Kilimanjaro Machame Climb & Safari

Days 1-2: Depart from your homeport and travel to Arusha, Tanzania

Air Travel: All itineraries include travel days. Plan to fly to Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) in Arusha, Tanzania on the pre-scheduled arrival and departure dates and times, unless you are planning additional travel within Africa. Mountain Madness representatives will then transfer you directly to your hotel or Private Camp. KLM/Northwest departs daily to Kilimanjaro International Airport via Amsterdam and the United States. Alternatively, travel to Nairobi, Kenya where you can either transfer by shuttle bus to Arusha or you can fly from Nairobi to Arusha on Precision Air or other carriers. We work with three different travel agents that can assist you with this.

Day 2: Private Camp, Arusha National Park

Elevation: 6,500 feet / 1981 meters

Mountain Madness service begins in the evening with airport pick-up. Mountain Madness Land Cruisers transport you from Kilimanjaro International Airport to a Private Tented Camp nestled in beautiful Arusha National Park. This region is incredibly scenic with views of Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru dominating a panorama of grasslands and high tropical landscapes. You will enjoy an evening of relaxation while you begin your journey to the top of Africa.

Day 3: Private Camp, Arusha National Park

Elevation: 6,500 feet / 1981 meters

Today is spent relaxing and recovering from your travels. You will have an opportunity to familiarize yourself with the guides and fellow members of your group. Today your guide will have a trip briefing and review your equipment. There may be time for a walk or game drive, which will be taken out into the grasslands for views of African game and Mount Kilimanjaro, as giraffe, buffalo and antelope are usually seen in the area.

Day 4: Machame Camp

Elevation: 9,000 feet / 2743 meters

Drive from the private camp to the Machame Park Gate, we begin our climb by hiking about 7 hours through the Montane Forest to camp on the forest edge.

Day 5: Above East Shira Plateau

Elevation: 11,800 feet / 3597 meters

Another five hours of hiking takes us above the old Shira Hut to our camp in Kilimanjaro's Upper Heath Zone.

Day 6: Lava Tower

Elevation: 14,300 feet / 4359 meters

Today we will hike approximately 4 hours to camp just under Lava Tower, a 300 foot high volcanic lava plug that juts out of the side of the mountain. This will be our first introduction to the alpine zone, with the only plant life being the hardiest of grasses and lichens. We will have a spectacular view of our final ascent route up the Western Breach.

Day 7: Arrow Glacier

Elevation: 16,000 feet / 4877 meters

With the Western Breach ascent route in full view we will spend 2 hours climbing to the base of the route where we will camp near Arrow Glacier. An afternoon hike further up the route before relaxing in camp will help our acclimatization and improve our performance the following day.

Day 8: Arrow Glacier to Summit, Descent to Mweka Camp

Elevation: 10,500 feet / 3200 meters; Hiking time 9-12 hours

Leaving at midnight we will wind our way up the Western Breach non-technical climbing route, about six hours to the crater rim. Moving around the massive Furtwrangler Glacier as the skies lighten we will see the shape of Mt. Meru to the west. Having crossed the crater plateau we begin the final 800 ft climb to the summit (19,340 feet/5894 meters) hopefully arriving shortly after dawn. Having enjoyed the view we begin the long descent to Barafu Hut and down to Mweka Camp for the night.

Day 9: Arusha: Continue on with Serengeti Walking Safari

It takes about 3 to 3 1/2 hours to make the 4,500 foot descent to the gate and pick-up. Here we will have our lunch and say goodbye to our mountain staff. We will return to Kia lodge for a shower, dinner and then will transfer to the airport for flights home.

Day 10: Serengeti Safari Extension/Serengeti Private Camp

On our way to the Serengeti, we will visit Olduvai Gorge located between Ngorongoro and Serengeti. This is the site of the famous archaeological dig, where doctors Mary and Louis Leakey discovered East Africa’s earliest known humanoid remains in 1959. Apart from the Selous Wildlife Reserve, the Serengeti National Park is the largest protected area in Tanzania and it's largest National Park. It offers a diversity of scenery - plains, rivers, lakes, hills and rock outcrops, each with their own appeal and range of wildlife. We will explore the park according to the group’s interests and then spend the night in our Serengeti Private Camp.

Day 11: Serengeti Private Camp

Today is spent relaxing and recovering from your Kilimanjaro climb. Our options allow flexibility to go where we feel the game is most concentrated. As we journey out in search of the wildlife, we can visit the many rock outcrops, where it is possible to view predators that climb up the low angle rock to scan the endless plains.

Day 12: Wilderness Walking Camp

Driving north from our Serengeti camp through the Seronera River Valley, the countryside is gently rolling and quite heavily wooded with acacia trees, broken occasionally by grassy plains. As we move further north we will see granite “kopjes” (out crops) emerging from the trees in the distance. We leave the main road for a barely discernable track to our first camp. Camp is set in a huge area of beautiful kopjes surrounded by shady groves of acacia trees.   We will find camp set up and ready to move into, tea and snacks will be ready for some quick energy before heading out on our first walking. Your guide is a very experienced bush walker and will show you what you need to know to fully enjoy this unique wilderness walking experience.  Because walking has never been allowed in the Serengeti National Park many of the places we hike have not been visited by man for more than half a century. Each walk is truly exploring a new area for the secret spots that the animals use.  We will find a good spot for sundowners, then back to camp for dinner and overnight.

Day 13: Wilderness Walking Camp

Today’s walking will not be far from the Orangi River – this is a seasonal river but has a few spots that have pools for much of the year, in other spots the elephants dig in the sand for trapped water – the location of these ‘sweet spots’ is handed down from generation to generation. We will start our walk early while it is cooler and try and catch the tail end of the night’s action. There is no set trail for us to follow, we will find animal tracks and look for game patterns in an attempt to see as much as possible, we will move slowly, pausing often to look at some thing or to take in our surroundings and feel the wind. As the sun climbs higher we will find a cool and shady spot to rest and have our bush lunch.  Much of the wildlife will be doing the same and we will relax on a vantage point during the heat of the day.  Our route for the day will take us along an arc of rock kopjes that skirt the Orangi River. Once we leave camp in the morning the camp crew will break camp, move it ahead of us and pitch it in a new beautiful location ready for us when we arrive.

Day 14: Wilderness Walking Camp

Another early start before the day gets too hot – we will continue to follow the arc of kopjes and acacia trees, skirting the occasional glades before finding a good spot to descend towards the Nyabogati River. There is much thicker bush and bigger trees along the river and we will move carefully through these to find a rest spot for lunch. After lunch we continue to follow the kopje studded line of the river to our new camp location.

Day 15: Mobile Luxury Camp

Our final morning of walking will lead us upstream following the river towards some more kopjes on the higher ground. In places we will walk on the dry sandy riverbed or scramble over rocky sections and at other times we will swing away form the river valley to the edges of the plains. Before the sun climbs to high in the sky we will meet with our cook for a fabulous “bush lunch”.  This will be the end of our “walking” experience as the vehicles to take us out of the walking area will meet us at lunch. From here we will drive to the mobile luxury camp for your last night.

Day 16: Drive to Arusha

Today you will drive back to Arusha for your night flight out.

Day 17: Arrive Home