UMBWE (6-7 DAYS)

Karibu Tanzania!

Arrive Kilimanjaro Airport, You will be greeted by your driver with a warm welcome.

Transfer to Hotel , Please ensure that your gear is ready for tomorrow morning. Overnight at the Hotel, bed and breakfast/Dinner included.

Breakfast. Speak to the reception staff at the lodge to store your excess luggage. Meet our team at 07h30am for departure at 08h00am to the Umbwe Gate at 1 800m, after climb briefing, to register. The journey is around 40 minutes. Please note that you will need to know your passport numbers in order to complete your registry. You are advised however to leave your valuables including your passport, in the hotel safe, except for the amount in US Dollars that you will be budgeting to tip your support staff.

The route initially follows a forestry track winding up through the natural rain forest. It then narrows and steepens to climb the ridge between the Lonzo and Umbwe rivers. The path offers some spectacular views of deep gorges, and if you are lucky glimpses of Kilimanjaro towering above you in a distance.

The Umbwe route is probably one of the most scenic “non-technical” mountaineering expeditions in East Africa. The first campsite is in the forest by some rock overhangs at 2940m. The porters will prepare the camp for you. Umbwe Gate (1800m) – Bivouac (first) camp (2940m), expected hiking time – 5 hours

Shortly after leaving the camp the forest ends and the path continues along a narrow spectacular ridge. Above, the sheer 1000m of the Breach Wall appears and disappears as the afternoon mists roll up the Great Barranco. The path is fairly steep through the forest, heading along a sharp ridge, before it flattens as you approach Barranco camp. From the Umbwe ridge the route descends slightly to the Barranco camp in the valley floor at 3950m. The camp is situated in a valley below the Breach and Great Barranco Wall, which should provide you with a memorable sunset while you wait for the preparation of your dinner. Bivouac (first) camp (2940m) - Barranco camp (3950m), expected hiking time - 6 hours

Trek from Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp (4681m) via the 257m high Breach Wall across the valley from Barranco. You should be aware that there are three rises and falls before reaching Karanga Camp where we have lunch at 4040m, dinner and overnight.

Distance from Barranco to Karanga is 5.8km. . It is advantageous to have a mental image of today’s profile so you don’t get psyched-out by all the rise and fall (Karanga camp can be seen a little to the right of the main valley in the below profile at around 5.8km):

Trek from Karanga (4040m) to Barafu (4681m). The route ascends 640m to Barafu Camp. The distance from Karanga to Barafu is 3.4km. Aim to get to sleep as soon as possible as you will be woken at around 2300-0000 to begin your attempt. Don’t worry about waking yourself for meals - your staff will wake you for these. You probably won’t feel like eating but please endeavour to do so as you’ll need the energy reserves. You are advised to get all your gear ready for the summit bid before you go to sleep as you may feel disoriented when awoken for the attempt.

Around midnight (your guide will judge the time that is optimal for you based on your pace thus far) quit camp for the assault via Stella Point (5752m) to the summit. Tonight is very difficult - particularly the final 500m - and you’ll need to commit to fight for the summit. You will inevitably feel like giving up and going to sleep. This is normal and can be overcome with Perseverance. When resting please ensure you only stand or sit and do not lie down or close your eyes. Please trust your guide; he is very adept at judging whether your condition will allow safe progress or whether you have succumbed to a potentially dangerous condition and to proceed will not be safe. Nausea and headaches are normal and around a quarter of climbers will vomit at or near Stella Point. While very uncomfortable, these are not symptoms that are indicative of being at risk, per se. The onset of cerebral and pulmonary oedema are marked by distinctive early warning symptoms that your guide is capable of identifying. Please maintain regular dialogue with him and frequently update him on how you are feeling.

When you reach Stella Point you will sit and rest. At this point the body often thinks you have finished your uphill fight and will be trying to coerce you into giving up and turning around. While you may genuinely believe that you have already exhausted your reserves in reaching this point, this is actually very unlikely to be so. Remember that you are only 143 vertical metres short of thesummit, the journey from here is much less steep, and you have plenty of time for further pauses. If you do feel the need to give up at Stella Point please proceed towards the summit for just two minutes before making your final decision. In most cases this act of re-establishing momentum is enough to persuade the mind and body to co-operate with your intentions and you will ordinarily find hidden reserves for a final push, reserves that you were not aware you still had. Almost there!

Keep your thoughts positive, as your thoughts become your words,

Keep your words positive, as your words become your actions,

Keep your actions positive; as your actions become your destiny you can do it!

On the summit your guide will advise how much time you can spend there in consideration of your condition, your timings, and the weather. The brain does not function very intelligently at this altitude so please remember to take many photographs in all directions or you will probably regret not having done so at a later stage.

From the summit you will descend to Stella Point and from here your guide may opt to switch left onto the loose scree, a departure from the ridge up which you ascended. On arrival at Barafu your tents will still be erected and ready for you to rest an hour or so before continuing the descent after some refreshments.

From Barafu you will usually descend to Mweka Camp (3090m) for overnight. If your guide judges that a shorter day will benefit you and preserve sore knees and ankles, he may decide to stop short at Millennium Camp (3820m) instead.

Your last night in the mountain is spent at Mweka Camp.

Distances on summit day

Barafu to Stella Point: 3.3km

Stella Point to Summit: 1.2km

Summit to Barafu: 4.5km

Barafu to Mweka Camp: 6.3km

Total = 15.3km

Descend from Mweka Camp (or Millennium) to Mweka Gate (1641m).

Transfer from the gate back to your hotel-for overnight.

Distance from Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate is 8.5km.

Your car and driver shall be ready for pick-up and transfer to your Hotel

Transfer to airport for departure flight.

Or to Safari.