The Lemosho route is considered the most scenic trail on Kilimanjaro, granting panoramic visitors on various sides of the mountain. As one of the newer routes, Lemosho is a superb choice for your climb. It is our preferred route due to its ideal balance of low crowds, beautiful scenery and a high summit success rate. Exciting East African Tours® specializes in guiding on the Lemosho route. Most of our clients climb Kilimanjaro using this route and they consistently report that they loved it. Thus, Lemosho is highly recommended. The route approaches Mount Kilimanjaro from the west, beginning with a long drive from Moshi to Londorossi Gate. From there, the first two days are spent trekking through the rain forest to Shira Ridge. The Lemosho route crosses the entire Shira Plateau from west to east in a pleasant, relatively flat hike. Crowds are low until the route joins the Machame route near Lava Tower. Then the route traverses underneath Kilimanjaro’s Southern Ice Field on a path known as the Southern Circuit before summiting from Barafu. Descent is made via the Mweka route. Burigi Chato Safaris offers Lemosho as an eight day group climb or as a seven to eight day private climb. The seven day variation combines days five and six, going from Barranco Camp to Barafu Camp without staying at Karanga. A nine day variation that includes an overnight at Crater Camp is available as a private climb by special request.
Day 1: LEMOSHO GATE TO BIG TREE GATE
You will be picked up at your hotel at around 08:00am and transferred to the Lemosho gate located on the western side of Kilimanjaro. After the registration process you will still start our climb steadily through the forests of the Lemosho glades to reach Big Tree camp where you will be spending the night.
- Distance covered: 7km
- Time to be used: 4 hours
- Meals: Lunch and Dinner
- Accommodation: Big Tree Camp
Day 2: BIG TREE CAMP TO SHIRA CAMPSITE
Today you will cover a lot of ground as you trek across a plateau of grassy moorland and heather scattered with volcanic rock formations. We will trek through Shira 1 Camp from where there are often views of Kibo Peak floating on the clouds as we head towards our destination which is Shira 2. We gain a reasonable amount of altitude as we head towards Shira 1 and parts of the route are fairly steep. As you proceed towards Shira 2 you will get the chance to view the Northern Ice fields from the western side of the mountain with some unusual views of Kibo. Our steady climb across the moorland of the Shira Plateau will help with acclimatization and we enjoy great panoramic views.
- Distance Covered: 16.5kms
- Time to be used: 9 – 11 hours
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Accommodation: Shira Campsite
Day 3: SHIRA CAMPSITE TO BARRANCO CAMPSITE
Your trek starts with an ascent with far-reaching panoramic views, walking in to the climatic zone of the upland desert and on the lava ridges beneath the glaciers of the Western Breach. You will reach the distinct pinnacle of the Lava Tower (4640 m), our high point for the day and a great place to enjoy your lunch. In the afternoon we make a steep descent to our camp for the night, located in the base of the Great Barranco Valley (3960 m), sheltered by towering cliffs but with extensive views of the plains below.
- Distance Covered: 10km
- Time to be used: 7 hrs
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Accommodation: Barranco Camp
Day 4 : BARRANCO CAMPSITE TO KARANGA CAMPSITE
Our day starts by descending into the start of the Great Barranco, a huge ravine. We then exit steeply, up the Great Barranco Wall, which divides us from the southeastern slopes of Kibo. It’s a climb over rock, not technical but long and tiring. Passing underneath the Heim and Kersten glaciers, we head towards the Karanga valley. From here we have a steep climb up from Karanga valley to our night’s camp at Karanga camp, set at 3963m. For those feeling strong we will go for a mid-afternoon acclimatization trek up to around 4200m before descending back to camp for the night.
- Distance Covered: 5.5 km
- Time to be used: 5 hrs
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Accommodation: Karanga Camp
Day 5: KARANGA CAMP TO BARAFU CAMP
After a good night’s rest and breakfast, we set off on our walk to Barafu camp at 4640m. The climb will take us across desolate scree slopes with no vegetation around us at all. It’s a tough steep walk made more difficult by the altitude. On arriving at camp we eat and spend the afternoon resting as we prepare for a long night and day ahead. It is important to keep hydrated and warm. We have an early dinner and then try to get some sleep as we will be getting up at between 11pm and 12pm to start the climb to the summit.
- Distance Covered: 3km
- Time to be used: 3 hours
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Accommodation: Barafu Camp
Day 6: BARFU CAMP– UHURU PEAK TO MILLENIUM CAMPSITE
We start off at around midnight, and walk steeply upwards to the summit glaciers. We will be climbing scree for 4 to 5 hours but gain incredible height over a short distance. The views are spectacular. We should be on the crater rim at Stella Point (5739m) as the first rays of the sun hit us. Spectacular ice cliffs within the crater surround us and the views to jagged Mawenzi peak and beyond are breathtaking. Another hour’s walking takes us to the summit, Uhuru Peak (5895m). We begin our descent by returning to Stella Point and then descending on scree slope and track back to Barafu Camp for breakfast, before finally heading down to Millennium Camp for a long well-earned rest.
- Distance Covered: 13.5km
- Time to be used: 12 – 15 hrs
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Accommodation: Millenium Campsite
Day 7: MILLENIUM CAMPSITE TO MWEKA CAMPSITE
A gentle trek takes us down through the rainforest to Mweka Gate, where we complete park formalities and receive certificates, which you can hang up with pride! We are then met by our vehicles and return to the hotel in Moshi, where you can treat yourself to a welcome shower (and a cold beer or two!) before our big celebration.
- Distance Covered: 12.5km
- Time to be used: 6.5 hrs
- Meals: Breakfast & Lunch
Lemosho Price Inclusion
General
✓ Guide
✓ Park Fees
✓ Tax
✓ Gate transfer
✓ Crew wages
✓ Environment fees
Accommodation
✓During the climb you will spleep in Tents
Food
✓ 6 Breakfasts
✓ 7 Lunches
✓ 6 Dinners
✓ Drinking Water
Other
✓ Guide
✓ Porters
✓ Cook
Not Included
✓Flights
✓Crew Tips
✓Visa
