Mount Kilimanjaro 5895M, Wildlife Safari and ...

Day One: Machame Gate (1,800m/5,905ft) to Machame Camp (3,000m/9,840ft) Elevation Gain: 1,200 meters, 3,935 feet Distance: 11 kilometers At 9am, leave Arusha for Machame Gate, where you will meet the porters, guides, and cooks that will spend the next seven days trekking with you to Uhuru Peak, the roof of Africa. The drive through coffee farms and villages to Machame Gate takes about 1.5 hours. Once you arrive, wait at the gate while guide registers your climb and the porters and guides make final preparations. Your first day's destination is Machame Camp. Each day, porters and cooks will walk ahead to set up the camp in time for your arrival. On the first day, hike through the moss-covered trees of Kilimanjaro's cloud forest. The forest will thin at the end of the hike and vegetation will change to include heathers, tall grasses and wildflowers. If the weather is clear, view the surrounding area and your ultimate destination, Kibo Peak.

Start up around 08:00am, Carry plenty of drinking water, as the exposed hike can be hot on a clear day. There are several viewpoints from which you can see the plains and forests below and Kibo peak above. As you gain altitude, notice the change in vegetation. The trees diminish in size, giving way to Kilimanjaro's famous high altitude plants, Scenecio kilimanjari and Lobelia deckenii. After eating lunch, climb the Shira Plateau, created when Kibo's lava flows filled the Shira crater. Continue to Shira Camp, where you will relax for the rest of the day. Kibo lies to the west and Mount Meru to the east.