Our Itinerary

Maps are from (www.encountertanzania.com)

The organization of this trip was Ajay's baby. He put a lot of effort into researching and planning. Maybe he'll give his two cents if he gets a chance. Based on his work, our itinerary:

January 30th, 2006. Arrive JRO airport in the evening. Meet Zara Tours and
transfer to the Springlands hotel near Moshi for B&B accommodation.
January 31st. Spare day. Overnight Springlands hotel.

February 1st (leg 1). KILMANJARO, MACHAME ROUTE (a more detailed description of this hike can be found here). After breakfast drive to Machame village (1800m). Walk to Machame hut (3000m), a 1200m gain in elevation. 6 hours walking for 10km distance. This is a walk through the cloud forest.

February 2nd (leg 2). To Shira hut (3800m, 5 hours). 800m elevation gain. Only 7km total distance but steep. The summit comes into view during this leg as you climb above the forest. Two distinctive flora of the mountain first make their appearance: the squat, dry looking Senencia tree with a leafy crown on top, and the cabbage like, phallic Lobelias.

February 3rd (leg 3). To Barranco hut (3940m, 4 hours). Despite a 10km hike, up to a peak altitude of 4500m, only 150m gain in TOTAL elevation. Lava Towers appears during the second part of this hike, as you decend to Barranco hut.

February 4th (leg 4). To the Karanga Valley (4000m, 3 hours). Glaciers come into view. Landscape is barren. Leg 4 and 5 can sometimes be combined, but doing them on separate days allows an extra day of acclimitazation. Last chance to fill up on water.

February 5th (leg 5). Climb out of the Karanga valley to Barafu hut (4600m, 3 hours). Barafu means "ice" in Swahili, and the camp is probably called this due to its proximity to the Rebmann glacier.

February 6th (leg 6). Very early start for the summit (5892m; a 1300m gain in elevation). 6+ hours on switchbacks of loose scree to obtain the rim (Stella's point). However, it's an extra hour to Uhuruv Peak. Descend to Barafu hut for a rest and lunch (this is a hour and a half hike from Stella's point), then walk to camp at Mweka hut (3100m, and additionanl 2.5 hours hike).

February 7th (leg 7). Final descent to Mweka Park gate (1500m) and transfer to Springlands for B&B

February 8th. 8 am. Meet Roy's Safari in Moshi and drive to Office in Arusha. Afternoon Tour of Crater, followed by dinner and overnight in Ngorogoro Sopa Lodge

February 9th. Morning tour of the Ngorongoro Crater. Game drive en route to Serengeti National Park in the afternoon. Overnight in Serena Serengeti Lodge.

February 10th. Full day of game viewing in Serengeti National Park. Overnight in Serena Serengeti Lodge.

February 11th. Game viewing en route to Seronera airstrip for 1045am flight to JRO airport. Leave Tanzania in evening.

February 12th. Arrive back at the U.S.