Day 1
The climb begins from the attractive wooden village of Nale Moru (1,950 m.) and the track starts to climb consistently, but gently through attractive forest that shelters a variety of wildlife. The forest begins to thin out anacd the first camp is at the edge of the moorland zone (2,600 m.) with extensive views over the Kenyan plains. [3-4 hours walking]
Day 2
This is only a morning walk up to the Second Cave (3,450 m.). The walk is steady uphill with superb views of Kibo and the Eastern icefields on the crater rim. The afternoon can be spend enjoying the view over the Kenyan plains or doing a short acclimatisation walk up towards Third Cave. [3-4 hours walking]
Day 3
The morning walk is a steady ascent but short to the Third Cave (3,900 m.) with superb views of Kibo and the eastern icefields on the crater rim. The weather and the scenery see the vegetation thinning, and the huge bulk of Kibo suddenly seems to be very close, especially from our camp at Third Cave (3,900 m.) [2 -3 hours walking]
Day 4
We cross the lunar desert of the Saddle between Mawenzi and Kibo to reach Kibo campsite (4,700 m.) at the bottom of the Kibo crater wall. The remainder of the day is spent resting in preparation for the final ascent before a very early night! [5-6 hours walking]
Day 5
We will start the final, and by far the steepest and most demanding, part of the climb by torchlight around 1 a.m. We plod very slowly in the darkness on a switchback trail through loose volcanic scree to reach the crater rim at Gillmans Point (5,685 m.)
We will rest there for a short time to enjoy the spectacular sunrise over Mawenzi. Those who are still feeling strong can make the three hour round trip to Uhuru Peak (5,896 m.). The descent to Kibo (4,700 m.) is surprisingly fast and, after some refreshment, we continue the descent to reach our final campsite at Horombo (3,720 m.). [11-15 hours walking]
Day 6
A steady descent takes us down to Mandara Hut (2,700m.). We then continue descending through lovely lush forest on a good path to the National Park gate at Marangu (1,830 m.). [5-6 hours walking]
