This route approaches Mount Kilimanjaro from the west. It offers a chance to visit Shira Plateau (Cathedral peak) and Shira Caldera. Lemosho Route crosses from Shira Ridge to Shira 2 Camp, in a pleasant hike.
Climbers encounter low traffic until the route joins the Machame route. Afterwards, Lemosho follows the same route as Machame Route through Lava Tower, Barranco and Barafu, known as the southern circuit.
The minimum days required for this route is 7 days, but eight days is recommended as it will give more chance to acclimatize and reach the summit. Like Machame, this is a scenically spectacular and varied route.
Lemosho is highly recommended and it has an abundance of wildlife such as elephant, buffalo, eland and lion which come over to forage during dry season from Longido game controlled area.
Mikio Tours staff will meet and pick you up from JRO (Kilimanjaro International Airport) and transfer you to your hotel in Moshi for overnight B/B.
We will pick you up from your hotel and transport you to Londorosi gate for registration. After this formality, you will board the vehicle and drive again to Lemosho glade. From this point you will start the trek across undisturbed Montane forest decorated with Black and White Colobus Monkey to the camp where you will have dinner and spend the night.
This is an acclimatization trek because you will gain over 650m by starting walking across a beautiful valley outside Shira caldera rim (3600m). After a few hours you will reach Shira caldera. A high altitude desert, Shira is the one among the three peaks which erupted in the Kilimanjaro ecosystem. The peak later collapsed and formed a crater which eventually became filled with the lava flow from Kibo peak. Its rim is eroded and blasted away by weather and volcanic action.
You will camp and spend the night at 3,500 m elevation at the Shira one campsite.
This day you will trek east across Shira plateau visiting (Cathedral peak 3850m) for acclimatization. Reaching at this peak you will find spectacular views of Mt. Meru and Kibo Peak. We then continue trekking to Shira two camp where we will stay for dinner and spend the night.
This is a long and important acclimatization day, so you will be having an early breakfast then continue trekking east to a junction leading to Lava tower rock 4600m for acclimatization. Afterwards you will continue down to Barranco camp. The camp location is in the bottom valley of Barranco wall where you will stop for dinner and spend the night.
Today is a long day walk. In the morning you will start climbing Barranco wall and reach 4200m for acclimatization and continue crossing ridges and valleys to Karanga campsite for a hot lunch. After lunch you will proceed to Barafu campsite for dinner and spend the night before the midnight ascent to the summit.
Wake at midnight to a light breakfast and then prepare for your summit ascent. The goal is to climb before dawn so that you can reach Uhuru Peak shortly before or after sunrise. The trails are a series of switchbacks up steep scree or possibly snow, and reach Stella Point on the crater rim at 5,861 m/18,640 ft between 4 and 5 AM. At this point you will be having the views of the fabled crater and its glaciers facing you.
Then after 1 hour of hiking along the Kibo crater rim near the celebrated snows which take you to Kilimanjaro true summit, Uhuru Peak. Here you will spend some time taking photos but it will depend on how you feel.
After your summit activities done, you will descend back to the Barafu campsite, for lunch, rest, collect your equipment, and continue down through moorland and heath zone to Mweka campsite. You will have dinner and spend the night at Mweka campsite.
Today is your last day on the mountain. After breakfast you will descend down to Mweka park gate walking across Montane forest. This descent will take 3-4 hours. Here at the gate you will sign out and get ready to board the vehicle ready for the transfer back to the hotel for your certificate presentation and a well deserved celebration.
Mikio Tours staff will meet and pick you up from Moshi and transfer you back to JRO (Kilimanjaro International Airport) or to Safari or Zanzibar if you have extension because we do organize safaris too. Please request for this service. Thank you.