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12 Days Kilimanjaro trek combined with Lake Manyara/
Serengeti/ Ngorongoro wildlife safari
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Day 8 : Arusha – Lake
Manyara National park
Depart Arusha in the morning for Lake Manyara. Afternoon
game drive , dinner and overnight at acampsite
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 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 - Nairobi
Breakfast then drive to Arusha town – Board an afternoon
shuttle bus to Nairobi – Drop off at the airport to board
your home bound flight.
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Tour cost per person
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Kili trek /budget camping safari US$ 2650
Tour
price includes:
--Transfer from/to Kilimanjaro Airport
-Transfer to and from the base of the mountain
-Machame route trek
-Full board accommodation whilst on the trek.
-Accommodations at in Arusha for 2 nights on bed and breakfast
-Full accommodation in camps on the mountain as per the
itinerary
- full board accommodations in a twin/single as detailed in 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
-Treated water on the trek
-Service of an English speaking professional driver/guide
-Ground transport on safari in a comfortable 4x4 safari land
cruiser
-Complementary bottled water on safari – I lire per person per
day
-Crater tour services (Game drive and crater fees)
- All camping gear for camping trips except a sleeping bag
-Group maximum of 12 climbers for personalized service
Excluded:
-Laundry, tips, sleeping bags (thermal ones which can withstand
upto -10 degrees celcius), beverages/drinks and climbing gears
-Emergency Oxygen, available on request at $200 per group (MUST
BE REQUESTED IN ADVANCE)
-International flights and taxes
-Traveler’s insurance and medical evacuation insurance
-Passports and visas
-Items of a personal nature and any other extras not detailed in
the above itinerary
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