Kilimanjaro (Africa)
Kilimanjaro (Africa)
Date: August 16- 23, 2023
Days: 7
Age: 21
Elevation: 5895m
Location: Eastern Rift Mountains, Tanzania, Africa
Route: Lemosho Route
Summit: 1/7
Day 1:
Me in the hostel packing
The view from the hostel
I arrived in Moshi and began to prepare my gear for my first high altitude trek!
Day 2:
Trekking up to Mkubwa
Arriving to the first camp
I met the rest of the group members and we drove up to the Lemosho Gate, where the Lemosho trailhead was located. We trekked for approximately 4 hours and covered 550m of elevation gain to Mti Mkubwa Camp. Sleeping at 2650m.
Day 3:
Shira Camp I
Shira Camp II in the evening
We left Mti Mkubwa Camp around 9am and began trekking for another 8.5 hours, aiming for Shira II Camp. We took a quick break at Shira Camp I at the 4 hour mark and continued on our way to Shira II. We arrived around 5pm. Sleeping at 3850m.
Day 4:
Lava tower Camp
The trek
Baranco Camp
This was an acclimatisation day. We left early from Shira Camp II and trekked for 6 hours, arriving at Lava Tower Camp at 4600m for a long lunch break, gaining 750m of elevation. We then trekked on for another 2 hours until we got to Baranco Camp where we spent the night. Sleeping at 3900m.
Day 5:
The trek to Karanga
View from the tent
We trekked another 4 hours to Karanga Camp. We pushed hard this day since there was essentially no elevation gain, to maximise rest time at Karanga. We reviewed the summit push plans for the next day. Sleeping at 3995m.
Day 6:
Karanga Camp
View on the trek
Barafu Camp
We trekked 4 hours to get from Karanga to Barafu Camp, the highest camp we would sleep at before the summit push tonight. We arrived around noon and spent the rest of the day fueling and in active rest. Sleeping at 4673m.
Night 6/ Day 7:
100m below Stella Point
Stella Point
The Summit
Summit push day. We began our summit push at 12am. Unfortunately, two members of the group had to turn around due to altitude sickness, causing a slight delay for the summit. We watched the sunrise just before Stella Point at 6:25am. We reached Stella Point at 5756m at 7:03pm and Uhuru Peak, the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro at 7:53am. We were back at Barafu Camp around noon. We rested for a few hours and packed our gear and descended down to High Camp. Sleeping at 3950m.
Day 8:
Leaving the mountain
We descended and departed from the mountain back to the city of Arusha.