Machame Route Sample Itinerary
Machame Route is known as the "Whiskey" route. It is one of the most beautiful and popular, passing through a dense forest canopy to the glacier of Mount Kilimanjaro. It is a difficult route but has a high rate of success to the summit.
Sample Trip Itineraries | Lemosho Route
Sample Itinerary of Machame Kilimanjaro Route
9 DAY TRIP
(2 days at the lodge and 7 days on the mountain)
Day 1: Arrive in Arusha, Tanzania
Depart the U.S and upon arrival in Arusha –Tanzania into Kilimanjaro International Airport you are met by your naturalist guide and help you gather your bags and transferred to a beautiful lodge for your first overnight in Africa.
Day 2: Visit Arusha National Park
Visit Arusha National Park for a few hours and then head back to the lodge for lunch. You will meet with your mountain guide for a hike briefing and review your packing gear, to make sure you have everything ready for the hiking the next day. (Overnight at the lodge.)
DAY 3: Machame Gate to Machame Camp
- Hiking Time: 5-7 hours
- Overnight: Machame Camp
(9,900 feet )
Drive from the lodge to Machame gate where hiking starts. Once you arrive at the gate, you will sign in at the park office and soon you will be ready to start climbing with your guides. On the trail, you will walk through rain forest heading up to Machame camp. Lunch will be served on the trail and dinner at the camp.
DAY 4: Machame Camp to Shira Camp
- Hiking Time: 4-6 hours
- Overnight: Shira Campsite
(12,500 feet)
After breakfast, you will start hiking, leaving the rainforest behind and continuing ascent through the heather zone and small valley a up to the steep rocky ridge. Lunch will be served on the trail and dinner at the campsite.
DAY 5: Shira Camp to Barranco Camp Via Lava Tower
- Hiking Time: 6-7 hours
- Overnight: Barranco Camp
(13,050 feet).
Aftrer breakfast, you will start ascent into semi-desert. This is the longer day but it's extremely good because it will give you more time to acclimatize (helping your body prepare for the summit). Lunch will be served on the trail and dinner at Barranco Camp.
DAY 6: Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp
- Hiking Time: 4-5 hours.
- Overnight: Karanga Camp
(13,235 feet).
After breakfast you will ascend to the steep Barranco wall and trek across ridges of the Karanga Valley. This is an extremely tiring day, but the scenery is gorgeous. You will arrive at the campsite for lunch and have time to relax (maybe go for a little walk for more acclimatization purposes if time allowed). Dinner will be served at Karanga Camp.
DAY 7: Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp
- Hiking Time: 3-4 hours
- Overnight: Barafu Camp
(15,300 feet)
Today is a short hike but you are going to ascend through an uphill path across the barren rocky slopes. Arrive at the Barafu Camp on time for lunch and take a nap before dinner. Go to sleep early and get enough sleep before midnight where you are going to be awakened by your guide to begin the summit hiking.
DAY 8: Barafu Camp to the Summit
- Hiking Time: 6-8 hours ascent to the summit of Kili and about 7-8 hours descent to the last campsite
- Overnight: Mweka Hat Campsite
Today is your final day on the roof of Africa. It is going to be a long hike. You will be awakened by your guide before midnight to begin the last challenging ascent. Breakfast will be served then. During the night, it is extremely cold when you reach this point, so you need to dress in a lot of layers.
Once you reach the summit, you will be able to take some photos and celebrate your accomplishment before heading back to Barafu Camp for lunch and continuing down a long trail to the last camp of the mountain. Descent down from the summit to Mweka camp is steep, so we highly recommend using trekking/hiking poles. Hiking poles will help protect your knees especially when you are going downhill or uphill.
DAY 9: Mweka Hut to Mweka Gate
- Hiking Time: 3-4 hours
- Overnight: Back at your hotel
This morning after breakfast you will continue descending through the rainforest to the Mweka Gate, where you will have lunch and be awarded climbing certificates and say goodbye to your guides, porters and cooks. You will be transferred back to your hotel for a hot shower.
Kilimanjaro Trek Clothing List
Safari and Climbing Trek
Clothing List (PDF)
Sample Meals Provided on Kilimanjaro Trek
All our meals on Kilimanjaro are prepared by our own cooks/chefs. We provide nutrient-rich, high-energy foods that will digest quickly (ex. pasta, potatoes, and rice).
We also provide fresh fruits and vegetables with every meal. We serve small portions of meat at high altitudes (because it is harder to digest).
Example Breakfast: coffee, tea or hot chocolate, toast, peanut butter, eggs or bacon. We may also provide porridge, pancakes, and fresh fruit such as bananas, mangoes, pineapple, watermelon and papaya.
Example Lunch: fried chicken, boiled eggs, vegetable soup, peanuts, tea, coffee and maybe fresh salad including carrots, tomatoes and cucumber.
Example Dinner: vegetable soup, tea or hot chocolate, bread, fried potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice or pasta, roasted chicken and fruit like bananas, oranges and passion fruits.
What is included in our Kilimanjaro Trek Package Price:
- All the transportation from the airport to the lodge campsite or hotel.
- Transportation from the lodge to the mountain gate
- Transportation from the mountain gate to the lodge and the Airport.
- Accommodation and three meals a day as specified in the itinerary.
- All national parks entrance fees.
- Mountain campsite fees.
- Salaries for Mountain head guide, Assistants guides, cooks, porters, camp crew.
- Services of professional English speaking mountain guide.
- Camping equipment such as Mountain Hard Wear four seasonal tents, Trango 3.1 and the North Face expedition tents.
- Comfortable chairs and tables.
- We carry our own portable toilets in privacy tents for our clients. We do not use or share the public long-drop toilets on Kilimanjaro.
- We carry oxygen for emergency use (medical oxygen cylinder tank, regulator & masks).
- We provide Katadyn water filters pump at the campsite.
- We carry our own Ice axe.
What is NOT included in our Kilimanjaro Trek Package Price:
- Round-trip international airfare.
- Tanzania entry Visa and Airport tax
- Personal and travel insurance.
- Personal expenses such as bar beverages, Internet charges, phone calls and laundry in the lodge/hotel.
- Tips/ gratuities for mountain head guides, assistants guides, cooks, porters and camp crew.
