Lemosho, Machame or Marangu: three ways up, one summit night

The difference lies in the first three days

From the Shira Plateau onwards Lemosho and Machame are the same route: Lava Tower, Barranco, Karanga, Barafu, summit, Mweka. What sets them apart are the days before. Lemosho starts in the west at 2,100 m, spends two days in forest and heath and two nights on the plateau (Shira 1 and 2) – that is the reason for the eight days and for the better acclimatisation; the first days are also empty, because most groups come via Machame. Machame starts in the south at 1,640 m, climbs through rainforest to Machame Camp on day one and steeply onto the plateau on day two – one day less, two hundred metres more at the start. Seven days is the standard; the six-day version (African Trek) drops the Karanga night and goes straight from Barranco to Barafu, meaning the summit night without a rest day before it.

Marangu is a different mountain: from the east, in huts with beds, up and down the same trail, across the saddle between Mawenzi and Kibo. Five days is the norm and too short – ZARA itself writes that six days are better for acclimatisation. The summit night starts at the Kibo Huts and reaches the crater rim at Gilman's Point, from where it is still two hours to Uhuru – longer than from Stella Point.

Itineraries of the products

From the Viator product data, shortened. Altitudes vary between operators by up to 200 m (Mti Mkubwa: 2,750 to 2,980 m); kilometres are operator figures. ZAFS has no itinerary in the data; Kilinge and African Trek follow Chief's Machame pattern, with one day less for African Trek.

Day 1 · Machame Gate → Regenwald · ≈ 11 km · 5–7 h

Moss on every branch, mud under every step. The mountain is not yet in sight.

Every route starts in rainforest: Lemosho in the west from Londorossi, Machame in the south, Marangu in the east. A day among tree ferns, beard lichen and colobus monkeys, often wet, always muddy. The crew goes ahead, and whoever reaches camp in the evening finds the tent pitched and the tea made – porters, cooks and guides are the real reason a Kilimanjaro package costs what it costs.

2,800mRegenwald

What differs here✓Crew of guide, cook and porters with all nine products✕Tips for the crew extra everywhere: USD 250–300 per person according to Nafika

Day 2–3 · Shira-Plateau · 5–12 km je Tag

The forest ends, and suddenly Kibo is standing there.

Above the tree line the Shira Plateau opens up, the crater floor of the oldest of the three volcanoes: heath, lobelias, lava rock, and to the east Kibo with its ice cap. Lemosho spends two nights here (Shira 1 and 2), Machame one – that is the difference between eight and seven days, and the reason Lemosho is considered the route with the better acclimatisation.

3,840mShira-Plateau

What differs here◐Lemosho 8 days: ZARA, Climb Kili, Habari · Lemosho 7: Nafika · Machame 7: Chief's, ZAFS, Kilinge · Machame 6: African Trek · Marangu 5: ZARA

Day 4 · Lava Tower → Barranco Camp · ≈ 10 km · 6–8 h

Climb high, sleep low. The most important day nobody enjoys.

Up to Lava Tower at 4,630 m, lunch with a headache, then 700 m down into the Barranco valley among giant senecios. This is the acclimatisation day that makes the success rate: the body sees the altitude but sleeps below it. Camp sits beneath the Barranco Wall, to be scrambled the next morning – steep, but with hands, not ropes.

4,630mBarranco Camp

What differs here✓Emergency oxygen and pulse oximeter: named by Habari, ZAFS, Chief's, Nafika, ZARA Marangu (oximeter only)

Day 5 · Barranco Wall · ≈ 5 km · 4–5 h

Twenty kilos on the head, trainers on the feet, and faster than you.

On the Barranco Wall the porters overtake: with tents, kitchen tent, tables, chairs and your duffel bag. The national park limits loads to 20 kg per porter; the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project checks who keeps to wages and loads. In the Viator data only Nafika explicitly names “fair wages” – with all the others it is the question to ask before booking.

4,200mBarranco Wall

What differs here?Porter wages: only Nafika lists “fair wages” in the inclusions

Day 6 · Barafu Camp · ≈ 4 km · 3–4 h

Dinner at five, sleep at six, woken at eleven.

Barafu means ice in Swahili. Base camp sits on a scree ridge at 4,640 m, without water, without shade, with views of Kibo and Mawenzi. You arrive at noon, eat, do not sleep, eat again and are woken at 11 pm. Climb Kili goes 200 m higher to Kosovo Camp to shorten the summit night. On the Marangu route this place is called Kibo Huts – with a bed instead of a mat.

4,640mBarafu Camp

What differs here✓Tent and mat included on all camping routes; sleeping bag only with Nafika

Day 7 · Stella Point → Uhuru Peak · ≈ 5 km · 6–8 h hinauf

Six hours of scree in the dark. Then the sun stands over Mawenzi.

The summit night is what everyone talks about: 1,250 m of ascent in switchbacks on scree, at minus ten to minus twenty degrees, step by step behind the guide's headtorch. Stella Point at 5,756 m at sunrise, then an hour along the crater rim past the remains of the glaciers to the sign at 5,895. Make it to Stella Point and you get the green certificate; go on to Uhuru and you get the gold one.

5,895mUhuru Peak

What differs here✓Summit day with every product from Barafu/Kibo Huts, descent the same day to Mweka or Horombo

Day 8 · Mweka Gate → Moshi · ≈ 10 km · 3–4 h

Certificate, beer, shower. In that order.

The last day is descent through the rainforest to Mweka gate, where the crew gets its tips and the park issues the certificate. Then the car to Moshi or Arusha. Whether the night after is included at a hotel is where the packages differ: ZARA, Habari and Nafika include two hotel nights, the others none.

1,640mMoshi

What differs here◐Hotel nights before and after: ZARA (both routes), Habari, Nafika · Airport transfer: ZARA Marangu, Habari, Chief's, Nafika

The route in stages: altitudes and itineraries from the operator data, photos illustrate the places. The boxes show where the four compared offers differ at the same spot.

Stops and walking times from the operator's Viator product data, edited for length. Maps and figures illustrate the route and are not for navigation.

The three routes side by side

Prices as of 25 September 2026; Habari from three people, ZAFS as a pair.

The summit night: what all routes share

Tea and biscuits at 11 pm, off at midnight, six to eight hours of switchbacks on scree by headtorch, at minus ten to minus twenty degrees and wind. The guides go “pole pole”, slowly, and take oximeter readings on the way. Stella Point (or Gilman's Point on Marangu) on the crater rim is where many turn back – and where the green certificate starts. Another hour along the rim, past the glacier remnants, to the sign at 5,895 m: the gold one. Then the descent, the same day, 2,800 m down to Mweka Camp – the day ends up twelve to fifteen hours long. To get through the night, eat the day before, drink the day before and sleep the day before; at Barafu Camp none of that goes well.

Questions about the routes

Sources and check status