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5 Days from$1550 p/p in USD -
DeparturesYear Round
Destinations
Tanzania,
Tour Type
Guided
Safari Standard
Camping
Tour Overview
Marangu Route is also known as the “Coca Cola” or “tourist” route. It is the easiest and shortest route to the summit. This is also the only route with the comforts of sleeping huts at every campsite with solar lights and comfortable beds. The huts are communal, and the bunks have a sponge mattress and pillow. This route is usually done in 5 days but can be done in 6 days for better acclimatization. The extra day can be spent resting at Horombo or climbing the small peak of Mawenzi.
General Information
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Safari types:Mountain Safari, Trekking Safari
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You will visit:Kilimanjaro National Park
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Wildlife:Birds, Colobus Monkey
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Activities:Trekking
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Getting around:4x4 Safari Vehicle
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Start/end:Start in Arusha, end in Arusha
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Minimum age:7
Price Per Person – USD
From USD 1550 per person
What's Included
- 4 nights camping accommodation & all meals
- All transfers and transport
- Services of a safari driver, guide & cook
- Hiking equipment
- Sleeping bags
- Park fees
What's Excluded
- Flights & visas
- Alcoholic beverages
- Tips to safari staff
- Travel insurance
Disclaimer
- This itinerary is owned and delivered by ‘Kilimanjaro Classic Safaris‘
- All prices are ‘From’ and may vary at the time of booking
- Display price is usually based on two people sharing
- ‘Kilimanjaro Classic Safaris‘ reserves the right to change the content and price of the itinerary
- All itineraries are subject to availability
Day by Day Overview
After breakfast and briefing, drive to the Kilimanjaro National Park Gate (about 1 hour), register, and commence the climb. Walk through the rainforest to the Mandara encampment. A side trip to Maundi Crater is a good way to see the surroundings including Northern Tanzania and Kenya. In the rainforest, look for towering eucalyptus trees, bird life and colobus monkeys.
Elevation: 1860m/6100ft to 2700m/8875ft
You leave the glades of the rainforest and follow an ascending path on the open moorlands to the Horombo encampment. Views of Mawenzi and the summit of Kibo are amazing. Look for giant lobelias and groundsels. You may begin to feel the effects of the altitude.
Elevation: 2700m/8875ft to 3700m/12,200ft
Ascending, we now pass the last watering point, walking onto the saddle of Kilimanjaro between the peaks of Kibo and Mawenzi. Vegetation begins with the upper heathland but then disappears into “moonscape”. Dinner, rest and prepare for the summit climb.
Elevation: 3700m/12,200ft to 4700m/15,500ft
Very early in the morning (midnight to 2 am), commence the climb to the summit on steep and heavy scree or snow up to Gilman’s Point located on the crater rim. Continuing, we now ascend to Uhuru Peak, which is the highest point in Africa. There are unbelievable views at every turn. Have your picture taken at the summit to show your friends and family. From here we descend, stopping for lunch and a rest at Kibo before continuing on to the Horombo encampment. The beginning of this climb is done in the dark and requires headlamps or flashlights. It will be very cold until you start descending, so you will need all of your warm layers. This is by far the most difficult part of the trek with many switchbacks. Going slowly “pole pole” and an optimistic attitude will get you there!
Elevation: 4700m/15,500ft to 5895m/19,340ft
After breakfast, a steady descent takes us down through moorland to the Mandara Hut. Continue descending through a lush forest path to the national Ppark gate at Marangu. At lower elevations, it can be wet and muddy, gaiters and trekking poles will help. Shorts and t-shirts will probably be plenty to wear (keep rain gear and warmer clothing handy). A vehicle will be waiting for you at Marangu gate to drive you back to your hotel in Moshi (about 1 hour).
Elevation: 3700m/12,200ft to 1700m/5500ft
Customer Reviews (3)
The best friendship
My husband & I did the safari tour with Kilimanjaro Classic Safaris and everything was absolutely perfect. If you're making the trip to Tanzania definitely book with them. I highly recommend you ask if YOUSUF is available to be your guide. He's knowledgeable, polite, and he made our trip PERFECT. If I could give my experience 6 stars I would. Thanks again Kilimanjaro Classic Safaris!
Unexpected tour from Kilimanjaro Classic Safari's
We made it to the top of Kilimanjaro! And our time along the way was pretty cushy. We had a team of 9 to take care of just the two of us: 6 porters to carry supplies, tents, etc, 1 cook and 2 guides. We had hot, delicious food for every meal and a big tent with chairs and a table for eating. The food definitely helped to keep our mentality positive which helped a lot in reaching the goal. We would leave the camp before the porters but by the time we reached the next camp, the porters had already set everything up! The guides, William and Emmanuel, were experienced, knowledgeable, and strong, and every one of their recommendations turned out to be the right decision for us. All we had to do was put one foot in front of the other, which turned out to be completely necessary as we needed all our efforts and focus on the summit night, which was still incredibly challenging. But we really couldn't have made it up there without this team.
We originally booked the tour for 7 days along the Lemosho route. We were doing well the first couple days so the guides recommended that we shorten the trek to 6 days by hiking to the base camp on the 4th day and summiting that night. It turned out to be the right decision for us in the end because we were still able to make it and it gave us time to rest before our safari but I wonder if it would have been a little less painful if we had taken more days.
We were a little blindsided by the tipping culture as we hadn't researched it beforehand and the tour operator didn't say anything about tipping, we were only informed about it at the start of the trek. It comes out to be a pretty hefty amount, for us about 20% of the cost of the trek and I wish this was made more clear when we made the booking. I feel pretty bad about this but we weren't able to pay the right amount (the "right amount" is quoted everywhere online; we just didn't do that research until now). Other than this, the tour operator is very responsive over Whatsapp and helped us out a ton in preparing for this once in a lifetime experience. Our bags were delayed at the airport and so we basically didn't have anything with us, but William was able to help us buy or rent everything we needed to make it to the top.
Kilimanjaro Classic Safari's is also a great company to go with on a safari. We did a 7 day safari with Mudy as our guide, and we went to Tarangire, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Lake Manyara. Mudy made sure we saw absolutely every animal! Some of them we definitely got really lucky, like the leopard and rhino, which are very rare and we only saw from far away. But Mudy was also hardworking and always made the right decisions, for example when looking for the great migration river crossing. He asked if we wanted to have lunch in the jeep in order to maybe get a better shot of the river crossing, and as it turned out we did get one! Mudy was also a great driver on the bumpy and unpaved roads of these wild Tanzanian parks, and he drove safely and quickly when he needed to get us to see an animal. Overall my only complaint is that his English could be better as his accent is hard to understand.
Our cook, Dulla, was absolutely amazing and cooked such delicious meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dulla made a lot of cheese dishes and even made pizza with the limited supplies available. My favorite dish was this bean stew for lunch.
We did a camping safari and the tents and mattresses were comfortable, nice, and warm. Meru slopes was very well equipped and provided everything we needed for a comfortable safari.
Amazing safari from Tanzania via Kilimanjaro classic safari's
Great team, especially our guide Florian who did his best to find all the interesting summit
