Climb Kilimanjaro via the Lemosho Route

Upon arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO), you will be warmly greeted by your dedicated Legend Expeditions guide, who will personally escort you to a high-end hotel. Designed for your comfort and relaxation, the hotel offers luxurious accommodations with cozy rooms, hot water, attentive and polite staff, a swimming pool, and reliable Internet access. Once you’ve settled in, join your fellow climbers for a team meal, fostering camaraderie ahead of your adventure. In the evening, your guide will conduct a comprehensive briefing to ensure you’re fully prepared for the journey ahead. For those interested, there’s also an optional short tour into Moshi town to explore its vibrant local charm.

We will be picked up from the hotel at 8am and transferred to the Lemosho gate located on the western side of Kilimanjaro. After the registration process, we will start our climb steadily through the forests of the Lemosho glades to reach Big Tree camp where we will be spending the night. During the short trek you’ll need to keep your eyes peeled for Blue and Colobus Monkeys.

Today we will cover a lot of ground as we trek across a plateau of grassy moorland and heather scattered with volcanic rock formations. We gain a reasonable amount of altitude as we head towards Shira 1 with parts of the route being fairly steep. Our steady climb across the moorland of the Shira Plateau will help with acclimatisation whilst we enjoy great panoramic views. As we approach camp, you will suddenly get your first close-up view of Kilimanjaro.

Today you will get the chance to view the northern ice fields from the western side of the mountain and cross the huge plateau that was once a volcano even bigger than Kilimanjaro. Our destination today is the Shira 2 Camp, we will make a small diversion and scale Shira Cathedral, as a chance to do some extra acclimatisation and reach another summit. We will then make our way to Shira 2 Camp for lunch and a good night’s rest.

Todays trek heads straight uphill towards the lava ridges beneath the glaciers of the Western Breach.You will reach the huge pinnacle of the Lava Tower (4640m), our high point for the day and a great place to enjoy your lunch. In the afternoon we make a steep descent to our camp for the night, located in the base of the Great Barranco Valley (3960m), sheltered by towering cliffs but with extensive views of the plains below. By climbing high and sleeping low, we help the body acclimatise as effectively as possible.

Our day starts by ascending the Barranco wall, traversing along a huge rock face.This is the most technical part of our expedition, that will require you to use your hands and feet to climb over the wall.The Legend team will be on hand to guide you safely through. Passing underneath the Heim and Kersten glaciers, we head towards the Karanga valley. From here we have a final uphill trek to reach our favourite camp with panoramic views. Karanga camp, set at 3963m.

After a good night’s rest and breakfast, we set off on our walk to Barafu camp at 4640m. The climb will take us across desolate scree slopes with no vegetation around us at all. It’s a tough steep walk made more difficult by the altitude, on arriving at camp we eat and spend the afternoon resting as we prepare for a long night and day ahead. It is important to keep hydrated and warm.We have an early dinner and then try to get some sleep as we will be getting up at between 11pm and 12pm to start the climb to the summit.

We start off at around midnight, and walk steeply upwards to the summit glaciers.We will be climbing scree for 4 to 5 hours, gaining incredible height over a short distance.The views are spectacular.We aim for the crater rim at Stella Point (5739m) as the first rays of the sun hit us. Spectacular ice cliffs within the crater surround us, and the views to the jagged Mawenzi peak and beyond are breathtaking. Another hour’s walking takes us to the summit, Uhuru Peak (5895m).You’ve done it! After celebrating and soaking up this epic milestone, we begin our descent by returning to Stella Point, then descend on scree slope and track back to Barafu Camp for breakfast. Finally we head down to Millennium Camp for a long well-earned rest.

A gentle trek takes us down through the rainforest to Mweka Gate, where we complete park formalities and a final team meal with all of our local team! We are then met by our vehicles and return to the hotel in Moshi, where you can treat yourself to a welcome shower (and a cold beer or two!) before our big celebration.

The day is left free to wind down after the trek, before your flight home. Depending on flight times, you can either relax at the hotel or go and explore Moshi town. You also have the opportunity to extend your adventure and head out on safari, designed and led by Legend Expeditions.