Overview
This itinerary includes a Kilimanjaro climb via the Marangu route, which is the oldest route to the summit. It also includes a 3-day wildlife safari through the Northern Circuit highlights such as Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, and Ngorongoro Crater. We advise you to take six days to trek the Kilimanjaro because you will an extra day of acclimatization to maximize your summit success. After a Kilimanjaro climb, you will have another safari adventure through the wildlife-rich parks including Tarangire and Lake Manyara as well as conservation areas such as Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Here are the details of your program:
Itinerary
This program includes pick up from the airport soon after your arrival. Our guide will give you a short briefing about your trek before driving to the hotel in Moshi.
• Elevation: 6,000ft – 9,000ft
• Distance: 7 km
• Hiking time: 4-5 hours
• Habitat: Montane Forest
Wake up at your lodge, have breakfast, and get our driver ready for the drive to the Marangu Gate. After you pass the customs, we will begin our hike through the rainforest covering the foot of this giant mountain. You may need gaiters or trekking poles to hike past muddy and slippery, which is common in the lower down of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
• Elevation: 9,000ft – 12,100ft
• Distance: 11 km.
• Hiking time: 6–8 hours
• Habitat: Heath
After breakfast, we continue hiking through the rainforest for hours before emerging into the heath and moorland. Enjoy the spectacular views of the two peaks of Kilimanjaro as we hike through the heathland. We’ll rest for a moment on our way to eat lunch, and then proceed with our hike to Horombo Hut. After arriving at this camp, your chef will prepare a hot dinner and hot washing water for you. After dinner, you will sleep overnight.
• Elevation: 12,100ft – 15,100ft (and back to 12,100ft)
• Hiking time: 6-8 hours
• Habitat: Heath
We will spend this day hiking to Mawenzi Hut and back to Horombo Hut for acclimatization. You will start your hike and finish it at the same altitude. We’ll have our lunch at Mawenzi Hut, rest a little bit, and return to Horombo Hut for dinner and overnight sleep.
• Elevation: 12,100ft – 15,400ft
• Distance: 10 km
• Hiking time: 6-8 hours
• Habitat: Alpine Desert
After breakfast, we’ll ascend through heathland and enter an alpine desert. Our hike protrudes through this alpine desert until we hit the saddle that connects the Kibo and Mawenzi. We’ll arrive at Kibo Hut. Our routines will end very early with an early dinner and sleep early in preparation for the summit attempt, which will begin shortly at midnight.
• Elevation: 15,400ft – 19,340ft ascent & 19,340ft – 12,100ft descent
• Distance: 4 km ascent & 14 km descent
• Hiking time: 10-15 hours
• Habitat: Arctic – Heath
Your mountain guide will wake you up at midnight (00:30 a.m.) for preparation before you start your awaited hike to the summit. At around 01:30, you will begin your hike. For the next four hours, you will be hiking up the steepest part of the trail until you hit the Gilliman’s Point (5685m). As we hike past Mawenzi, you will be rewarded with an illuminating sunrise, and from there, we will have another 45 minutes of hiking to Uhuru Peak at 5985m. Congratulations! You are standing on Africa’s highest peak. Enjoy the scenes of this wonderful peak by taking photos and spectacular views of glaciers and snow. After that, we will begin our descent to Horombo Hut for dinner and overnight stopping at Kibo Hut for lunch.
• Elevation: 12,000ft – 6,000ft
• Distance: 18 km
• Hiking time: 5-7 hours
• Habitat: Rainforest
After breakfast, we proceed to descend through the montane forest, and finally reach Marangu Gate where you will collect your summit certificates. From Marangu Gate, we will drive to your lodge.
After breakfast, we travel to Tarangire National Park. We will spend a full day exploring this wonderful park on a game drive. As we drive through the stunning natural vegetation dotted with acacia and baobab trees, we encounter beautiful games such as buffalo, elephant, lion, eland, the fringe-eared Oryx, lesser and greater kudu, and gerenuk. Along the mighty Tarangire River, we see eye-catching birds such as Ashy starling that live in the riverine forests. As we drive further to the south of Tarangire, we will meet with swamps that refuge thousands of animals looking for water. We’ll return to your chosen accommodation in Tarangire for dinner and overnight
Tarangire National Park is an off-the-beaten-path destination to view games, landscapes, and stunning vegetation. It is famous for its largest herds of elephants that roam freely on its verdant plains. These African giant land animals become highly concentrated in this park, especially during the dry season when most national parks become dry, thus serving as the lifeline. Tarangire is also home to the highest count of birds of over 550 bird species. The oldest baobab trees are also attractive. They are said to be over 300 years old.
You will enjoy a buffet breakfast at your lodge and drive to Lake Manyara. Lake Manyara National Park’s largest area (two-thirds) is taken by Lake Manyara, which is a wonderful soda lake in northern Tanzania. Lake Manyara will stun you with its unique tree-climbing lions as well as the pink flamingos that decorate the shores of this alkaline lake. We will also likely encounter other games as we drive through the wilderness of this majestic park. We will return to your accommodation for dinner and overnight.
After breakfast, we’ll set up a drive to Ngorongoro Conservation Area, stopping for a few minutes at a Maasai village. We’ll drive into the majestic Ngorongoro Crater, the most spectacular wildlife sanctuary on earth. You will be equipped with a lunch box for a picnic lunch in the crater. On our 4x4-wheel drive, you will explore this intact caldera, which boasts the largest concentration of big games including the Big Five and other animals such as wildebeests, antelopes, zebras, gazelles, and many others. After a game drive, we will drive back to your accommodation facility in Arusha when it hits late afternoon for dinner and overnight.
Our driver will take you from your accommodation in Arusha and hurry to the airport for your flight back home.
Route Description | High Or Low /Luxury Or Budget | Each Of 2 Pax | Each Of 4 Pax | Each Of 6 Pax |
6 Days Marangu +3 Days Northern | High Season(January-March, June-October, December) | $3698 | $3133 | $2962 |
Low Season(March-May, November) | $3599 | $3033 | $2863 |
The Cost Includes
- 2 shared airport transfers - 1 on arrival and 1 on departure
- Park fees, camping fees & rescue fees
- 18% VAT on tour fees & services
- 3 Season mountain tents
- -29 0C Extreme Limit Sleeping Bags
- Double layered sleeping mats
- Transportation to & from the mountain gate
- Professional mountain guides, cooks and porters
- 3 meals daily while on the mountain
- Katadyn filtered water throughout the trek
- Fair wages for the mountain crew as approved by the Kilimanjaro National Park Authority (KINAPA), Kilimanjaro Association of Tour Operators (KIATO)
- Tree donation in support of our environmental conservation projects
- Pre & Post Trek accommodations
- Supplemental summit Oxygen & Pulse Oximeter
- 1 portable flush toilet with a toilet tent for group sizes of 5 and above.
- Complementary group transportation into Moshi town for shopping on the last day
The Cost Excludes
- Visa
- Tips to mountain crew – Recommended a minimum $150 per client
- Items of a personal nature
- Laundry Services
- Tanzanian mountain doctor
- Single Supplement Request from client
- Travel Insurance (Recommended – Travel insurance with medical cover of 6,000m and above)
- GPS Trackers
EXTRAS (to be arranged upon request)
- Spending a night in the crater – $200 per person
- Western breach approach without a night at the crater camp – $200 extra per person
- Tanzanian mountain doctor – $300 per group per day
- Extra supplemental oxygen – $120 per oxygen kit (with 2 cylinders)
- Extra weight of clients’ luggage – $6 per extra kg
- Extra porter on the mountain (this is if a client requests) – $15 per porter per day
- Extra day on the Mountain $ 300
- Mountain re-supply of delayed baggage/ any other forgotten items: $100 per porter
- Extra airport transfer – $100 per vehicle one way
- Last minute cancellation of client (within 3 days of the tour) – $300 cancellation fee per client
WEIGHT AND PORTERS
Clients are required to have a maximum of 15kg in their duffel bags. Due to the large increase in operational costs as a result of excess weight of clients’ luggage, we’ve had to resort to the following measures:
- Extra weight of clients’ luggage – $6 per extra kg
- Extra porter on the mountain (this is if a client requests) – $15 per porter per day