7 Days Machame Route
Climb Kilimanjaro for 7 Days Machame Route – This is probably the most beautiful route up Kilimanjaro. All your equipment and supplies are porttered and a cook prepares all your meals. Where accommodation on the Marangu route is in huts, the Machame route offers strictly tents only this makes Machame, also referred to as the”Whiskey route”, better suited to the slightly more adventurous hiker. However, rewarding you with a scenic splendor such as not seen on the Marangu route. From late afternoon sunsets at Shira, to the misty revelations of Kibo at the great Barranco Wall, the Machame route offers the adventurous hiker a stunning scenic “slide show” over 6 days. The Machame route is normally completed in a minimum of 6 days, there is an added benefit to this, as you are afforded the most valuable commodity on the mountain – acclimatization. The Machame route takes you high to Lava Tower (4630m) on the day 3 and brings you down by nearly 700m for an overnight at Barranco camp (3950m). This is the secret to successful acclimatization.
7 Days Machame Route
Recommended itinerary
Hiking time: 7 hours
Distance: ~18 km
Habitat: Montaine forest
Your day starts early with a briefing from the tour organizer and guides, followed by 70-minute drive from your Hotel (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 1 km walk will take about 30 minutes 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 foggy, 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 Machame campsite.
Hiking time: 6 hours
Distance: About 9 km
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.
Distance: ~ 15 km
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 4,600m at Lava Tower, the true acclimatization 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 and overnight at Barranco Camp site.
Hiking time: 4-5 hours
Distance: About13 km
Habitat: Alpine desert
After spending a night at the Great Barranco Wall, you will proceed to make your way up this awesome looking obstacle. Hikers find that in the end this normally turns out easier than anticipated. Topping out just below the Heim Glacier, you will now appreciate just how beautiful Kilimanjaro really is. The route then heads down through the Karanga Valley crossing the last water point over intervening ridges and valleys and then joins up with the Mweka route. This is the preferred route down from the summit, so take note. We will finish with dinner and an overnight Karanga Valley Camp.
Hiking time: 4-5 hours
After breakfast at the Karanga valley camp, you will walk a ridge and enter a cold desert for about 4 hours and then reach the Barafu Hut. Crews will collect water from the last water stop at Karanga Valley in morning, as there is no water at Barafu camp. Barafu is the Swahili word for “ice” as 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 familiarize yourself with the terrain before dark to avoid any accidents as this is a dangerous area. The summit is now 1345m above you, and you will make the final ascent tonight. Prepare your equipment, ski stick, and thermal clothing for your summit attempt. Make sure and replace the batteries in your headlamp and camera and make sure you have a spare set available as well. To prevent freezing, it would be wise to carry your water in a thermal flask. Go to bed around 7 PM and try to get some good. Try not to sleep more than 5 hours.
Hiking time: 8 hours to reach Uhuru Peak 7/8 hours to descend to Mweka camp Distance: ~ 7 km ascent – 23 km descent
Habitat: Stone scree and ice-capped summit
You will rise around 11:30 PM and have some hot tea and biscuits before 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 the most mentally and physically challenging part of the trip. At Stella Point (5685m) you will stop for a short rest and will be rewarded with the most magnificent sunrise you will witness in your lifetime (weather permitting). From Stella Point you will normally encounter snow to Uhuru Peak (2 hour ascent). 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 as this is a day to remember for the rest of your life. The walk back to Barafu from the summit will take about 3 hours. Here you will have a well earned but short rest. You will then collect the rest of your gear before heading down to Mweka hut (3100m). This 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. Drinking water, soft drinks, chocolate, and beer is available from the camp office if you so desire.
Hiking time: 3 hours
After Hot breakfast from in Mweka Campsite you will start walking slowly towards the mountain gate the walk takes about 3hours to get to the Mweka campsite where our driver will pick you and transfer you to the Hotel in Arusha.
Congrats!!!
The End of 7 Days Machame Route
WHAT IS INCLUDED IN YOUR ITINERARY
- Accommodation as per the itinerary.
- Pickup from the airport (Kilimanjaro International Airport) or bus terminal, and drop off when climb finished
- Professional Mountain guide
- Daily breakfast, lunch, and dinner as per the itinerary.
- All Park entrance fees
- Rescue fees
- Porter’s allowance
- Professional mountain cook
- Transfer to and from the mountain gate
- Conservation fees
- Local government taxes
- Clean water
WHAT IS NOT INCLUDED IN YOUR ITINERARY
- Travel and personal health insurance
- All Internal or International flights and taxes
- All optional activities and any other extras not detailed in the above itinerary
- Tips and gratuities
- Alcoholic drinks and non-alcoholic drinks
- Visas
- Passport
- Accommodation before and after safari
Book this Route
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Jorge Madrid2022-03-04Amazing safari Super experience, everybody helpful and super nice. It feels like a family going into the wild. The driver knows where are the animals and he can spot them while driving safe. Good team and the places where we slept were wonderful, camping in ngorongoro and Serengeti is definitly something else. Even though it is a 5 Days tour It goes super fast. I recomend It 100% Asante sana!Verified
Mya Z2022-03-02Great experience Focus in Africa est une agence sérieuse pour effectuer son safari. Nelson est très professionnel et m'a donné tous les détails pour que le safari se passe au mieux. Prise en charge dès l'arrivée à Arusha, j'ai dormi dans l'hostel de Nelson au Lionsgate avant d'entamer le safari le lendemain. Habib notre guide est très professionnel avec de bons yeux pour observer certains big divers cachés au loin. Notre cuisiner était également au top. Je recommande Focus in Africa pour vos safaris.Verified
Esra C2022-02-27Amazing safari experience! Onze safari was werkelijk geweldig! Nelson heeft alls voor ons geregeld naar onze wensen. Wij zijn keurig op tijd opgehaald van het vliegveld en zijn eerst gebracht naar het hostel. Een warme welkom en aardige kok die voor ons ook een gids heeft geregeld om het cetrum van Arusha te bezoeken, bezoek de mooie kleurrijke lokale markten en tanzanite museum bijvoorbeeld. Niet te vergeten de gegrilde mais met lime en chilipoeder? Wij hebben een 4 daagse safari geboekt, waarbij we eerst naar Tarangire zijn geweest, daarna Serengeti 2 dagen en tot slot Ngorogoro krater, onze gids Mozes was zeer ervaren en vertelde veel over de dieren als natuurgebieden. Hij had ‘eagle eyes’ waardoor we uiteindelijk meer dan de big 5 hebben gezien?. Onze groep (7 personen) was ook zeer divers waardoor het heel gezellig was. Onze wens was onder andere dat we ipv tenten in lodges wilde blijven. Nelson heeft het perfect geregeld, we voelden ons net in een 4 sterren verblijf midden in de prachtige natuurgebieden! Vooral Seronera en Rhino lodges waren onze favorieten ? Onze lunches waren lekker en goed vullend gemaakt door kok van onze safari. Het avondeten in de lodges waren van hotelkwaliteit??Het was ook fijn dat er altijd (gekoelde) water aanwezig was in onze auto. We willen Nelson en zijn crew nogmaals bedanken voor alles. Maak je dus geen zorgen als je via Focus on Africa boekt, regel alleen je vlucht naar Arusha en Nelson haalt je op en brengt je ook weer naar het vliegveld. Hakuna Matata, zero stress??Verified
Claire B2022-02-23Unforgettable safzri The safari with Focus in Africa was the highlight of my trip in Tanzania. Everything was perfectly planned and very well organized. I did a 4 days safari, exploring Tarangire, Serengeti and Ngorongoro and we made the most of every single day from sunrise to sunset. The driver, Ariel, knows a lot of African wildlife and we saw many animals thanks to his knowledges. All the team, Nelson and his family are very friendly, reliable and serious so that we can have a memorable trip. can only recommend to travel with Focus in Africa. Asante Sana !Verified
Johannes von Simons2022-02-17Great Kili 7 day hike with super team, excellent food and very friendly & helpful guides We did a Kilimanjaro tour with Focus in Africa, and our guide was Emanuel, assistant guide Gadil, and cook Peter. We (Claire and Johannes) really liked everything, from the preparatory talk with Emanuel on the day before the tour, the fact that they also had women porters, the excellent level of service everybody in the team was providing, the outstanding cuisine of Peter (how did he do it?!? Secret miracle cooking device or what? ;-), the flora and fauna explanations of both Emanuel and Gadil during the hiking, the willingness to regularly sit down with us and explain, plan and organize the next steps and days, the help-when-needed-but-also-let-us-explore-our-borders-ourselves... so we were really happy to have booked with Focus in Africa! And we would recommend other tourists to also do seven days, not six. You pay a little more obviously, but it was the perfect mix for us between experiencing the nature, having a demanding-but-not-exhausting physical effort every day, and being proud of ourselves at the end. 6 out of 5 stars ;-)Verified
Shubham Goyal2022-01-30Wonderful Experience I went to Tarangire and Ngorongoro with Focus in Africa and had a really wonderful trip. The whole trip was professionally organised with everything and I didn't face any issues. My safari guides were very friendly and helpful and the vehicle was great as well. Their camp site is beautiful and have good food. I would definitely recommend Focus in Africa and would not think twice before booking with themVerified
Fa2022-01-284 Days Safari Great experience! We went on a 4 day Safari trip, organized by Nelson and Ayubu was our super fun Guide. Peta, also called the food engineer made our breakfast, lunches and Diner. Everything was well planned and the food was just the best. Especially the fresh bread and the different flavors of soup. The tents where also an adventure. I loved this experience! Thank you all for making it possible.Verifiedsonia2022-01-23Big 5 seen. Big experience lived! All was incredible. Super nice experience. Nelson organised all perfectly. The driver Abby and the chef Pita did their best to make us have the best experience we could.Verified
melou28112022-01-21Amazing experience I've made the a 4 days safari with Focus in Africa. The experience was amazing, we saw a lot of animals during the four days. We went to Ngorongonro crater, serengeti and also tarangire. Bryson my guide was very good, we saw a lot of animals thanks to him. We had also a cooker during the trip. It was a very good safari. I've made also the kilimandjaro climbing with focus in africa with the guide Babalu. Babalu was amazing with us. Always taking care of us and asking if we were doing well. We made the marangu road. We had porters and cooker during the trip. Everybody was very very nice with us. I highly recommend FOCUS IN AFRICA. Also the prices are very correct. I compared with a lot of different companies here in Arusha and they were the less expensive ! So for the price and also the experience I highly recommend them. Thank you againVerified
sandyrom72022-01-11Cool atmosphere and guide 4 days Safari with Focus in Africa was an interesting adventure for us . Especially cool and big thanks for meeting us from the airport and accommodation in the hostel the day before and day after . Big thanks to our guide George for all this 4 days -he did his best, tried to show as much as possible. But the other side of the trip - food. All meals were included in our safari , so we didn’t take any snacks with us and it was not possible to take smth from the restaurant, we tried it the first day in Arusha( not camp dinner) and got stomach poisoning.. First day we had good , balanced meals , but ijtger 3 days was always rice and meat for lunch and dinner . If the cuisine had been more thoughtful, I’d put all stars