7-Day Mount Kilimanjaro via Machame Route

• A transfer from the airport can be arranged for an extra cost.
• Accommodation before the tour starts can be arranged for an extra cost.

Machame Gate to Machame Camp, 3000m

Your mountaintop odyssey begins with a scenic morning, you will be picked from your hotel and drive from Arusha to Machame Gate, where gateway rituals are complete and Kilimanjaro’s forested slopes open before you.

The trail surfaces into ancient rainforest, alive with birdsong and darting colobus monkeys. With each step the canopy lifts, light filters through moss-draped branches, and the air turns cool and crisp. Over 5–7 hours of gradual ascent, you reach Machame Camp, nestled in a clearing at about 3,000 m.

Here your mountain cook whips up nourishing meals while you soak in forest scents, swap stories with fellow trekkers, and dream of the alpine adventures to come.

Main Destination:

Machame Gate (Mt Kilimanjaro)

Accommodation:

Budget camping

Meals & Drinks:

• Lunch & dinner (Breakfast not included)
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Machame Camp to Shira Camp, 3840m

After breakfast, you depart through the fading forest into the heather-strewn moorscape, feeling the mountain’s pulse quicken under diminishing greenery.

The trail opens onto the Shira Plateau, a vast alpine expanse offering sweeping panoramas and high-altitude vistas. The air grows thinner and drier as you ascend gently, passing unusual giant lobelias and groundsels. In about 5–6 hours, you reach Shira Camp, a windswept highland home under open skies.

The sunset paints the plateaus in amber and violet, and venturing outside your tent rewards you with crystalline stars – the highlands’ silent show.

Main Destination:

Mount Kilimanjaro

Accommodation:

Budget camping

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Shira Camp to Lava Tower to Baranco Camp, 3950m

This acclimatization day offers dramatic terrain and vital altitude gain.

You make your way to Lava Tower, a towering volcanic plug—past basecamp—that looms at 4,630 m. Here, tushed by the highland air, you pause to acclimatize before descending to Barranco Camp, nestled at 3,950 m beneath the iconic Barranco Wall. The descent is a gift: your breathing eases, and the camp’s setting blends craggy ridges and soft valley views.

Your body adapts as you dine under an immense sky, primed for the challenges ahead.

Main Destination:

Mount Kilimanjaro

Accommodation:

Budget camping

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Barranco Camp to Karanga, 4035m

Morning begins with a scramble up the legendary Barranco Wall—a thrilling, exposed climb that tests and rewards you in equal measure.

At the top, the landscape unfolds in serrated ridges and alpine moors. The trail undulates through mixed terrain before reaching Karanga Camp, tucked into a sheltered valley at 4,035 m.

This shorter day grants your legs a rest and your body further time to adjust, preparing you physiologically—and mentally—for the summit push approaching, all beneath the highland’s silent waves.

Main Destination:

Mount Kilimanjaro

Accommodation:

Budget camping

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp, 4640m

You traverse rocky trails across the alpine desert, following rugged paths that rise gradually toward Barafu Camp—the summit base.

The terrain is stark and windswept, the air noticeably thin. By midday, camp appears ahead—just a short but steep climb away. Arriving by early afternoon gives time to rest, sip warm meals, and assemble summit gear.

The atmosphere is charged: you stand under a canopy of glacier-streaked peaks, the world’s roof within reach tomorrow.

Main Destination:

Mount Kilimanjaro

Accommodation:

Budget camping

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Barafu Camp to Uhuru peak, 5895m to Mweka Camp

Your summit bid begins in the dead of night. Guided by headlamps, you ascend over scree and steep slopes toward Stella Point, where a fiery sunrise unfolds across the horizon.

From there, a few more steps bring you to Uhuru Peak, Africa’s highest point. Triumph and emotion fill the cold air before you begin your descent to Mweka Camp, 3,100 m down on the forested side, for a well-earned hot meal and sleep—a final exhale after your greatest challenge.

Main Destination:

Uhuru Peak (Mt Kilimanjaro)

Accommodation:

Budget camping

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate to Arusha

With a light breakfast, you trek through the forest’s fading mist to Mweka Gate, where summit certificates are awarded and congratulations exchanged.

A vehicle awaits to drive you back to Arusha and drop you at your hotel or Airport and forever transformed from your climb on Kilimanjaro’s Machame Route.

Main Destination:

Mweka Gate (Mt Kilimanjaro)

Accommodation:

No accommodation (End of tour)

Meals & Drinks:

• Breakfast & lunch (Dinner not included)
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

• Additional accommodation can be arranged for an extra cost.
• A transfer back to the airport can be arranged for an extra cost.