Mount Kilimanjaro Climbing: Cherishing The Beauty At The Peak Through Machame Route

Mount Kilimanjaro, one of the Seven Summits of the world, is one of the most popular climbs due to no special technical climbing expertise or mountaineering equipment. Basically, it is not a climb, it’s just one big hike. You can walk all the way to the peak of Kilimanjaro. So, if you are planning amazing trekking with your friends and family, then Mount Kilimanjaro Climbing is the best option for you.

There are seven established routes to Climb Kilimanjaro, namely the Lemosho, Marangu, Machame, Northern Circuit, Rongai and Umbwe. The Machame route is one of the first official Kilimanjaro Climbing Routes developed to scale Mt. Kilimanjaro. It is one of the most popular routes on the mountain due to its impressive views and varied habitats. The route is known for its easy access to the trailhead and is also the least expensive camping route, making it the most preferred route among trekkers.

The trek for the Machame route commences at Machame Gate, located at the southern base of the mountain. Listed below is a sample itinerary of the Machame Route which is usually followed for Kilimanjaro Trekking:

•    Machame Gate to Machame Campsite

The first phase of the Machame route trekking begins at the Machame Gate, located at the southern base of the mountain, with an extensive trail through a dense, green and refreshing forest.  Even though there are no scenic sights on this phase of the route but the wilderness of the forest will surely fascinate you. You can spot different wildlife species such as blue monkeys, white neck ravens, fireball lily flowers, and other interesting plants along the way. With the thinning forest, the trail leads to the Machame camp in the steep trek.  However, at the camp the climb became flat and the valley opens up.

•    Machame Camp To Shira Camp

After acclimatization at Machame Camp, the trek begins on a thin steep trail, mostly through the grass. After a span of trekking, the valley opens up from where you will trek to the Shira campsite (3,810 meters) in a simple trek. The campsite derives its name from one of the three cones of Kilimanjaro. From the campsite, you can have a stunning view of Mount Meru and the Moshi town. However, most people begin to experience the effects of altitude sickness, in this stage of the trial.

•    Shira Camp To Barranco Camp

After resting at the Shira camp, the trails then lead to Lava Tower (4,600 meters) and then descend Barranco Campsite (3,960 meters) to acclimatize. Climb high, sleep low acclimatization technique is used in this phase of the trial for better acclimatization. You can have an excellent view of the volcanic valley from the Lava Tower. Also along the way to Barranco Campsite you see Drendosenecio Kilimanjaro, a plant found only on the slopes of Kilimanjaro. You can also Lobelia Deckeni, a plant species that is only seen in the East African Mountains. The trek to camp, situated under a massive rock, is filled with hundreds of Drendosenecio Kilimanjaro on both sides.

•    Barranco Camp To Karanga Camp

This is the most exciting part of this trek. After spending the night at the Barranco camp, you will then head to Karanga camp crossing the enormous Barranco wall. The wall is perceived to be a tricky trek as you see it from the camp, but trekking the wall was much easier. Along the way to the wall, you can spot some spots with some exposure chiefly one named, ‘the hug and kiss rock’. After reaching the top of the wall, you can lead to Karanga camp on a simple trek. Once you reach Karanga camp, you can get the first vision of Kibo, Kilimanjaro’s highest peak and our final aim of Mount Kilimanjaro Climbing.

•    Karanga Camp To Barafu Camp

Even though the trek from Karanga camp to Barafu camp is a short day expedition and can be directly trekked from Barranco Camp, but it is recommended that it should be done after acclimatising at Karanga Camp. Also trekking on the next day gives some extra time to relax before the final summit push.  The trek from Kangara camp begins with an easy stroll across the barren valley but there is a sharp hike just before the Barafu camp.

•    Conquering The Summit

After getting to Barafu, climbers generally rest for some while after having an early dinner ahead of the summit push. Following which the trekker’s prep to summit Kilimanjaro. As you will head from Barafu towards the peak you could see hikers heading up, with their headlamps glowing in the darkness of the mountain. This is also probably the toughest part of the trail of Kilimanjaro trekking with lesser oxygen levels and sharp ascent.

After five to six hours of daunting trekking of Mount Kilimanjaro Climbing, you will reach the Stella Point, the rim of the volcanic crater. Here you can witness the most magnificent sunrise, you have ever seen.  From the Stella Point, the summit at the crater rim is a 45-minute gentle push, however, the exhaustion makes it difficult at this point and seem that you have to scale another mountain to reach the summit.

•    Barafu Camp To Mweka Camp

After scaling the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro, you can spend some time at the peak before starting the descent back to Barafu Camp. After reaching the Barafu campsite, generally, climbers have their lunch and take a short nap, before descending to Mweka Camp, which is 10 kilometers away from Barafu camp. Then after some rest, you descend to Mweka Camp gate which is the end of trekking. Where you receive your certificates after which you can celebrate your success of Climbing Kilimanjaro, the African way, by singing and dancing along with your Kilimanjaro climbing team.

Climbing through the Machame Route not only increases your chance of successfully summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro but also allows you to have the most stunning views of Mt. Kilimanjaro and varied landscapes along the route. So, if you want to summit Kilimanjaro, then visit us at https://www.bigexpeditions.net for more information. We at Big Expeditions will try to make your Mount Kilimanjaro Climbing the most wonderful experience of your life.