9-Day Northern Circuit Climb

You drive to Londorossi Gate on the western side of Kilimanjaro, where the climb begins. The first stretch on foot runs through dense montane forest, shaded and cool, with moss-draped trees and ferns along the trail. Keep an eye on the canopy, as the forest is good for birds and primates. The path climbs gently, which makes it an easy first day for your legs. Camp tonight is Mti Mkubwa, which means 'Big Tree', in a small clearing ringed by tall Podocarpus trees at 2895m. Meals: lunch and dinner.

The trail climbs out of the forest and onto the Shira Plateau, one of Kilimanjaro's ancient collapsed calderas. Heather moorland stretches out in every direction, and giant groundsels start to appear as you gain height. After the shade of the forest it's an open, exposed day, so keep your sun hat and sunscreen handy. Shira 2 Camp, at 3840m, looks east to the Kibo summit cone. It's your first proper view of where you're heading. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

This is where the Northern Circuit leaves the other routes. Instead of heading east toward Lava Tower, you turn north around the mountain. The ground becomes alpine, with volcanic rock formations and sparse plants, as the trail climbs to Moir Hut at 4200m. From here on you're on the most remote and least-used section of Kilimanjaro, and other climbers become scarce. Moir Hut is your highest camp so far and an early step in the slow acclimatisation profile. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Today's walk contours around the remote northern slopes, through country very few climbers see. On clear days the views reach north across the Kenyan plains to the Amboseli basin, and you see Kibo from an angle the southern routes don't offer. Buffalo Camp, also called Pofu Camp, sits at 4070m, a little lower than Moir Hut, which helps your body adjust. It's one of the quietest campsites on Kilimanjaro. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

You carry on along the northern traverse through the least-visited part of the mountain, where meeting another trekking group is rare. The ground is stark volcanic terrain, with old lava flows and rock formations worn down over millennia of erosion. Third Cave camp sits under a rocky overhang on the north-east flank at 3870m. Sleeping lower again is deliberate: it gives you one more easier night before the climb onto the high Saddle. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Today crosses the Saddle, the barren alpine desert between Mawenzi and Kibo. It's a wide expanse of volcanic gravel where plants have all but disappeared, and it feels more like walking on the moon than on a mountain in Africa. The air is thin up here, so every step is slow and deliberate. School Hut sits at the base of the summit cone at 4750m, with views back to the jagged pinnacles of Mawenzi. You sleep here for two nights. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

An extra day at School Hut, and the main reason this route gives you such a gradual climb. You don't sit still all day: short walks around camp and toward the lower slopes of the summit cone keep you active without wearing you out. The rest of the time is for resting, eating and drinking plenty of water. Your guides go over the summit plan and check your kit, and you turn in early for the midnight start. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The summit push starts around midnight. You climb steep scree by headlamp under a sky full of stars, reach the crater rim and follow it to Uhuru Peak at 5895m, the highest point in Africa. Dawn lights up the glaciers and the volcanic crater below you. After time at the top, you descend to Barafu and keep going all the way down to Mweka Camp at 3068m, back in the forest. It's a very long day, so save some energy for the way down. Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The last morning takes you down through the rainforest from Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate at 1640m. After the bare summit cone, the thick forest air and green canopy feel a world away from where you stood the day before. The porters sing on the way down and the whole crew is in high spirits. At the gate you receive your summit certificate and say goodbye to the team who looked after you for nine days. Meals: breakfast.