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 BID 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 CAMP
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
Today you will have very moderate walk across the plateau which leads you to Shira Camp two on moorland meadows by a stream. Although variety walks are available on the plateau just to make this an excellent acclimatization day.
- Distance Covered: 10km
- Time to be used: 7 hrs
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Accommodation: Shira Camp
Day 4 : SHIRA CAMPSITE TO LAVA TOWER
You will have breakfast and precede hiking east up to a steeping path above the vegetation toward Kilimanjaro looming mass. After several hours of walking now commerce you’re a walk through a rocky landscape to reach the prominent landmark called Lava Tower at 4,630 m/15,190 ft. This chunky remnant of Kilimanjaro earlier volcanic activity is several hundred feet high, and the trail passes right below it. For extra credit, the sure-footed can scramble to the top of the tower. After a lunch stop near Lava Tower, descend for 2 hours below the lower cliffs of the Western Breach and Breach Wall to Barranco Camp at 3,950 m/12,960 ft. There are plentiful photo opportunities on this hike, especially if the walls are festooned with ice. Barranco Camp is in a valley below the Breach and Great Barranco Walls, which should provide you with a memorable sunset while you wait for your dinner. On this day, be careful to become aware of any signs of altitude sickness.
- Distance Covered: 5.5 km
- Time to be used: 5 hrs
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Accommodation: Barranco Camp
Day 5: BARRANCO CAMP TO KARANGA 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: KARANGA CAMP TO BARAFU CAMP
This morning you will hike east over intervening ridges and valley to join the Mweka Route, which will be your descent route. Turn left toward the mountain and hike up the ridge through a sparse landscape for another hour to Barafu Hut where you will receive a hot lunch. The last water point on this route is Karanga Valley as there is no water at Barafu Cam. Even though Barafu is the Swahili word for ice. The famous snows of Kilimanjaro are far above Barafu Camp near the summit of the mountain. Your tent will be pitched on a narrow, stony, wind-swept ridge, so make sure that you familiarize yourself with the terrain before dark to avoid any accidents. Prepare your equipment and warm clothing for your summit climb, and drink a lot of fluids. After an early dinner, go to bed for a few hours of valued sleep.
- Distance Covered: 13.4km
- Time to be used: 12- 15 Hrs
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Accommodation: Millenium Campsite
Day 7: BARAFU CAMP – SUMMIT – MWEKA CAMP
You will be up around 11:30 PM, and after some hot tea and biscuits you will drag your feet off into the night. 6-hour climb northwest up through heavy scree between the Rebmann and Ratzel glaciers to Stella Point on the crater rim is the most challenging part of the route for most climbers. At Stella Point 5,685 m/18,650 ft you stop for a short rest and a chance to see a supremely sanguine sunrise. At Stella Point you join the top part of Marangu Route but do not stop here too long, as it will be extremely difficult to start again due to cold and exhaustion. Depending on the time of year and current storms you may stumble upon snow on your remaining hike along the rim to Uhuru Peak. On the summit, you can enjoy your accomplishment and know that you are creating a day that you will remember for the rest of your life. After your 3-hour descent from the summit back to Barafu Camp, you will have a well-deserved but short rest collect your gear, and hike down a rock and scree path into the moorland and sooner or later into the forest to Mweka Camp 3,100 m/10,170 ft This camp is in the upper forest, so you can anticipate mist or rain in the late afternoon., Dinner and washing water will be prepared and the camp office sells drinking water, soft drinks, chocolates, and beers.
- Distance Covered: 12.5km
- Time to be used: 6.5 hrs
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 8: MWEKA CAMPSITE TO MWEKA GATE TO MOSHI
After a well deserved breakfast it is a short scenic 3-hours hike back to the park gate, please note no tips is given on the way until all your gears and the rest of the crew have reached the gate safely, but do remember to tip your staff at the gate, At Mweka Gate you will sign your name and add details in a register. This is also where successful climbers normally receive their summit certificates and can be followed by a bottle of champen. Climbers who reached Stella Point are issued green certificates and those who reached Uhuru Peak receive gold certificates. From Mweka Gate you will continue down to Mweka Village 3 km where you will be served a delicious hot lunch after which you are driven back to Moshi.
- 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
✓Visas
