maximize the clear weather, as clouds frequently engulf the upper mountain by mid-morning. Our pace will be timed to reach the final summit ridge around sunrise to savor the views from the roof of Africa. We don’t linger on the top long as the air at 19,341 feet is extremely thin and we have a long day of descending ahead of us. We pause briefly in Barafu Camp before continuing down to the thick air of Mweka Camp, back in the Giant Heather zone.

 

Elevation gain 4,100’, loss 9,300’, camp at 10,000’; 12-18 hours walking, approximately 10 miles.

 

Day 10 Descent to Mweka Gate and Moshi Town (Climb day 7)

We awake for our final day on the mountain, spent descending through the thick rain forest to Mweka Gate. We sign out at the ranger station and are met by private transport to return us to our Moshi hotel for showers, cold drinks, and real beds! The next day is breakfast and spent on your own in Moshi before an evening departure, or continue on the safari itinerary for four days.

 

Elevation loss 5,000’, gate at 5,000’; 4-5 hours walking, approximately 5 miles. 

 

Day 11 (no safari) spend the day relaxing around the hotel or visiting Moshi town, lunch on your own. Afternoon transfer to JRO for flight home. 

 

Day 12 (no safari) Arrive home in the USA

 

Safari extension itinerary (DRAFT)

 

Day 11 Breakfast and early departure for Manyara National Park. 

We’ll stop for lunch en route and then do an afternoon game drive in Manyara National Park, a long strip of land boasting a variety of habitats squeezed between a salt lake and the freshwater springs of the towering Eastern Rift Valley escarpment. We should expect to see a variety of birds, grazers like zebra, bufalo and wildebeest, and if we’re lucky, a few predators. We depart late afternoon to drive closer to Ngorongoro Crater, with dinner and an overnight stay at Rhotia Valley Lodge and Children’s Home.

 

Day 12 6-hour tour of Ngorongoro Crater

We arise early to enter the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of massive proportions. The 100-square-mile caldera floor is ringed by steep walls and the crater floor is home to an impressive variety of large wildlife, including our best chance of spotting a rhino. Ngoronogoro is beautiful for its scenery as well as wildlife so we enjoy lunch at a spring inside the crater walls before ascending back to dinner and overnight at Rhino Lodge.

 

Day 13 Serengeti Plains-Halisi Camp

We drive onwards to the vast Serengeti (literally, “endless plain”). The southern Serengeti is a flat grassland with lots of grazers and the predators that feed upon them. The wildlife that we see will depend on the timing of the rainy season and the migration of animals that follows the rains, but there are always animals to spot in the Serengeti at any time of year. After lunch we drive our way northward to the central Serengeti where we arrive at Halisi Camp for dinner and overnight. 

 

Day 14 Serengeti Plains

We awake before dawn to have one final view of the Serengeti on a short game drive from Halisi Camp to Seronera Airfield, where a small plane takes us to Arusha. After lunch an airport transfer to JRO completes the Tanzanian leg of our journey for flights home. 

 

Day 15 Arrive home in the USA

Private Trips

Pro Guiding Service proudly offers the most diverse ski touring and ski mountaineering programs of any guiding service in the Northwest. Smaller, more intimate custom itineraries or instructional tours are available for any of our destinations. Tell us what you want to do, and we can create a customized plan for you.
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Pricing

$5,700
per person
Price based on 4 hikers per guide. 425-888-6397 x2 | info@proguiding.com
View Dates & Availability
What's Included In the Trip Price
  • Return airport transfers for Kilimanjaro International Airport to Moshi
  • 3 nights bed and breakfast accommodation at a Moshi hotel, based on a two doubles/twins and a single occupancy room (2 nights prior to the climb and one post climb night)
  • Day trip to Kahawa Shambani’s coffee and cultural experience, including a local lunch, local guiding and community development fees
  • All Kilimanjaro National Park, Camp and Rescue fees
  • Return National Park Gate transfers from/to Moshi
  • Full board during climb, consisting of fresh and nutritious meals, including resupply of fresh foods during the climb
  • All camping equipment (excluding sleeping bags but including sleeping pads)
  • Guide with Wilderness First Responder certification
  • Services of Tanzania Journeys office staff and representatives throughout, and expert professional mountain guides, mountain cooks and porters during the climb
  • First Aid Kit
  • Portable Katadyn drinking water filter 
  • Flying Doctor Medical Emergency Evacuation cover (15 days cover across Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar)
  • All Tanzanian taxes and levies
  • Contribution to planting 1 tree per person in the Kilimanjaro region to combat deforestation on the mountain
What's Not Included
  • trip cancellation insurance
  • Meals while in Moshi (apart from breakfast)
  • Items of personal nature, such as drinks, laundry, phone calls, personal purchases
  • Personal clothing, sleeping bags and personal equipment on mountain (although arrangements can be made to hire required clothing and equipment if required)
  • Additional gate transfers and accommodation in Moshi in case any trekker needs an early descent
  • Gratuities and tips for local guides
  • Mountain crew tips and gratuities
  • Medical or travel insurance
  • Flights
  • Visas
Payment Policy
If booking a domestic trip that is over 60 days away or an international trip that is over 90 days away, you can book your trip by paying a 20% deposit.  View Full Policy
Cancellation Policy
If you cancel for any reason 60 or more days before domestic trips or 90 or more days before international and Alaska trips, we will refund everything you have paid minus half of your deposit. No refunds will be provided if you cancel your trip for ANY REASON (this includes but is not limited to illness including CoVid-19, injury, or work-related issues) within 60 days of the start of domestic trips or 90 days of international and Alaska based trips.  View Full Policy

FAQs

When do we meet?

You will be met at the airport and transported to your hotel.

Can extra luggage be stored somewhere during the trek?

Luggage storage will be organized by Pro Guiding Service and is included in the trip. Please make sure that your extra luggage consists of one manageable piece.

How is drinking water handled?
Should I tip my guide?

Although tipping is not a requirement, it is considered standard practice in the guiding industry and is appreciated by our guides. We generally recommend roughly 10%-20% of your course or trip cost or a flat amount that you are comfortable with.

Why Book With Us? 

Certified Professional Guides & All Access
All of our guides have the highest quality training and certification in the industry, and you can be sure that we have the permits, licenses and insurance in every location we operate.
Safe, Well-Planned Tour Design
Every tour has a carefully thought-out guide-to-customer ratio. You always get a safe, high-quality trip or learning environment with us.
Pioneers In The Industry
You will travel and learn from experts. We've pioneered several alpine climbing routes, ski descents, and traverses and we've written books on skills and routes in the industry. 
Read Our story
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