CLIMB MOUNT KILIMANJARO - TANZANIA
KILIMANJARO ROUTE PLANNER AND TREKKING GUIDE
What is Kilimanjaro
What does Kilimanjaro Mean
Kilimanjaro Trekking
Routes
Best
Weather to Climb Kilimanjaro
Temperatures and
Distances
Duration of
Kilimanjaro Trek
Kilimanjaro Full Moon Trek
Tipping
What is Kilimanjaro Mt Kilimanjaro is a triple
volcano with the youngest
and central peak of Kibo being about 14km long. Mt
Kilimanjaro volcano is deemed to be a dormant volcano, created during the formation of
the Great Rift Valley. It is
situated within Kilimanjaro
National Park, which comprises all of the mountain mass of Kilimanjaro, above the tree line.
What does Kilimanjaro Mean
The
name 'Kilimanjaro' has varying interpretations, from
"Mountain of Greatness", Mountain of Whiteness",
"Mountain of Caravans", and "Small Mountain of
Caravans" which are all names derived from the Swahili, or
Chagga dialects. In addition, there is a word in Swahili, “kilima”
which means top of the hill.
Kilimanjaro Trekking Routes
Kilimanjaro
is one of the easier mountains to climb as its summit can be reached
without the use of ropes and climbing equipment. It takes on average, 6
days to climb Kilimanjaro and return to the base, but extra days can be
added to take in other sights, or for acclimatisation to the altitude.
Kilimanjaro can be ascended via 6 different
routes;
Machame,
Marangu,
Lemosho,
Umbwe,
Shira or
Rongai, each one
offering their own unique scenery and sights en-route, and each varying in
difficulty. The easiest and fastest ascent is via
Marangu followed by
Rongai, but the most
scenic, is Machame. To further aid with acclimatisation, many people do a
pre-climb of Mt Meru, Kilimanjaro's sister
volcano. Mt Meru can be completed in 3 or 4
days.
Best
Weather to Climb Kilimanjaro
The warmest months with the clearest trekking days for
Kilimanjaro and Mt Meru, are from mid to late December, January, February, September and October. The rains often come in
April and the start of May with the possibility of some snow.
June through to August are superb trekking months, though evening temperatures tend to be colder. The wettest months, are November and early December,
where snow falls are likely. Note however, this is a mountain so its not impossible to get sporadic snow or rainfall throughout the year.
Temperatures and
Distances
The daytime temperatures tend to range
around 32 to 38 degrees C in the forest, to anything from -2 to
6 degrees at the summit. Nights tend to range from 10 degrees
down to well below freezing. Summit temperatures can drop below –20C. A
general rule of thumb is that with every 200 metres in altitude
climbed; the temperatures drop by a degree. Distances trekked
per day will vary, between 6km's on day two, to close on 30km's
on the day of your summit, dependant on which route you take.
Duration of
Kilimanjaro Trek
Kilimanjaro
can be climbed anywhere between 5 and 9 days or longer. However,
for those that do not want to climb to summit there is also the
option of 1 - 4 days
shorter Kilimanjaro treks
Kilimanjaro
Full Moon Trek
Some people like to arrange their Kilimanjaro summit around a
full moon and Christmas and New Year are very popular.
On a full moon you can have up to 3000 people on the mountain which
makes summit night quite busy. So, if you want to avoid the crowds and still
benefit from the moon, then aim to summit about two days before or two days
after the full moon.
Tipping
Recommended
tips for guides and support staff are about USD$200-$220 per
climber for a standard 6 day route and should be given to the
guide at the end of the trip. He will then distribute the tip
amongst the team. For longer treks, add about $35 per day
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