All trekkers need to organise their own flights to Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO). From JRO we will arrange a private transfer to your hotel. That night or early the next morning you will meet your local Kandoo representative and have a full pre-climb briefing.

• Transport: Private transfer (0.8 hour, 40 km)
• Accomodation: Hotel

4WD transfer to Lemosho Park Gate for registration. Our porters prepare and pack our supplies and luggage before we start our ascent along the forest trail to Mti Mkubwa (Big Tree) campsite at 2895m. We will stay here overnight.

• Transport: 1.7 hours, 80 km
• Hiking time: 3 - 4 hours
• Ascent: 535 m
• Max. altitude: 2895 m
• Accomodation: Camping
• Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Our journey continues eastwards across the Shira Plateau with spectacular views of Shira Cathedral. We cross moorland meadow to reach Shira 1 Camp for dinner and overnight camping at 3500m. By now we will be able to see the stunning glaciers of the Western Breach. It will be colder tonight than the previous night with temperatures possibly falling below freezing.

• Hiking time: 5 - 6 hours
• Ascent: 605 m
• Max. altitude: 3500 m
• Accomodation: Camping
• Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

We leave the forest behind now and the trail gets steeper as it enters the moorland zone. A gentle grade walk takes you across the high altitude Shira Caldera to Moir Hut with fabulous views of Arrow glacier. We will camp here for the night at 4200m.

• Hiking time: 6 - 7 hours
• Ascent: 700 m
• Max. altitude: 4200 m
• Accomodation: Camping
• Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Today we will climb up to 4600m to the base of Lava Tower for lunch and acclimatization. This will be our toughest day so far and you may, for the first time, feel the altitude. After lunch we will descend again by almost 650m to Barranco Camp, following the “walk high, sleep low” golden rule of acclimatisation. Our 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 - 7 hours
• Ascent: 400 m
• Descent: 650 m
• Max. altitude: 4600 m
• Accomodation: Camping
• Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

A short but fun day, starting with a scramble to the top of the Great Barranco Wall. We then traverse over scree to the Karanga Valley (3930m) beneath the icefalls of the Heim, Kersten and Decken Glaciers. We will stay overnight at Karanga campsite.

• Hiking time: 4 hours
• Ascent: 260 m
• Descent: 280 m
• Max. altitude: 4210 m
• Accomodation: Camping
• Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

We leave Karanga campsite behind to meet the junction connecting with the Mweka descent trail. From here we continue up to Barafu Camp. You have now completed the Southern Circuit, which offers views of the summit from many different angles. At camp, we can rest, enjoy dinner, and prepare for the summit day. The two peaks of Mawenzi and Kibo are to be clearly seen from this position.

• Hiking time: 3 - 4 hours
• Ascent: 670 m
• Max. altitude: 4600 m
• Accomodation: Camping
• Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

You will be woken around 23:30 with tea and biscuits. We start our trek to the summit between the Rebman and Ratzel glaciers through heavy scree up to Stella Point on the crater rim. This is the most mentally and physically challenging part of the trek. At Stella Point (5732m), we will stop for a short rest and hopefully be in time to witness the magnificent sunrise (weather permitting). We are now only an hour away from the summit, Uhuru Peak (5895m), the highest point on Mount Kilimanjaro and the continent of Africa. From the summit, we descend down to Mweka camp site, via Barafu for lunch. Trekking poles will be needed for the loose scree going down to Mweka Camp (3100m). Later in the evening, we will enjoy our last dinner on the mountain and a well-earned sleep.

• Hiking time: 13 - 16 hours
• Ascent: 1295 m
• Descent: 2795 m
• Max. altitude: 5895 m
• Accomodation: Camping
• Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Your final day on the trek, departing after breakfast we descend a further 1300m to the Mweka Park Gate to pick up your summit certificates from the Park Headquarters. Transfer to your hotel.

• Transport: 0.6 hour, 17 km
• Hiking time: 3 - 4 hours
• Descent: 1300 m
• Max. altitude: 3100 m
• Accomodation: Hotel
• Meals included: Breakfast

Our safari driver and vehicle will collect you from your hotel and we will drive to Tarangire National Park, arriving with plenty of time for an afternoon game-drive. The Tarangire River runs through the park attracting a huge number of elephants, buffalo, giraffe and antelope, particularly in the dry season between June and October. It is not uncommon to see large herds of elephants roaming through Tarangire's savannah grasses or taking shade under the odd looking "upside down trees" (baobab) that are dotted around the park. The park also boasts over 550 different bird species, the most diverse in Africa, including the Kori Bustard, the heaviest flying bird in the World! We will spend the night at a safari lodge in Karatu.

• Accomodation: Safari Lodge
• Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

After breakfast, we will take a picnic lunch with us as we continue to the Serengeti, a drive of around 4 ½ hours through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Even when the migration is quiet, the Serengeti offers some of the most exciting game viewing – great herds of buffalo, smaller groups of elephant and giraffe, as well as thousands of eland, topi, hartebeest, impala and Grant’s gazelle. Tonight we will stay in a tented camp in the heart of the Serengeti

• Accomodation: Safari Style Tents
• Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

This morning we will set out with a picnic lunch for further game viewing in the Serengeti. The Serengeti National Park is one of world’s greatest game parks. Meaning “endless plains” in the Maasai language, it is Tanzania’s oldest game reserve and is world-famous for the role it plays in the annual Great Migration, when an estimated two million herbivores - mostly wildebeest and zebra - migrate from the Serengeti to Kenya’s Maasai Mara Game Reserve. In the afternoon we will leave the Serengeti to return to Karatu.

• Accomodation: Safari Lodge
• Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

After an early breakfast, we will drive to the fascinating wildlife arena of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The crater is over 260km² (100 miles²) and was formed when a massive volcano exploded and collapsed on itself 2-3 million years ago. It is now the largest intact volcanic caldera in the world. Home to more than 25,000 large mammals, it is not unusual to see all of the ‘Big Five’ (buffalo, elephant, rhino, lion and leopard) in a single day. Driving through the Ngorongoro Highlands, you will arrive at the crater rim and then descend down 610m (2000ft) onto its floor to start your safari extravaganza.

Late afternoon we will start our journey back to Arusha for onward transfer to Kilimanjaro airport. We expect to be back in Arusha by 5pm, so you will need to book a flight that departs after 9pm. Otherwise, we can arrange an additional night at a hotel in Arusha for you.

• Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch