8-Day Kilimanjaro “Whiskey Route” Machame Route

After an early breakfast at your hotel, you will be picked up from Arusha and driven to Machame Village. In the village, you can buy mineral water and will receive a packed lunch. From the village, depending on the road conditions, you will either continue to drive from the village to the Machame gate, but if not, the muddy 3 km walk will take about 1 hour to complete. After registering at the gate office, you immediately start your ascent and enter the rain forest. There is a strong possibility of rain in the forest, which will transform the trail into a very soggy, muddy, and slippery experience. You will have a welcome lunch stop about halfway and will reach the Machame camping area in the late afternoon.

Hiking time: 5-7 hours
Distance: Approximately 11 kilometers
Habitat: Afro Montane forest

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.

Hiking time: 6h
Distance: Approximately 5 km
Habitat: Afromontane forest/Heath

The route now turns east into a semi-desert and rocky landscape surrounding Lava Tower, Lunch is served in a designated area before ascending the rocky scree path to Lava Tower. This is 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 descend again by almost 680m to the Barranco camping area and after reaching the 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.

Hiking time: 6-8h
Distance: Approximately 10km
Habitat: Alpine-desert

After spending a night at the Great Barranco Wall (a very imposing sight at first), you make your way up this awesome-looking obstacle, which in the end normally turns out easier than you anticipated. Topping out just below the Heim Glacier, you now appreciate just how beautiful Kilimanjaro is. The route then heads down through the Karanga Valley over intervening ridges and valleys and then joins up with the Mweka route.

The last water stop on the route is the Karanga Valley, as there is no water at Barafu camp "ice camp" and it is a bleak and inhospitable camping area to spend the night. Exposed to the ever-present gales the tents are pitched on a narrow, stony, and dangerous ridge.

Hiking time: 4-5h
Distance: Approximately 5kms
Habitat: Alpine desert

After spending a night at the Great Barranco Wall (a very imposing sight at first), you make your way up this awesome-looking obstacle, which in the end normally turns out easier than you anticipated. Topping out just below the Heim Glacier, you now appreciate just how beautiful Kilimanjaro is. The route then heads down through the Karanga Valley over intervening ridges and valleys and then joins up with the Mweka route. This is the preferred route down from the summit.
The last water stop on the route is the Karanga Valley, as there is no water at Barafu camp "ice camp" and it is a bleak and inhospitable camping area to spend the night. Exposed to the ever-present gales the tents are pitched on a narrow, stony, and dangerous ridge. The summit is now a further 1345m up and you will make the final ascent the same night.

Hiking time: 7-8 hours ascent / 4-6 hours descent
Distance: Approximately 18 km
Habitat: Arctic

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.

Hiking time: 3-4h
Distance: Approximately 10 km
Habitat: Forest