Climbing Kilimanjaro: The Complete Route Guide

At 5,895 metres, Kilimanjaro is the highest free-standing mountain on Earth, and one of the few places in Africa where you can summit without technical climbing. Its snow-covered peak above the savanna is the continent's ultimate symbol — and the summit day is a test of pacing more than gears.

The two most popular routes are Machame ('whiskey') and Lemosho, both approaching via the western and southern slopes with 'climb high, sleep low' profiling. Longer routes — six to eight days — dramatically improve summit odds by giving altitude more time. Pole-pole (slowly, slowly) is not a slogan; it is the actual method, and it works.

The final push from Barafu or Kibo base starts around midnight, ascending 1,200m through the dark to Stella Point and then the rim walk to Uhuru Peak. Headlamps stitch the night trail; dawn breaks into a view over the crater and the plains a vertical 5 kilometres below. Descending straight back down to the forested base is the standard — and wise — plan.

The mountain is physically big but organisationally precise: park fees, licensed guide-to-client ratios, porters' welfare standards and a summit-day oxygen regime all factor into a serious operator's quote. Our seven-day climb pairs the mountain with the beaches and spice of Zanzibar, letting the safari year end with recovery.

Travellers who climb the Simien first reach Kilimanjaro with real mountain legs already in their boots — and village trails exchanged for a continent's highest summit. The two mountains combine into one of the grandest trekking double-bills in Africa, which our regional planning team is glad to assemble.