8-Day Lemosho Route Climb

The day starts with a drive along Kilimanjaro's western flank to Londorossi Gate, where you register with the park. From there the trail is gentle and shaded, climbing through montane forest under tall Podocarpus trees. Black-and-white colobus monkeys are often in the branches overhead, and there's birdsong most of the way. It's an easy first walk, and that's deliberate, because your body starts adjusting before the big height gains. Camp is at Mti Mkubwa, 'Big Tree', in a small clearing in the forest at 2895m. Night: Mti Mkubwa Camp. Meals: lunch and dinner.

A long day. You leave the forest for heather moorland, then cross the Shira Plateau, the remains of one of Kilimanjaro's three volcanic cones, which collapsed long ago. The ground opens into grassland dotted with giant lobelias and groundsels, plants you won't see lower down. By afternoon you reach Shira 2 Camp at 3840m, with Kibo Peak rising to the east. The height gain today is significant, so let your guide set a slow pace and keep drinking. Night: Shira 2 Camp. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

This is the key acclimatisation day of the climb, and it follows the classic pattern of climb high, sleep low. You walk up through alpine desert to Lava Tower at 4630m, where the landscape turns stark and volcanic. After a rest and time to take in the views, you descend to Barranco Camp at 3960m, which sits below the Barranco Wall. The wall is tomorrow's first job, and you'll get a good look at it from camp this evening. Night: Barranco Camp. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The morning opens with the Barranco Wall, a near-vertical rock face that you climb with hands and feet. It's a scramble, not a technical climb, and your guides show you where to step. From the top there are wide views of the southern icefields. The trail then crosses several ridges before dropping into the Karanga Valley, where camp sits at 3995m, barely higher than where you slept. That's by design. Night: Karanga Camp. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Karanga is the last water point on the route. From here you climb steadily through barren alpine desert toward summit base camp, on loose volcanic scree with almost no vegetation, and you'll notice how much thinner the air has become. Barafu Camp sits on an exposed ridge at 4673m, with views of both Mawenzi and Kibo. You won't leave for the summit tonight, as tomorrow is a rest day here. Night: Barafu Camp. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

A full day at high camp gives your body more time to adjust before the summit push. You take short walks around camp to stay active, then rest, drink plenty of water and eat well. Your guides brief you on the night ahead: what to wear, when you'll leave, and what the climb is like in the dark and cold. It's also the time to check your gear, from headlamp batteries to gloves, and to get to sleep early. Night: Barafu Camp. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

You set off around midnight, climbing by headlamp up steep switchbacks of volcanic scree. It's the longest and hardest day of the climb, and very cold before sunrise. You reach Stella Point on the crater rim as dawn breaks, then follow the rim to Uhuru Peak at 5895m, the highest point in Africa, with the glaciers in the early light. After time at the top you descend quickly to Barafu, collect your gear, and keep going down to Mweka Camp at 3068m, back near the forest. Night: Mweka Camp. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The last morning is a walk down through rainforest, where the warmth and thicker air feel very welcome after days at altitude. It's a steady descent, so trekking poles help your knees. The porters sing as the group makes its way to Mweka Gate at 1640m. At the gate you receive your summit certificate and say goodbye to the mountain crew, then we transfer you to your hotel in Moshi. Meals: breakfast. No night on the mountain.