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Kilimanjaro and Safari Packages |
Combine your Kilimanjaro climb with a Safari for the ultimate African holiday! |
Package #1 (Machame/Serengeti - 13 days) |
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Summary |
- 13 days total; 7-day Kilimanjaro climb; 5-day Safari
- Day 1: Arrive at Kilimanjaro Airport, overnight at Springlands Hotel
- Days 2-8: 7-day Kilimanjaro climb via the Machame Route
- Days 9-13: 5-day Safari - Lake Manyara, Rift Valley, Olduvai Gorge, Serengeti (2 days), Ngorongoro Crater
- Day 13: Depart from Kilimanjaro Airport
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Price |
- Basic Camping: US $2,315 per person
Single Supplement: US $60 per person
- Highview Hotel/Mobile Tent Camp: US $2,550 per person
Single Supplement: US $245 per person
- Extra hotel nights in Moshi: US $60 per room per night
- Note: The minimum group size for this tour is 2 people and the maximum size is 16 people.
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Price includes: |
- 2 nights at the Springlands Hotel (Days 1 and 8)
- Round-trip Kilimanjaro Airport transfers
- Meals listed below (B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner)
- Olduvai Gorge visit
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Price excludes: |
- Tips for your Kilimanjaro guides and porters
- Tips for your safari guide and cook
- Lunches, dinners, and drinks at the Springlands Hotel
- Bottled water, drinks on safari
- Extra nights at the Springlands Hotel
- Optional Masai Village visit
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Arrival dates for 2007 |
These dates are “Day 1.”
We can arrange extra nights at the Springlands Hotel if you are arriving early or staying longer.
- January 1
- January 8
- January 15
- January 29
- February 5
- February 12
- February 19
- February 26
- March 5
- March 12
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- June 25
- July 2
- July 9
- July 16
- July 23
- July 30
- August 6
- August 13
- August 20
- August 27
- September 3
- September 10
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Map of climb |
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Day 1 - Moshi
(915 m/3,000 ft) |
Arrive at the Kilimanjaro or Dar es Salaam International Airport.
You will be met at the airport and transferred to the Springlands Hotel in Moshi
for your overnight. |
Day 2
Moshi (915 m/3,000 ft)
to Machame Gate
(1,490 m/4,890 ft)
to Machame Camp
(2,980 m/9,780 ft)
18 km, 5-7 hours
Montane Forest |
Your day starts early with a briefing, followed by breakfast
and a 50-minute drive from Moshi to the Machame Village (1,490 m/4,890 ft) where your guides and porters
prepare and pack your equipment and supplies.
You will receive a lunch pack, and you can also buy mineral water in the village.
If the road is very muddy, it may be impossible to drive from
the village to the Machame Gate, and in this case, it will take you an hour to complete the muddy 3 km
walk to the gate. After registering at the park office, you start your ascent and enter the rain forest immediately.
Heavy rains on this side of the mountain often transform the trail into a soggy, slippery experience, so good footgear, trekking poles, and gaiters are useful.
You will enjoy a welcome lunch stop halfway up and will reach the Machame camping area in the late afternoon.
Your porters will arrive at camp before you and will erect your tent before you arrive.
In the evening, the porters boil drinking and washing water while the cook prepares your dinner.
Night temperatures can drop to freezing at the Machame Camp. |
Day 3
Machame Camp
(2,980 m/9,780 ft)
to Shira Camp
(3,840 m/12,600 ft)
9 km, 4-6 hours
Moorland |
You rise early at Machame camp, and after breakfast, climb for an hour to the top of the forest,
then for 2 hours through a gentle moorland. After a short lunch and rest, you continue up a rocky ridge onto the Shira Plateau
where you will be able to see Kilimanjaro’s great Western Breach with its stunning glaciers.
Sometimes, the walls of the Western Breach are draped with extensive ice curtains.
You are now west of Kibo on the opposite side of the mountain from the Marangu Route. After a short hike west, you reach the Shira campsite.
The porters will boil drinking and washing water before serving dinner.
The night at this exposed camp will be colder, with temperatures dropping below freezing. |
Day 4
Shira Camp
(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 5
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 6
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 7 – 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 8
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 the
Springlands Hotel in Moshi for an overdue hot shower and comfortable night. |
Day 9
Springlands Hotel
to Lake Manyara NP
to Rift Valley
to Highview Hotel |
The drive from the Springlands Hotel to Lake Manyara National Park takes
about 4 hours. After having a picnic lunch in Manyara, you start a late afternoon game drive, which is the best
time to view animals in this park. When you approach it from the east, the Rift Valley escarpment looms on the horizon forming
an impressive backdrop to the lake. In the tall trees of the ground water forest, monkeys leap from branch to branch,
and on the escarpment, elephants stand in the shade. Other animals frequently seen are zebras, impalas, monkeys, giraffes, buffalos,
hippos, and others. Overnight at the Highview Hotel or the Twiga Camp - full board. |
Day 10
Highview Hotel
to Olduvai Gorge
to Serengeti Natl Park
to Serengeti Wild Camp |
The drive to Serengeti National Park
via Olduvai Gorge takes 3 to 4 hours. Olduvai Gorge
is an archaeological site located in the eastern Serengeti plains, in which early human fossils were first discovered.
It has an amazing landscape that resulted from the same tectonic forces that created the Great Rift Valley millions of years ago.
Then in the late evening, drive to and overnight at either the Serengeti Wild Camp or Ikoma Gorge Camp - full board. |
Day 11
Serengeti Wild Camp
to Serengeti Natl Park
to Serengeti Wild Camp |
After breakfast, venture into the Serengeti’s wilderness corners for a full day of game viewing
in the park. With a picnic lunch beside you, take your leisure while exploring this world heritage site, where earth’s
largest concentration of plain game still roams free! In the late evening,
go to either the Serengeti Wild Camp or Ikoma Gorge Camp for rest, dinner, and overnight - full board. |
Day 12
Serengeti Wild Camp
to Ngorongoro Crater
to Highview Hotel |
After breakfast, take morning game drives in Serengeti National Park, then later in the afternoon,
drive to Ngorongoro Crater. Drive to the Highview Hotel or Simba Camp for overnight - full board. |
Day 13
Highview Hotel
to Ngorongoro Crater
to Springlands Hotel
or Kilimanjaro Airport |
Drive 30 minutes from the Highview Hotel to the gate for Ngorongoro Crater.
On the eastern side you will see the Rift Valley, elephant, buffalo, zebra, monkey, birds, as well as viewing the crater rim.
Tanzania’s best concentration of wild animals is in Ngorongoro’s huge, perfect crater. This is also
the best place in Tanzania to see black rhino as well as prides of lion that include the magnificent black-maned
males. There are lots of colorful flamingoes and a variety of water birds. Other game you can see include leopard, cheetah,
hyena, other members of the antelope family, and small mammals. Then, in the late afternoon, drive
back to the Springlands Hotel in Moshi or the Kilimanjaro Airport to catch your flight home. |

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