14 DAYS KILIMANJARO CLIMB VIA LEMOSHO ROUTE & WILDLIFE SAFARI TO NORTHERN AND NIGHT GAME DRIVE AT LAKE MANYARA

Day 1: Arrival and welcome to Tanzania.

Upon your arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO), there will be a private transfer waiting at the Airport to collect and get you to your hotel in Arusha where you will be able to relax and enjoy your first night in Tanzania. Your Kilimanjaro Bound tour guide will meet you at your hotel for a Mount Kilimanjaro climbing brief and an equipment check. We will also check and confirm you have the appropriate mandatory medical coverage and travel insurance.

Day 2: Arusha (1400m) – Londorossi Gate (2100m) – Mti Mkubwa camp (2750m)

Hiking time: 3 hours

Habitat: Montane Forest

After eating breakfast at your hotel, your guide will brief you on the day. You will drive two hours from Arusha (1400m) to Londorossi Park Gate (2100m). In the village near Londorossi Gate, you will receive a packed lunch and can buy mineral water for the hike. Then the final 45 minutes of the drive leading up to the gate will be on a bumpy forest track requiring 4WD vehicles. At the entrance gate, the guides and porters distribute the supplies and register with the Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA).

You are now ready to begin your 3-hour hike into the rain forest. Be on the lookout for Colobus monkeys! Along the way, you will stop for an afternoon lunch break and arrive at Mti Mkubwa (“Big Tree”) Campsite (2750m) in the early evening. The porters, who arrive at the campsite before the clients, will set up your tent and boil water for drinking and washing. The chef will prepare a snack then dinner for the clients. At nighttime, mountain temperatures may drop to freezing so be prepared!

Day 3: Mti Mkubwa Camp (2750m) – Shira 2 Camp (3840m)

Hiking time: 6.5 hours

Habitat: Moorland

After an early morning breakfast, you will begin your ascent out of the rainforest and into the heather moorland zone. You will cross many streams and walk over a plateau that leads to Shira 2 Camp (3840m). At this campsite, you will be next to a stream and have a spectacular view of the Western Breach and its glaciers in the East. Similar to the first night, your tents will be set up prior to arriving at camp and the porters will prepare drinking and washing water for you. You will enjoy evening snacks then dinner prepared by our chef. Be prepared for a cold night as temperatures drop below freezing at this exposed camp.

Day 4: Shira (3840m) – Lava Tower (4630m) – Barranco Camp (3950m)

Hiking time: 7 hours

Distance: Approximately 15 kilometers

Habitat: Semi desert

Following an early morning breakfast, you will leave the moorland environment and enter the semi desert and rocky landscape. After 5 hours of walking east, you will be come face to face with the Lava Tower (4630m). Packed lunches are served at the Tower and hikers have the option of climbing the massive Lava Tower weather permitting. At this point of the hike, it is normal for hikers to start feeling the effects from the altitude including headaches and shortness of breath.

After lunch, you will descend from Lava Tower (4630m) to the Barranco Campsite (3950m). The 6800m descent gives hikers a huge advantage to allow their bodies to adjust to the conditions of high altitude. The descent to camp takes around 2 hours to reach. It is located in a valley below the Breach and Great Barranco Wall (“Breakfast Wall”). Drinking and washing water and dinner will be served as hikers view the sun setting.

Day 5: Barranco Camp (3950m) – Karanga Camp (3950m)

Hiking time: 4-5 hours

Distance: Approximately 5 kilometers

Habitat: Alpine desert

This is a short hiking day meant for acclimatization. After an early morning breakfast, it is now time to conquer the Great Barranco Wall! Although it may look intimating at first glance, hikers state that this Class 2 hike is usually much easier than they anticipated. At the top of the Wall, you will have a view of Heim Glacier and will be above the clouds. The trail then winds up and down in the Karanga Valley. You will spend the night at Karanga Camp (3950m) and enjoy dinner and washing at the site.

Day 6: Karanga Camp (3959m) – Barafu Hut (4600)

Hiking time: 2-3 hours

Distance: Approximately 4 kilometers

Habitat: Alpine desert

After breakfast, you will begin your ascent. The trail intersects with the Mweka Route, which is the trail used to descend on the final two days. As you continue hiking for an hour, you will reach Barafu Hut. This is the last water stop for the porters because there is no accessible water at Barafu Camp (4550m). The word “barafu” in Swahili means “ice” and this camp is located on a rocky, exposed ridge. Tents will be exposed to wind and rocks so it is important for hikers to familiarize themselves with the campsite before dark. An early dinner will be served so hikers can rest before attempting the summit the same night. Your guide will brief you in detail on how to prepare for summit night. Get to sleep by 19:00!

Day 7: Summit attempt Barafu Camp (4600m) – Uhuru Peak (5895m) – Mweka (3100m)

Hiking time: 8 hours to reach Uhuru Peak, 7-8 hours to descend to Mweka

Distance: Approximately 7 kilometers ascent and 23 kilometers descent

Habitat: Stone scree and ice-capped summit

Your guide will wake you around 23:30 for tea and biscuits. You will then begin your summit attempt. The route heads northwest and you will ascend over stone scree. During the ascent, many hikers feel that this is the most mentally and physically challenging part of the climb. In about 6 hours, you will reach Stella Point (5685m), located on the crater rim. After enjoying the magnificent sunrise, you will continue ascending for about 2 hours on a snow-covered trail to Uhuru Peak (5895m). Reaching the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro is a lifetime accomplishment! You will be able to spend a short time on the summit taking photographs and drinking tea before the descent to Barafu begins. The hike down to Barafu Camp takes about 3 hours.

At camp, you will rest and enjoy a hot lunch in the sun. After eating, you will continue descending down to Mweka Hut (3100m). The Mweka Trail will lead you through the scree and rocks to the moorland and eventually into the rain forest. Mweka Camp (3100m) is located in the upper rain forest, so fog and rain should be expected. You will have a dinner, wash, and rest soundly at camp.

Day 8: Mweka Camp (3100m) – Mweka Gate (1980m)

Hiking time: 3 hours

Distance: Approximately 15 kilometers

Habitat: Forest

Following a well-deserved breakfast, your staff will have a big celebration full of dancing and singing. It is here on the mountain that you will present your tips to the guide, assistant guides, chef(s), and porters. After celebrating, you will descend for three hours back to Mweka Gate. The National Park requires all hikers to sign their names to receive certificates of completion. Hikers who reached Stella Point (5685m) receive green certificates and hikers who reached Uhuru Peak (5895m) receive gold certificates. After receiving certificates, hikers will descend into the Mweka village for 1 hour (3 kilometers). You will be served a hot lunch then you will drive back to Arusha for long overdue showers and more celebrations at your hotel.

Day 9: Arusha to Tarangire National Park

After breakfast, your safari guide will pick you from your lodge to proceed to Tarangire National Park. With a game viewing area that is roughly ten times the size of nearby Manyara, the park is most famous for its elephant migration, birding and quiet authentic safari atmosphere in a unique surrounding of baobab trees. We will enjoy a game drive exploring the park. Lunch will be taken in a picnic site overlooking the Tarangire River. In the afternoon we proceed to Mto wa Mbu (Lake Manyara area) for dinner and overnight.

Optional activity:

Night game drive = USD 135 PER PERSON SHARING

Your drive starts around 20:00 from where you head into the thick ground-water forest of Lake Manyara. From the forest you head down towards the lake following the Simba River to the hippo pools. You will return back to the forest and finally be back at the park gate around 22:30 before you dropped back at your accommodation.

This night safari will give you an entirely different perspective of the park and wildlife.

Day 10: Lake Manyara National Park, Maasai Visit - Serengeti National Park.

Today we continue our journey west and north, to our exciting destination being a name familiar to everyone – the Great Serengeti. In the Maasai language, "serenget" means "endless plain". The park stretches for over 15,000 square kilometers. Serengeti National Park is quite simply the most magnificent wildlife sanctuary in the world— unparalleled in natural beauty and wilderness. From vast, open plains casting idyllic, golden sunsets, to steamy riverbanks and towers of granite boulders, the Serengeti throbs with life in the endless rhythms of the animals.

We head to the central park area, known as the Seronera area, one of the richest wildlife habitats in the park, featuring the Seronera River, which provides a valuable water source to this area and therefore attracts wildlife well representative of most of the Serengeti’s species. We arrive in time for lunch and enjoy an afternoon game drive exploring the wildlife of Serengeti. With its wide-open spaces, bright blue skies and creature-filled landscape, over the next two days we will discover why the fabled Serengeti typifies the dream of “Old Africa.” Large prides of lions’ laze in the long grasses; plentiful families of elephants feed on acacia bark and trumpet to each other across the plains, while giraffes, gazelles, monkeys, eland and the whole range of African wildlife present themselves in awe-inspiring numbers.

At sunset we will proceed to our tented camp in the heart of this famous Seronera Valley. Arrival for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 11: Full Day Serengeti National Park

Waking up in the Serengeti is something really special. Sights, sounds and smells of Africa are all around us, and ahead is a full day of adventure in the world’s most famous national park.

After breakfast, we will have a full day game drive in various areas of the park. The Serengeti eco-system is home to the "big five" (lion, African elephant, Cape buffalo, leopard, rhinoceros). The other main species include giraffe, antelope, Thompson’s and Grant’s gazelle, hippopotamus, crocodiles and in season the spectacular migration of the wildebeest.  Everywhere there are animals, vervet monkeys, olive baboons and a great variety of birds—with a total of 505 species being documented so far. But look closely and you will thrill to the huge jungle cats—lion, leopard and cheetah—just watching the world go by. And go by it does. Animals in the trees, on the wing, camouflaged in the bush, in rivers and in stream. The adventure of a lifetime!

 Possibility for optional activity (quoted separately): Balloon Safari over the Serengeti plains

The Balloon Safari adventure starts early morning at about 5h00 am when you depart your lodge. It is still dark and you may be fortunate to see nocturnal animals on the way to the Launching site. When you arrive, you will meet your pilot and witness your balloon being inflated and prepared for launch. After a thorough safety briefing and demonstration of boarding and landing position you board your balloon and lift off! Rising as the sun rises your balloon floats in whatever direction the winds of the day are heading over this wonderful area. Your pilot will use varying altitudes and layers of air to navigate the balloon over this amazing area spotting the wild animals and enjoying the view around. We aim to fly for about an hour, depending on conditions. After landing, you celebrate in the traditional way with a champagne toast before heading off to a special breakfast in the bush under an acacia tree.

 After Hot Air Baloon we might opt to proceed with game drive or return to our camp for relaxing until lunch time before proceeding with short evening game drive in the bush. At sunset, we return to our camp for dinner and overnight.

Day 12: Serengeti National Park – Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Waking up in the Serengeti is something really special. Sights, sounds and smells of Africa are all around us, and ahead is a full day of adventure in the world’s most famous national park.

After breakfast, we will have another game drive in various areas of the park. The Serengeti eco-system is home to the "big five" (lion, African elephant, Cape buffalo, leopard, rhinoceros). The other main species include giraffe, zebra, antelope, Thompson’s and Grant’s gazelle, hippopotamus, crocodiles and in season the spectacular migration of the wildebeest.  Everywhere there are animals, vervet monkeys, olive baboons and a great variety of birds—with a total of 505 species being documented so far. But look closely and you will thrill to the huge jungle cats—lion, leopard and cheetah—just watching the world go by. And go by it does. Animals in the trees, on the wing, camouflaged in the bush, in rivers and in stream. The adventure of a lifetime!

We will have a break for picnic lunch in the bush. After lunch we leave Serengeti to Ngorongoro Conservation Area for dinner and overnight at your accommodation.

Day 13: Ngorongoro Crater tour - Arusha

At sunrise we drive down to the crater floor for wildlife game.

With its abundant water, excellent grazing and natural protection from the densely vegetated crater walls, the crater provides shelter to over 25000 animals, including the endangered Black Rhinoceros. The crater and surrounding highlands are one of Africa's most beautiful regions, with volcanic craters forming stunning backdrops to some of the richest grazing grounds in Africa. With 600metres high walls and a rich volcanic floor covering 260km2, the crater is the world's largest inactive, intact, and unfilled volcanic caldera, a crater formed when a large volcano exploded and collapsed on itself two to three million years ago. It is estimated that the height of the original volcano ranged between 4,500 to 5,800 metres high.

Lunch will be taken in a picnic site inside the crater. In the afternoon we ascend the crater and drive back to Arusha for dinner and overnight at your Lodge. B/L.D

Day 14: Arusha – Kilimanjaro International Airport

After breakfast, we will take you back to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your connection flight to your next destination.