Day 1: Arrive at KIA and transfer to Arusha City
After you arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO), you will be met by our driver who will transfer you to Arusha City.
Day 2: Momella Gate- Miriakamba Hut
Transfer from you lodge/hotel in Arusha and head to the Momella gate, an armed park ranger will accompany you while you start your hike and get a first glimpse to the wonderful giraffes and buffalos. Once you have left the buffalo herds and giraffes, you will enter the acacia forest in which you will follow the southern route. After a steady 2- hour climb, you will reach Maio falls and some picturesque meadows that are a perfect place for picnic. After a rest, you will again be on your way and soon reach the well-known Arched Fig Tree, then head to Miriakamba Hut. Dinner and overnight at Miriakamba Hut.
Day 3: Miriakamba Hut- Saddle Hut(2,745m- 3,710m)
In the morning, you will leave the Miriakamba hut behind and follow a steep track with wooded steps upwards. Due to the gain in height, it will be noticeably cooler than the previous day and due to this, the hike will seem to get easier. The clouds also often hang in the rainforest and dip the lush vegetation in a moody atmosphere. You’ll reach the vantage point, Mgongo wa Tembo’ Elephant Back where you will enjoy a well-earned break. After another hike in which the vegetation changes from rainforest into an airy bush land, you will reach saddle hut. On its face you may see klipspringers, rough-coated antelope the size of a goat that leap from one rock to another on narrow, cylindrical hooves. Lammergeyer vultures may soar overhead, dropping bones to break on the rocks below so that they can extract the marrow. You’ll have the option of a side trip to little Meru and from where you can have wonderful views of Arusha national park and of the Kilimanjaro. Back at the hut warm dinner is waiting for you before you will have the final preliminary talk in preparation for the following days’ climb to the summit.
Day 4: Saddle Hut- Meru Summit- Miriakamba Hut -Arusha City – Fly Home (3,710m -4566m -1515m)
After an early start with tea and biscuits, you will leave for the summit. By torchlight, you will follow the trail through bush land to the so-called Rhino Point in which the path turns into a little more challenging trek with occasional light climbs. You will follow the north ridge to the summit on which you walk on ground alternating between lava ash and rock. After approx. 4-5 hrs, you will have the summit. The Cliff between the summit and Ash Cone is over 1,500 meters (4,950 feet) in the height and one of the tallest cliffs in the world. From the summit, as well as much of the way to it, the views are spectacular. Kilimanjaro, dwarfing all other mountains in Africa, rears from the steppes and to the west is the Great Rift Valley. At your feet is the national park containing Ngurdoto Crater and Momella Lakes. The descent follows the same route back to Saddle Hut where you will take a well-deserved long break and recuperate with hot soup and tea. Later on, you will follow a 2-3 hrs trek over the so-called Northern Route back to Momella gate. The descent is shorter than the ascent but there is still the chance to see elephants, buffalo, giraffe as well as the black and white collobus monkeys. At the gate, you will say farewell to your hiking crew and your driver will take you back to Arusha, where you head to Kilimanjaro Airport (JRO) and catch your flight home.
Day 5: Departure
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