Mount Kilimanjaro

Kilimanjaro reaches 5,895 m (19,341 ft) at Uhuru Peak. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the tallest free-standing mountain on earth — no range around it, just a snow-capped volcano rising alone out of the plains. No ropes, no technical climbing: the difficulty is altitude, and the answer to altitude is time.

Choosing a route

Machame (7 days) is the most popular and has an excellent walk-high, sleep-low profile. Lemosho (8 days) approaches from the west, is quieter for the first two days and has the best acclimatisation of the common routes. Marangu (5–6 days) is the only hut route and has the lowest success rate because it is short. Rongai (6–7 days) comes from the north and stays driest in the shoulder seasons.

Why extra days matter

Summit success tracks days on the mountain more closely than fitness or age. A seven-day Machame climb has a markedly better success rate than the same route in six. Every itinerary we run includes the extra acclimatisation day.

Through five climate zones

You start in cultivated farmland, walk up through rainforest, heather and moorland, cross an alpine desert and finish on an arctic summit — the equivalent of walking from the equator to the poles in a week.