Lemosho route is a little used, unspoiled, remote and beautiful Route. The second part of the route is similar to the Machame and Shira route On the first day you are accompanied by an armed ranger, because you can have encounters with buffalo, elephant and other big animals. For this route, you don’t need any mountain climbing skills, but you must be fit. Porters will carry all your personal items, equipment and supplies and a cook prepares your meals. As a tent experience, the Lemosho is better cited to more adventurous hikers who are rewarded with fantastic scenic wonders and great panoramas. From late afternoon sunsets at Shira to the misty revelations of Kibo at the great Barranco wall. A photographer’s delight! An added benefit to this camping route is the most valuable commodity on the mountain acclimatization.
For the 8-day route, add an additional acclimatisation day at Shira 2 Camp on the itinerary below (an extra day between day 4 and day 5). On the extra day you can make a scenic walk to the Shira Cone (rises 200m above the plateau) and Shira Cathedral. The extra day helps to get used to the high altitude.
Highlights
- Game drives (safaris) on the savannahs of Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Mkomazi and Serengeti National Park with chances of seeing the wildlife from close quarters
- Very good chances of seeing the Big Five: Elephant, Rhino, Lion, Leopard and Buffalo
- The best large game viewing in the world on the endless savannah plains of the Serengeti, with the Big Migration, with over 2 million zebra’s and wildebeest
- One of the eight Wonders of the world, the Ngorongoro Crater with outstanding wildlife, including the endangered Black Rhino
- The tree climbing lions and spectacular views in Lake Manyara National Park
- Fantastic scenery with Mount Meru and Kilimanjaro in Arusha National Park
- A stretch of Kenya’s Tsavo National Park in Mkomazi National Park, including the rare Gerenuk, the Giraffe Antelope
- Lake Natron has a huge soda lake with Flamingos. Walk up to the waterfall with natural shower
- See the Oldonyo Lengai, an active volcano with spectacular panoramas
- Meet the Local People like the Maasai and Hadzabe (Bushmen) and see their local way of living
Day 1 Kilimanjaro Airport – Moshi Town
Arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport in the evening, meet and greet by your guide, then make a short transfer to Moshi Town (35 minute drive) to the hotel for an overnight. Briefing about the Kilimanjaro climb by your guide. Your Kilimanjaro guide will also check your equipment. Anything missing can be rented the next day.
Day 2 Moshi Town – Londorossi Park Gate – Big Tree Camp
Lemosho Glades Starting Point (2.100m) – Big Tree Camp (2.800m)
Pick up from the hotel in Moshi Town, do some brief shopping around town before we leave the town and go to Londorossi Park Gate to get our permit. Afterwards we drive to Lemosho Glades Starting Point (2.100m / 6,900ft). Meet your Kilimanjaro team: guide, assistant guide, cook and porters. Start hiking Lemosho Glades to Big Tree Camp. Today we walk through a mystic jungle, home to elephants, buffaloes, black and white colobus monkey, blue monkey and many exotic bird species. On our way we have our lunch and on arrival in the camp a hot dinner is waiting for you.
Day 3 Big Tree Camp – Shira 1 Camp
Big Tree Camp (2.800m) – Shira 1 Camp (3.500m)
Early breakfast. Afterwards we climb for about one hour to the top of the forest. Looking back we see the misty forest behind us. The trail gradually steepens and enters the giant heather moorland zone. It offers beautiful views of Mount Meru to the West. We continue our walk until we reach Shira 1 Camp.
Day 4 Shira 1 Camp – Shira 2 Camp
Shira 1 Camp (3.500m) – Shira 2 Camp (3.800m)
After a good breakfast we start walking to Shira 2 Camp. We walk through beautiful scenery with strange plants. We cross several small streams before we have a gentle walk across the plateau which leads to Shira 2-camp (3.800m). From the camp you can see the Western Breach with its stunning glaciers.
Day 5 Shira Camp – Lava Tower – Barranco Camp
Shira 2 Camp (3.800m) – Lava Tower (4.600m) – Barranco Camp (3.900m)
Another beautiful day with different sceneries. We start walking in the morning and we enter into the moorland zone, with interesting vegetation with giant groundsels and giant lobelias, up to 5 meters high. We climb up to Lava Tower (4.600m 15,100ft), a huge rock standing up right. We have a hot lunch on this beautiful point. After lunch we descend to our camp for dinner and overnight. This day will help you to get used to the high altitude, to increase our chances of reaching the summit.
Day 6 Barranco Camp – Barafu Camp
Barranco Camp (3.950m) – Barafu Camp (4.550m)
Another beautiful day with stunning panoramas. We start the day with a steep climb of the Barranco Wall. An exhausting experience, but a fantastic reward when we are on top of Barranco Wall, a magnificent view of Uhuru Peak. We now enter the Alpine Dessert Zone. After lunch we walk to Barafu Camp for dinner and overnight. On our way we are rewarded with fantastic views of the glaciers and Mawenzi Peak (the second peak of Kilimanjaro).
Day 7 Barafu Camp – Mweka Camp
Barafu camp (4.550m) – Uhuru Peak (5.895m) – Mweka Camp (3.100m)
Your guide wakes you up before midnight and after a hot cup of tea and some biscuits you will start your trekking to the summit! When we reach Stella Point (5.700m / 8,700ft) we see a spectacular sunrise with Uhuru Peak in the background. We take a short rest to enjoy the spectacular view of the sunrise and Kibo Crater. We continue to walk on a relatively flat path, surrounded by beautiful glaciers, to reach the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Uhuru Peak (5.895m / 19,340ft). Enjoy your accomplishment and a day to remember for the rest of your live! After taking photos we start to descend to our base camp, Barafu Camp. (2 to 3 hours walk). We reach the camp, where we will have a rest and a good lunch. After lunch we descend the southern slopes of the Mweka route, to Mweka Camp (about 3-4 hours). Exhausted, proud and excited we will have a well-deserved dinner and very good sleep.
Day 8 Mweka Camp – Mweka Gate – Moshi Town
Mweka Camp (3.100m) – Mweka Gate (1.980m)
After a good night sleep we start our final descend to Mweka Gate. We go through the misty and beautiful forest again, all the way to Mweka Gate. The monkeys say goodbye and we realize we are about to end this great experience. After getting our certificates we will celebrate our Kilimanjaro adventure with our guides, cook and porters. We all did a great job! Transfer to your hotel for your much-needed shower and very comfortable bed.
Day 9 Moshi Town – Kilimanjaro Airport
After a good night sleep we wake up in our hotel where we will relax. Transfer to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your flight home, or proceed with the second part of your Tanzanian holiday.
Guide price
USD 850 per person based on a group of 6 people traveling, prices are subjected to change.
Price includes:
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Price does not include:
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Why do we use guide prices?
The price for every safari depends on the number of people travelling, their ages, the time of year, whether or not international flights are included, the type of transport and accommodation used and the activities undertaken.
We calculate according to the specific dates of your booking because after we publish our itineraries some things may change. For example, hotels may increase their prices, the government may introduce new taxes or some discounts may become available. Unfortunately, we also have to pass on surcharges imposed on us by, for example, airlines when fuel prices or airport taxes are unexpectedly increased.
We would be happy to prepare a quotation, based on your requirements. We normally include most costs in the price so all you need to bring with you is ‘pocket money’ for items like drinks, tips and personal shopping e.g. souvenirs.
Insurance
AMREF flying doctors provide a medevac service in case of illness or injury during your safari. This costs $25pp for 31 days. We recommend this service and can include it in your package price.
Booking
Once you have selected one of our safari packages you need to send us a booking form. When we receive this we will check availability and inform you if any changes are necessary and issue an invoice for a 50% deposit plus the full cost of any tracking permits (in case of cancellation permit fees are non-refundable). Only once this payment is received can we guarantee availability and issue a booking confirmation. Full payment is required 70 days before travel.
Payments and cancellation
We charge in US dollars. Payment is by bank transfer into our Standard Chartered USD bank account in Uganda. You can also pay by credit card although there is a 5% administration charge. For those booking from within Uganda, cash payments are possible at our office.
When we book your safari, we have to pay non-refundable deposits on your behalf, for example to hotels. Therefore, we charge cancellation fees as follows:
30% of reservation costs if you cancel more than 50 days before your arrival date
100% of reservation costs if you cancel less than 50 days before your arrival date
We strongly recommend that you include cancellation cover in your travel insurance.
Disclaimer: We enter into an agreement with you in good faith but we sometimes encounter unexpected changes in local conditions which can affect your itinerary or price. These changes are beyond our control and we are not liable for them. While we endeavour to protect you against the effects of these changes, we reserve the right to amend the agreed itinerary and price in response to them. Such changes include but are not limited to weather conditions, road conditions, supplier price increases, fuel increases, government tax increases, supplier service changes e.g. cancellation of ferry services for river crossings or national park operations (track maintenance, animal translocations). We assure you that, we will always give you as much notice as possible of changes, suggest alternative plans and keep additional charges to a minimum.
Accommodation
To help us select the right accommodation for your safari (and in the absence of a complete national hotel classification system e.g. 1*–5*) we use four levels: high-end, mid-range, budget and backpackers. These terms can mean different things to different people but are helpful to an extent.
Air-conditioned rooms are not available in all hotels. Where AC is available, there is usually an extra charge.
Some locations have a limited choice of accommodation and so, to stay there, you must accept what is available. Where possible we prefer to work with responsible accommodation providers. This means hotels and lodges which are locally owned, employ local staff, support their community and protect the local environment. 
Transport
As standard, we use a spacious 7-seater, 4×4 safari Land Cruiser, with pop-up roof, fridge and phone/camera charging facilities. This is the perfect safari vehicle.
Alternatively, we offer a slightly cheaper 7-seater, 4×4 safari van with a pop-up roof.
5-seater versions of both Land Cruisers and vans are also available.
For large group tours we use small buses called Coasters. These usually seat around 28 people, including 5 jump (fold-down) seats in the aisle. They do not have a boot/trunk so luggage is carried on the back seats which reduces the seating capacity. The overhead luggage shelves are small and can only accommodate small bags. Therefore, we recommend you do not over pack.
All vehicles include a driver/guide and fuel for your itinerary. Additional activities, not included in your itinerary, may incur an additional fuel charge. Our vehicles are comprehensively insured, in good mechanical condition and have seat belts fitted.
Please let us know if you have any special travel requirements. For example, if your group has disabled members we will do our best to accommodate your needs.