Kilimanjaro 7 Days Umbwe Route

The Umbwe Route is steeper and shorter than the Machame Route. Once at the Barranco Hut you continue on with the other Machame hikers. The descent is down the Mweka trail.

Since it is a very short and direct route, it is not recommended for people with little altitude experience.

Day 1: Arusha- to Umbwe Gate to Umbwe Camp

Your day starts early Kilimanjaro trekking with a briefing, followed by breakfast and an hour drive from Moshi to Umbwe Village (1,490 m/4,890 ft) where your guides and porters pack your equipment and supplies and give you a lunch pack.

You start your ascent at the small Umbwe Gate just above the village and follow a gentle winding vehicle track for an hour to a signboard that announces the small steep Umbwe trail. The introduction is over, and you now climb up for several hours through a dense forest of rubber trees and giant fig trees.

In places, you must scamper up steep sections of roots and rock. The Umbwe Camp is in the forest, and there are some caves nearby.  Dinner and overnight at camp.

Day 2: Umbwe Camp to Barranco Camp

Your day starts early Kilimanjaro trekking with a steaming cup of tea or coffee. After breakfast, you will climb steeply through thinning forest glades to Giant Erica, Heather, and drier air. You continue up a ridge that drops steeply on both sides, and hopefully, the clouds will part to reward you with a view of Uhuru Peak looming overhead. After lunch, you enter a zone of giant groundsels (Scenario Kilimanjaro) that seem to guard the heights, and this garden is one of Kilimanjaro’s special treasures.

Day 3: Barranco Camp (3,900 m/12,800 ft)

Extra Day for Acclimatization. Adding this day will ease your effort, and amplify your acclimatization.

Day 4: Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp

After breakfast, we continue up a steep ridge to the great Barranco Wall, and then you climb this imposing obstacle, which turns out to be easier than it looks. Topping out just below the Heim Glacier, you can now appreciate just how beautiful Kilimanjaro really is. With Kibo’s glaciers soaring overhead, you descend into the lush Karanga Valley to the Karanga Valley campsite. From the camp, you can look east and see the jagged peaks of Mawenzi jutting into the African sky. After a hot lunch in camp, your afternoon is at leisure for resting or exploring. This short day is very important for your acclimatization since your summit push is about to start. Scramble easily to the top of the Great Barranco and then a traverse over screes and ridges to the Karanga Valley campsite (3h, 4000m.), beneath the icefalls of the Southern Glaciers.

Day 5: Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp

In the morning, you hike east over intervening ridges and valleys to join the Mweka Route, which will be your descent route. Turn left toward the mountain and hike up the ridge through a sparse landscape for another hour to the Barafu Hut where you will receive a hot lunch. The last water on the route is in the Karanga Valley; there is no water at Barafu Camp, even though Barafu is the Swahili word for ice. The famous snows of Kilimanjaro are far above Barafu Camp near the summit of the mountain. Your tent will be pitched on a narrow, stony, wind-swept ridge, so make sure that you familiarize yourself with the terrain before dark to avoid any accidents. Prepare your equipment and warm clothing for your summit climb, and drink a lot of fluids. After an early dinner, go to bed for a few hours of precious sleep

Day 6: Summit Day! Barafu Camp to Uhuru Peak to Mweka Camp

You will rise around 11:30 PM, and after some steaming tea and biscuits, you shuffle off into the night. Your 6-hour climb northwest up through heavy scree between the Rebmann and Ratzel glaciers to Stella Point on the crater rim is the most challenging part of the route for most climbers.  After your 3-hour descent from the summit back to Barafu Camp, you will have a well-earned but short rest, collect your gear, and hike down a rock and scree path into the moorland and eventually into the forest to Mweka Camp (3,100 m/10,170 ft). This camp is in the upper forest, so you can expect mist or rain in the late afternoon. Dinner and washing water will be prepared, and the camp office sells drinking water, soft drinks, chocolates, and beer!

Day 7: Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate to Moshi

After a well-deserved breakfast, it is a short, scenic, 3-hour Kilimanjaro Trekking back to the park gate. Don’t give your porters any tips until you and all your gear have reached the gate safely, but do remember to tip your staff at the gate. At Mweka Gate, you can sign your name and add details in a register. This is also where successful climbers receive their summit certificates. Climbers who reached Stella Point are issued green certificates and those who reached Uhuru Peak receive gold certificates. From the Mweka Gate, you will continue down to the Mweka Village, possibly a muddy, 3 km, 1-hour hike if the road is too muddy for vehicles. In the Mweka Village, you will be served a delicious hot lunch after which you are driven back to Arusha for an overdue hot shower and a comfortable night at your hotel in Arusha reviews.