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Travel guide
Kilimanjaro
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: January to February, and June to October (the dry seasons)
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Welcome
Kilimanjaro, in a few days
Africa's highest mountain reaches 5,895 metres and is climbed on foot, without ropes or crampons, in five to nine days. The trek passes through five bands of vegetation, from rainforest to lava desert, before the night ascent to the crater rim.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Uhuru Peak (5,895 m) · a full dayA wooden sign on the crater rim, reached at dawn after six to eight hours of climbing from midnight, in deep cold and thin air.
- Afternoon · Furtwängler Glacier · about 1 hIce in the Kibo crater, the last visible piece of the ice cap, named after Walter Furtwängler, who reached the summit in 1912.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Parkview Inn€75 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · The Barranco Wall · about 1 h 30A wall of about 250 metres above Barranco camp, climbed without ropes in an hour and a half, often using your hands.
- Afternoon · The Shira Plateau · half a dayA collapsed caldera west of Kibo, between 3,500 and 3,900 metres, as flat as a table and covered in giant heather and groundsel.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Weru Weru River Lodge€110 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · The Machame route · several daysThe busiest route, about 62 km over six or seven days, from the southern rainforest across Shira and past the Lava Tower.
- Afternoon · Materuni waterfalls · half a dayA Chagga village above Moshi, then a forty-minute walk through banana and coffee plants to a fall of about 80 metres into a cold pool.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Kilimanjaro Wonders Hotel€70 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Moshi and Kilimanjaro coffee free · about 1 hThe starting town for climbs, among the coffee farms; the summit usually shows itself only at dawn and in the late afternoon.
- Afternoon · The Marangu route · several daysThe oldest route and the only one with huts instead of tents, at Mandara, Horombo and Kibo, up and down by the same path.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Marangu Hotel€100 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Ugali: a stiff maize porridge, the base of most meals, eaten with the fingers.
- Nyama choma: grilled meat, usually goat or beef, shared at the table.
- Swahili cooking in Zanzibar: coconut curries, octopus and spices from the island farms.
- Mishkaki: marinated skewers grilled at street stalls.
- Spiced chai and fresh fruit juices.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Booking a safari with an unlicensed operator, or ignoring the rangers' instructions in the parks.
- Travelling without malaria prophylaxis, or drinking tap water.
- Paying before agreeing the price: settle it first, and bargain with a smile.
- Beachwear in Stone Town and the villages of Zanzibar: cover up away from the beach.
- Packing plastic bags: they have been banned since 2019 and can be taken from you on arrival.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ Swahili
| English | Swahili |
|---|---|
| Hello | Jambo / Habari |
| Thank you | Asante |
| Please | Tafadhali |
| Yes | Ndiyo |
| No | Hapana |
| Excuse me | Samahani |
| Goodbye | Kwa heri |
| Do you speak English? | Unazungumza Kiingereza? |
| I don't understand | Sielewi |
| How much is it? | Ni bei gani? |
| Where are the toilets? | Choo kiko wapi? |
| The bill, please | Bili, tafadhali |
| Help! | Saidia! |
| Cheers! | Afya! |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyTanzanian shilling (TZS)
BudgetAbout €325 a day, mid-range
Best seasonJanuary to February, and June to October (the dry seasons)
PlugD/G · 230V
Tap waterBottled only
TippingAround 10%, and tip safari guides separately
Emergency112 / 114
EntryA visa is needed by EU, UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports. Apply for the e-visa online before you go; single-entry visas are also issued on arrival at the main entry points. US citizens must take the multiple-entry visa. Zanzibar adds its own compulsory travel insurance, bought online from the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation: no other policy is accepted.
HealthHepatitis A, typhoid and yellow fever vaccinations are recommended; the yellow fever certificate is compulsory if you arrive from a country with transmission risk. Malaria is present: ask about prophylaxis.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/kilimanjaro
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.