Mount Kilimanjaro Trekking

7 Days Umbwe Route Kilimanjaro Trekking

$1860-2000 USD

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Safari summary

The Umbwe route is usually used by those seasoned mountaineers and especially those who approach the summit via the technical Western breach.
This is ‘real mountain climbing’ only a handful of clients and guides can safely pass and summit. This route offers two options. A short hike onto the southern circuit starting via the South and a steep climb into the Barranco wall acting as a ‘short cut’ into the southern circuit.
This is a great choice for climbers who want to complete the hike quickly with a large physical demand and low acclimatization.
The second option and one usually chosen on Umbwe is an approach is to summit via the Western breach. The western breach literally means the gap in the western side of the Kibo cone (likely blown off on a historic eruption) and allows technical mountaineers the challenge of a steep and dangerous summit attempt. There are many variations of this route and we can customize the experience to be as difficult / achievable as you want to allow.

About this tour

	Tour type	Custom, tailor-made, private
	Main focus	Hiking \| trekking
	Activity level	Strenuous activity
	Best months	All months
	Countries	Tanzania
	Parks	Kilimanjaro

Fine details

Safari highlights

Hiking | trekking

What’s included?

Accommodation
Airport transfers
Meals
Park fees
Private vehicle and driver

What’s not included?

Alcoholic beverages
All drinks
Internal flights
International flights
Laundry
Premium alcoholic beverages
Spa treatments
Tips and gratuities
Visas

Itinerary

Umbwe Gate to Umbwe Camp

Kilimanjaro

Your day starts early with a briefing, followed by breakfast and an hour drive from Moshi to Umbwe Village (1,490 m/4,890 ft) where your guides and porters pack your equipment and supplies and give you a lunch pack. You start your ascent at the small Umbwe Gate just above the village and follow a gentle winding vehicle track for an hour to a signboard that announces the small steep Umbwe trail.

Umbwe Camp to Barranco Camp

Kilimanjaro

Your day starts early Kilimanjaro trekking with a steaming cup of tea or coffee. After breakfast, you will climb steeply through thinning forest glades to Giant Erica, Heather, and drier air. You continue up a ridge that drops steeply on both sides, and hopefully, the clouds will part to reward you with a view of Uhuru Peak looming overhead. After lunch, you enter a zone of giant groundsels that seem to guard the heights, and this garden is one of Kilimanjaro’s special treasures.

Barranco Camp (3,900 m/12,800 ft)

Kilimanjaro

Extra Day for Acclimatization. Adding this day will ease your effort, and amplify your acclimatization.

Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp

Kilimanjaro

After a hot lunch in camp, your afternoon is at leisure for resting or exploring. This short day is very important for your acclimatization since your summit push is about to start. Scramble easily to the top of the Great Barranco and then a traverse over screes and ridges to the Karanga Valley campsite (3h, 4000m.), beneath the icefalls of the Southern Glaciers.

Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp

Kilimanjaro

The morning you hike east over intervening ridges and valleys to join the Mweka Route, which will be your descent route. Turn left toward the mountain and hike up the ridge through a sparse landscape for another hour to the Barafu Hut where you will receive a hot lunch. The last water on the route is in the Karanga Valley; there is no water at Barafu Camp, even though Barafu is the Swahili word for ice. The famous snows of Kilimanjaro are far above Barafu Camp near the summit of the mountain.

Barafu Camp to Uhuru Peak

Kilimanjaro

You will rise around 11:30 PM, and after some steaming tea and biscuits, you shuffle off into the night. Your 6-hour climb northwest up through heavy scree between the Rebmann and Ratzel glaciers to Stella Point on the crater rim is the most challenging part of the route for most climbers. After your 3-hour descent from the summit back to Barafu Camp, you will have a well-earned but short rest,

Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate

Kilimanjaro

After a well-deserved breakfast, it is a short, scenic, 3-hour Kilimanjaro Trekking back to the park gate. Don’t give your porters any tips until you and all your gear have reached the gate safely, but do remember to tip your staff at the gate. At Mweka Gate, you can sign your name and add details in a register. This is also where successful climbers receive their summit certificates.

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