7 Days Umbwe Route

7 Days

Umbwe Route

Tour Overview

7 Days Umbwe Route. The steepest Kilimanjaro route with scenic view, the Umbwe route is one of the shortest routes to the Southern Glaciers and the Western Breach. It is probably the most scenic, non-technical route on Kilimanjaro. It is quite taxing, primarily due to the relatively fast ascent to higher altitude, but the rewards are plentiful. Very steep route best suited to experienced trekkers. This route is not used much. The Umbwe route is only suitable for people with mountain climbing experience. Book with us today.

Day 1: Umbwe Gate (5,905 Ft/1,800 M) To Umbwe Camp (9,190 Ft/2,800 M) 8km, 5-7 Hours

Following an early breakfast, you will have a briefing from your guide. At 9 am, our staff will take you on the hour-long drive from Moshi to the Umbwe Village where your guides and porters will prepare your equipment and supplies. Kilimanjaro Park registration will be completed here and you will also receive your lunch pack.

After registration, you will begin your ascent from the Umbwe Gate and continue on a small vehicle path until you reach the signage notifying you have reached the Umbwe Trail. You will then climb for 5-6 hours through dense rainforest. It is impossible to miss the giant fig trees and rubber trees as in some places, their roots have overtaken the path.

Although, sometimes slippery themselves, they can make for good footholds when the path becomes sloppy with mud after a rain. Umbwe Camp is inside the forest and will your first stop. When you arrive, you will find your camp and tent is already set up by the porters who ran ahead. They will bring you boiled drinking water and washing water in preparation for dinner

Day 2: Umbwe Camp (9,190 Ft/2,800 M) To Barranco Camp (12,800 Ft/3,900 M) 8km, 4-5 Hours

Rise early for coffee or tea. After breakfast, pack up for the day’s trek. Your trek will begin steeply through the disappearing rainforest glades before ascending into drier air of Giant Erica and Heathland terrain where the vegetation is sparse with small shrubs. You will continue on an exposed ridge that offers you with your first view of Uhuru Peak if the clouds have parted enough.

After lunch, you begin to enter into the semi-desert terrain when you trek through a garden of Senecio plants. These odd looking groundsels resemble something like a pre-historic cactus. Once you reach Barranco Camp, your porters will boil drinking and washing water before serving dinner.

While you wait for your dinner, you will have a chance to experience one of the most memorable sunsets you have ever seen as the sun drops through the valley. Pay attention to your body and keep your guide informed of any signs of altitude sickness.

Day 3: Barranco Camp Acclimatization

You will spend Day 3 exploring near Barranco Camp for much-needed acclimatization. Keep your camera handy to capture the scenery of the groundsel-clad campsite.

Many trekkers rank this as their favorite camp on this trail, which another reason this is perfect spot for your acclimatization day. If you are highly confident in your body’s ability to acclimatize well, you can choose the 6-Day Umbwe Itinerary.

Day 4: Barranco Camp (12,960 Ft/3,950m) To Karanga Camp (13,780 Ft/4,200m) 7 Km, 4 Hours

After sleeping below the Great Barranco Wall, you get your chance to tackle this hurdle. Don’t worry…It’s much easier than it looks. Continue up until you reach just below the Heim Glacier. Then head down through the Karanga Valley.

This is the last place for your porters to gather water. They will collect all the water for the remainder of the ascent here. You will settle in here at the Karanga Camp. After lunch, you can spend the afternoon doing light exploring or resting while taking in the views of Mawenzi’s towering spires.

Day 5: Karanga Camp (13,780 Ft/4,200m) To Barafu Camp (14,930 Ft/4,550m) 5 Km, 3-4 Hours

After breakfast, you’ll head east, crossing over multiple ridges and valleys until you join up with the Mweka Route and turn left to continue up the ridge for an hour to reach the Barafu Hut. You will arrive at camp to find your tent pitched on a rocky ridge with high winds.

Be sure to familiarize yourself with the camp before dark to be safe. Also, have your headlamp/flashlight handy if you need to leave the tent after dark. You will prepare your equipment (replace batteries for headlamp and camera) before you go to bed by 7 PM and try to catch a few hours of shuteye before your summit attempt!

Day 6: SUMMIT DAY! Barafu Camp (14,930 Ft/4,550m) To Uhuru Peak (19,340 Ft/5,895 M) To Mweka Camp (10,170 Ft/3,100 M) 7 Km Up And 22 Km Down, 8 Hours Up, 9-10 Hours Down

Wake at 11:30 PM for tea or coffee and biscuits and then depart Barafu on your bid for the peak. You will climb 6 hours through thick scree following multiple switchbacks between the Ratzel and Rebmann glaciers until you reach Stella Point (18,650 ft/5,685 m). You have just completed what most climbers consider to be the most challenging part of their trek.

Depending on your pace to this point, you may get the chance to enjoy the majestic sunrise during your short rest here. Although you will be fatigued, it is important to keep moving due to the extreme cold. At Stella Point, you have joined up with the last bit of the Marangu Route. You will hike along the rim for another 1-2 hours until you reach your ultimate goal of Uhuru Peak.

Congratulations, you are now standing on the Roof of Africa! You will have time to take pictures with the world-famous Uhuru Peak sign, but it is important to begin your descent soon in order to allow yourself enough time to rest at the Barafu Camp. After a 3-hour descent down sliding scree, you will reach Barafu to have a short rest while you collect your gear and then continue down the path back into the forest camp of Mweka.

You might experience a little rain in the afternoon, so be sure to have your rain gear in your daypack. Enjoy some dinner and some well-deserved sleep. At Mweka Camp, the office sells bottled water, soft drinks, candy bars, and beer.

Day 7: Mweka Camp (10,170 Ft/3,100 M) To Mweka Gate (6,500 Ft/1,980 M) 10 Km, 3-4 Hours

Wake up for breakfast as usual, pack, and descend through a short, scenic, 3-hour hike to Mweka Gate. Wait until you and all of your gear has reached the gate before you tip your staff. After registering at the gate, you will wait to receive your summit certificates (green for those who reached Stella Point and gold for those who reach Uhuru Peak).

From the gate, if the road is too muddy for vehicles, you will continue your hike for 1 hour to the Mweka Village, 3km away. There you will enjoy a hot lunch before being driven back in Moshi town where you can have your first hot shower in days!

Day 1 Arusha – Tarangire National Park

In the morning you will be welcomed by your guide and after an approximately 2-hour drive, you will reach Tarangire National Park. As you enter the park, your guide will open the roof for a better viewing experience.

Tarangire is home to the largest elephant herds in the north of Tanzania. Giraffes, buffaloes, lions, zebras, wildebeests as well as various antelopes and gazelles can also be spotted here. The landscape is made up of seasonal marshes and a seemingly endless tree savannah with its mighty baobab trees. After extensive game drives in the park, you will reach the Nimali Tarangire Camp in the afternoon. Enjoy a beautiful sunset and relax in the cozy lounge area or mingle around the crackling campfire.

Lunch; Dinner

Day 2 Tarangire National Park – Karatu

After a hearty breakfast, you will head out on another game drive in the Tarangire National Park. During the dry season between June and October, the Tarangire River is the only permanent source of water and the wildlife tends to concentrate in its vicinity.

You will stop at one of the picnic spots for lunch. In the afternoon, you leave this beautiful park behind. Passing through the multi-cultural town of Mto wa Mbu, the higher lands are soon reached and wonderful views of the Masai Plains and Lake Manyara open up before you. After the obligatory photo stop, you will make your way to the vegetation-rich crater highlands. Today’s destination is Kitela Lodge which lies in the middle of a coffee plantation and is surrounded by beautiful gardens.

Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner

Day 3 Karatu – Ngorongoro Crater – Serengeti National Park

Today you will drive into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and down into the Ngorongoro Crater. Grass steppes and acacia forests are home to almost all the species of animals found in the East African savannah. In only a few hours, you have the chance of spotting the “Big Five” (lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino and leopard).

, After extensive game viewing and a picnic in the crater, you will leave the highlands of Ngorongoro in the afternoon and continue to the Serengeti. You will soon see the seemingly endless plains of the southern Serengeti and finally reach the Seronera Valley in central Serengeti. The stunning Kubu Kubu Tented Lodge will be your home for the next three nights.

Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner

Day 4-5 Serengeti National Park

These two days are dedicated to game viewing in the Serengeti National Park. Your guide will take you to the best spots to observe the wildlife. Elephants, buffaloes, lions, cheetahs, hyenas, giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, topi, Grant’s and Thomson’s gazelles and many more can be seen in this large national park.

Especially in the Seronera Valley, you will be able to experience fantastic game viewing all year round. The Serengeti, together with the Masai Mara in Kenya, is also home to the largest animal migration on the planet. You will stay at the Kubu Kubu Tented Lodge.

Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner

Day 6

If time allows, you will head out on a last-game drive in the early morning. After a hearty breakfast at the lodge, your guide will take you to the airstrip. Here you will say goodbye and board a small aircraft which will take you back to Arusha. Connecting flights to Tanzania’s coast or islands can be arranged by us at a surcharge.

Breakfast; Lunch

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What’s included:

Delicious meals a day, boiled and filtered drinking water while on the mountain.
All park entrance, camping, and rescue fees
Warm water for washing to be provided every morning and evening.
Oxygen Cylinder – only for emergency
English Speaking Guides (Wilderness First Responder certified), cook and porters
Staff salaries and fees.
Transport to/from national park gates.
First aid kit and pulse oximeter.
Emergency telephone between the guides and our office in Moshi town.
3 liters of bottled drinking water to be provided on the first day of your hike, on the mountain porters will fetch water from the streams to be boiled and filtered for you.

What’s Not included:

Prices Do Not Include Sleeping Bags
Gratuities
Soda/Alcohol Unless Otherwise Noted
Health Insurance

Visa Fees
International Airfare
Laundry
All Meals And Drinks In Moshi Town

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