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Mount Kilimanjaro climbing adventure combined with
Serengeti safaris, ngorongoro tour, lake Manyara
game drives and Zanzibar beach vacation, holidays
tours in Zanzibar , stone town excursions, Zanzibar
and Kilimanjaro adventure trek holiday safari
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16 Days Kilimanjaro climbing, Tanzania wildlife
safari and Zanzibar beach vacation
Day
1: Arrival - Arusha
Travel from Nairobi to Arusha on board a Shuttle bus
or pickup from Kilimanjaro Airport – transfer to a
hotel for an overnight stay
Day 2: Machame Gate (1490m) - Machame camp (2980m
Hiking time: 7 hours | Distance: About 18 km's |
Habitat: Montane forest
Your day starts early with a briefing, followed by
breakfast and a 45-minute drive from Moshi (910m) to
the Machame village (1490m). The guides and porters
prepare and pack the supplies and your equipment in
the village. You will receive a lunch pack and you
can also buy mineral water in the village. Depending
on the condition of the road, it is possible to
drive from the village to the Machame gate, but if
not, the muddy 3 km walk will take about 1 hour to
complete. After registering at the gate office, you
start your ascent and enter the rain forest almost
immediately. There is a strong possibility of rain
in the forest, which will transform the trail into a
very soggy, muddy and slippery experience. You will
have a welcome lunch stop about half way and will
reach the Machame camping area in the late
afternoon.
Your porters (arriving at the camp site long before
you) will have erected your tent on your arrival. In
the evening the porters will boil drinking and
washing water and the cook will prepare dinner,
before you retire to your tent for the night. Night
temperatures can already drop to freezing point at
this campsite
Day 3: Machame camp (2980m) - Shira camp (3840m)
Hiking time: 6 hours | Distance: About 9 km's |
Habitat: Moorland
You rise early at Machame camp and after breakfast
you climb an hour or so to the top of the forest and
then for 2 hours at a gentler gradient through the
moorland zone. After a short lunch and rest, you
continue up a rocky ridge onto the Shira plateau. By
now you will be able to see in an easterly
direction, the Western Breach with its stunning
glaciers. You are now due west of Kibo and after a
short hike you will reach the Shira campsite at 3
840m. The porters will boil drinking and washing
water, before serving dinner. The night at this
exposed camp will even be colder than the previous
night, with temperatures dropping to well below
freezing
Day 4: Shira (3840m) - Lava Tower (4630m)-Barranco
camp (3950m)
Hiking time: 7 hours | Distance: About 15 km's |
Habitat: Semi desert
The route now turns east into a semi desert and
rocky landscape surrounding Lava Tower, where you
reach an altitude of 4630m after about a 5 hours
walk. Lunch is served in a designated area before
ascending the rocky scree path to Lava Tower
(4630m). Definitely, the toughest day so far. It is
normally around this point, where for the first
time, some climbers will start to feel symptoms of
breathlessness, irritability and headaches. After
lunch you descent again by almost 680m to the
Barranco camping area and after reaching the high
altitude of 4600m at Lava Tower, the true
acclimatisation benefit of this day becomes clear.
This descent to Barranco camp takes about 2 hours
and offers great opportunities to take some
beautiful photographs of the Western Breach and
Breach Wall. 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
Day 5: Barranco camp (3950m) - Barafu camp (4550m)
Hiking time: 7 hours | Distance: About 13 km's |
Habitat: Alpine desert
After spending a night at the Great Barranco Wall (a
very imposing sight at first), you make your way up
this awesome looking obstacle, which in the end
normally turns out easier than what you anticipated.
Topping out just below the Heim Glacier, you now
appreciate just how beautiful Kilimanjaro really is.
The route then heads down through the Karanga Valley
over intervening ridges and valleys, and then joins
up with the Mweka route. This is the preferred route
down from the summit, so remember it. Turn left up
the ridge and after another hour or so, you reach
Barafu Hut.
The last water stop on the route is the Karranga
Valley, as there is no water at Barafu camp. Barafu
is the Swahili word for "ice" and it is a bleak and
inhospitable camping area to spend the night.
Totally exposed to the ever-present gales the tents
are pitched on a narrow, stony, and dangerous ridge.
Make sure that you familiarise yourself with the
terrain before dark to avoid any accidents. The
summit is now a further 1345m up and you will make
the final ascent the same night. Prepare your
equipment, ski stick and thermal clothing for your
summit attempt. This should include the replacement
of your headlamp and camera batteries and make sure
you have a spare set available as well. To prevent
freezing it will be wise to carry your water in a
thermal flask. Go to bed at round about 19h00 and
try to get some precious rest and sleep
Day 6: SUMMIT ATTEMPT, Barafu camp (4550m) - Uhuru
Peak (5895m)-Mweka (3100m)
Hiking time: 8 hours to reach Uhuru Peak | 7/8 hours
to descend to Mweka | Distance: About 7 km's ascent
- 23 km's descent | Habitat: Stone scree and
ice-capped summit
You will rise around 23h30, and after some tea and
biscuits you shuffle off into the night. You will
head in a northwesterly direction and ascend through
heavy scree towards Stella Point on the crater rim.
This 6-hour walk to Stella point is for many
climbers, mentally and physically the most
challenging on the route. At Stella Point (5685m)
you will stop for a short rest and will be rewarded
with the most magnificent sunrise you are ever
likely to see (weather permitting). From Stella
Point you will normally encounter snow all the way
on your 2-hour ascent to Uhuru Peak. The time you
will spend on the summit will depend on the weather
conditions. Do not stop here for too long, as it
will be extremely difficult to start again due to
cold and fatigue. Enjoy your accomplishment and a
day to remember for the rest of your life. The walk
back to Barafu from the summit, takes about 3 hours.
Here you will have a well earned but short rest and
collect the rest of your gear, before heading down
to Mweka hut (3100m). The route is not difficult and
will take you down the rock and scree path into the
moorland and eventually into the forest. The camp is
situated in the upper forest and mist or rain can be
expected in the late afternoon. Dinner and washing
water will be prepared
Day 7: Mweka camp (3100m) - Mweka Gate (1980m)
Hiking time: 3 hours | Distance: About 15 km's |
Habitat: Forest
After an early and well-deserved breakfast, it is a
short 3-hour and scenic hike back to the Park gate.
At Mweka gate you sign your name and details in a
register. This is also where successful climbers
receive their summit certificates. Those climbers
who reached Stella Point (5685m) are issued with
green certificates and those who reached Uhuru Peak
(5895m) receive gold certificates. From the Mweka
Gate you will continue down into the Mweka village,
normally a muddy 3 km (1 hour) hike. In the Mweka
village you will be served a delicious hot lunch!!
You now drive back to Arusha for a long over due hot
shower, dinner and celebrations!! Overnight at a
hotel
Day 8 : Arusha – Lake Manyara National park
Depart Arusha in the morning for Lake Manyara.
Afternoon game drive , dinner and overnight at Lake
campsite
Located beneath the cliffs of the Manyara
Escarpment, on the edge of the Rift Valley, Lake
Manyara National Park offers varied ecosystems,
incredible bird life, and breathtaking views. Lake
Manyara’s famous tree-climbing lions are another
reason to pay this park a visit. The only kind of
their species in the world, they make the ancient
mahogany and elegant acacias their home during the
rainy season, and are a well-known but rather rare
feature of the northern park. In addition to the
lions, the national park is also home to the largest
concentration of baboons anywhere in the world -- a
fact that makes for interesting game viewing of
large families of the primates..
Day 9 : Serengeti National Park
After breakfast depart for Serengeti passing through
Olduvai Gorge, the site of Leakey’s family discovery
of fossils of human and animal ancestors dating back
to almost two million years. Meals and overnight at
Serengeti Seronera campsite
Day 10 : Serengeti
Full day in Serengeti plains in search for wild game
you might have missed the previous game drive.
Morning and afternoon game drives. Meals and
overnight at Serengeti campsite
Serengeti is easily Tanzania’s most famous national
park, and it’s also the largest, at 14,763 square
kilometres of protected area that borders Kenya’s
Masai Mara Game ParkIt is the Migration for which
Serengeti is perhaps most famous. Over a million
wildebeest and about 200,000 zebras flow south from
the northern hills to the southern plains for the
short rains every October and November, and then
swirl west and north after the long rains in April,
May and June. So strong is the ancient instinct to
move that no drought, gorge or crocodile infested
river can hold them back. The Wildebeest travel
through a variety of parks, reserves and protected
areas and through a variety of habitat. Join us to
explore the different forms of vegetation and
landscapes of the Serengeti ecosystem and meet some
of their most fascinating inhabitants.
Day 11: Ngorongoro Crater
After breakfast a 4wheel drive vehicle will take you
2000ft down to the crater, enjoy picnic lunch at the
crater, ascend back to campsite for dinner and
overnight.
The Ngorongoro Crater is often called ‘Africa’s
Eden’ and the ‘8th Natural Wonder of the World,’ a
visit to the crater is a main drawcard for tourists
coming to Tanzania and a definite world-class
attraction. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA)
is home of Ngorongoro Crater. It was formed some 2.5
million years ago from a volcanic mountain sinking
due to inactivity, and was initially thought to be
higher than Tanzania’s famous Kilimanjaro. The
crater has evolved into a unique and integral part
of Tanzania’s eco-system. The crater is actually a
caldera, measures 22.5 km’s across and the rim walls
stand 600m high. Views from within and from the rim
are breathtaking (as can be seen from the picture).
The crater houses 30,000 animals, and a large
variety of birds, which rarely move from the area
due to the availability of water through wet and dry
seasons
Day 12 : Arusha - Zanzibar
Breakfast then drive to Arusha town to arrive in
good time for lunch – transfer to Kilimanjaro
airport to board an afternoon flight to Zanzibar –
on arriving Zanzibar, our representative will meet
you and transfer you to Ras Machamvi beach hotel to
start your beach vacaton.
Days 13,14 & 15 Zanzibar
Days Spent Sunbathing and relaxing at the beach
resort.
Day 16 Zanzibar
Transfer to Arusha airport to board your flight to
Nairobi arriving in good connecting time with your
home bound flight.
Contact us for current pricing
Tour price includes:
-Transfer to and from the base of the mountain
-Machame route trek as itinerary depicts
-Full board accommodation whilst on the trek.
-Accommodations at Kibo Palace hotel Arusha for 2
nights and huts on the mountain as per the itinerary
-All park entrance fees to include government taxes
-Service of an English speaking professional
Mountain guide on the mountain, porters and skilled
cook
-All services begin and end at Kilimanjaro Airport
as per the itinerary
-Treated water on the trek
-Mountain rescue fees
- Use of our 2 man sharing Tents /camping gear
- 3 meals per day prepared by our safari cook
-Game drives as detailed in the itinerary
-camping fees/park entry fees/crater fees
-Ngorongoro crater tour
- Service of a professional English speaking
driver/guide
-4 nights accommodations at a beach resort on half
board basis ie- breakfast and dinner
-Return airport transfers in Zanzibar
Excluded:
-Tips, laundry, sleeping bags, drinks and climbing
gears
-Medical evacuation, USD 30 per person value
-International flights and taxes
- Zanzibar airport departure taxes US$ 25 per person
payable directly
-Water sports and Zanzibar excursions – Can be
arranged on request.
-JRO – Zanzibar- Nbo flights
-Visas
-Items of a personal nature and any other extras not
detailed in the above itinerary.
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