Route Overview
Lemosho is considered the most beautiful route on Kilimanjaro and grants panoramic vistas on various sides of the mountain. It offers a great balance of lesser traffic, scenic views and a high summit success rate. It is highly recommended for those looking for a leisurely climb with a great acclimatization profile. On average you can expect to hike for 6-8 hours per day, covering a distance of about 8-15 kilometers. The maximum daily vertical gain in a day is about 1,200 meters, with an average being 500-600 meters per day.
Route Itinery
The itinerary below describes the 10 nights/11 day Kilimanjaro climb via the Lemosho route. To shorten the below itinerary to 11 days you combine days five and six, going from Barranco Camp to Barafu Camp without staying at Karanga. A nine day variation that includes an overnight at Crater Camp is available as a private climb by special request.
To get to Kilimanjaro International Airport, every hiker must arrange their own flights (JRO). We will set up a private transfer for you from JRO to your hotel. You will meet your local Tito Tanzania agent that evening or early the next morning and receive a thorough pre-climb briefing.
- Transport: Private transfer (0.8 hour, 40 km)
- Accommodation: Hotel
Transfer in a 4WD to the Lemosho Park Entrance to register. Before we start our ascent up the woodland trail to Mti Mkubwa (Big Tree) campsite at 2895m, our porters prepare and load our provisions and bags. We’ll spend the night here.
- Transport: 1.7 hours, 80 km
- Hiking time: 3 – 4 hours
- Ascent: 535 m
- altitude: 2895 m
- Accommodation: Camping
- Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Shira Cathedral is magnificently visible as we travel farther east on the Shira Plateau. To get to Shira 1 Camp for dinner and overnight camping at 3500m, we cross a moorland meadow. The beautiful glaciers of the Western Breach will be visible by now. Tonight will be significantly colder than last night, with potential lows below zero.
- Hiking time: 5 – 6 hours
- Ascent: 605 m
- altitude: 3500 m
- Accommodation: Camping
- Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
The trail becomes steeper as it enters the moorland region as we leave the forest behind. You can reach Moir Hut, which offers stunning views of the Arrow glacier, by walking across the high-altitude Shira Caldera at a moderate gradient. Here at 4200m, we’ll set up camp for the night.
- Hiking time: 6 – 7 hours
- Ascent: 700 m
- altitude: 4200 m
- Accommodation: Camping
- Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
We will ascend to 4600 meters today and descend to the base of the Lava Tower for lunch and acclimatization. Our hardest day thus far will be today, and you might feel the effects of the altitude for the first time. Following the acclimatization maxim “hike high, sleep low,” we will descend once again by over 650 meters to Barranco Camp after lunch. We descend to Barranco Camp over a two-hour period, which provides wonderful possibilities to capture some breathtaking images of the Western Breach and Breach Wall. The camp is located in a valley between the Great Barranco Wall and the Breach.
- Hiking time: 6 – 7 hours
- Ascent: 400 m
- Descent: 650 m
- altitude: 4600 m
- Accomodation: Camping
- Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
A quick but enjoyable day that begins with a climb up the Great Barranco Wall. To reach the Karanga Valley (3930m), which is located beneath the icefalls of the Heim, Kersten, and Decken Glaciers, we then travel through scree. At the campsite at Karanga, we’ll spend the night.
- Hiking time: 4 hours
- Ascent: 260 m
- Descent: 280 m
- altitude: 4210 m
- Accommodation: Camping
- Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
In order to reach the intersection with the Mweka downhill trail, we leave the Karanga campground behind. We then ascend to Barafu Camp from here. You have now finished the Southern Circuit, which gives numerous perspectives of the summit. We may rest, eat dinner, and get ready for the summit day in camp. From here, it is possible to see Mawenzi and Kibo’s two peaks in full view.
- Hiking time: 3 – 4 hours
- Ascent: 670 m
- altitude: 4600 m
- Accommodation: Camping
- Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Awakening will occur about 7:00. Starting between the Rebman and Ratzel glaciers, we ascend to Stella Point on the crater rim on our ascent to the summit. The hardest portion of the walk both psychologically and physically is this. We will pause at Stella Point (5732m) to have a little break. The highest point on Mount Kilimanjaro on the African continent, Uhuru Peak (5895m), is now only an hour away. We take a few summit shots before starting our descent into Kibo Crater, where we’ll set up camp for the evening. Depending on the season, you will observe the rapidly retreating glaciers set amidst either sand, desert, or snowy conditions. The view is simply stunning.
- Hiking time: 9 – 10 hours
- Ascent: 1295 m
- Descent: 165 m
- altitude: 5895 m
- Accommodation: Camping
- Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
To make it to the Crater Rim in time to view the sunrise, we get up early. We walk down to the campground at Mweka Hut from the rim. In order to navigate the loose gravel leading to Mweka Camp, trekking poles will be required (3100m). We will have our final meal on the mountain later in the evening before a well-deserved rest.
- Hiking time: 7 – 8 hours
- Descent: 2630 m
- altitude: 5730 m
- Accommodation: Camping
- Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
This is your last day of the journey; after breakfast, we continue our descent of 1300 meters to the Mweka Park Gate, where you can pick up your summit certificates from the park headquarters. to your hotel by transfer.
- Transport: 0.6 hour, 17 km
- Hiking time: 3 – 4 hours
- Descent: 1300 m
- altitude: 3100 m
- Accomodation: Hotel
- Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch
We’ll say farewell after a much-needed night of rest. If you have scheduled an airport transport with us, a safari, or a vacation to Zanzibar, we will pick you up in the morning for your next destination.
- Transport: 0.8 hour, 40 km
- Meals included: Breakfast
Items included
- Professional, experienced, mountain guides:
- All Park fees
- Rescue fees
- All meals while on the Mountain
- Arrival and Departure transfers
- Guides, Porters, cook salaries and park fees
- Quality Mess tents with table and chairs
- Large portions of fresh, healthy, nutritious food
- Clean, purified drinking water
- Crisis management and safety procedures
- Fair and ethical treatment of porters
Items excluded
- International Flights
- Alcoholic and soft drinks not included
- Visa fees
- Tips
- Personal spending money for souvenirs etc.
- Travel insurance
FAQs for Lemosho Route
From the perspective of acclimatization and daily altitude gain, the Lemosho Route is considered one of the easiest routes to climb Kilimanjaro. The extra time and distance of this route helps acclimatize well and minimizes the risk of altitude sickness. However it still includes the challenging ascent up the Barranco Wall and a steep climb to the summit on the final night.
The exact trekking distance for the Lemosho Route is 71km or 43 miles fom start to finish. This is done over 11 or 10 days. The average daily altitude gain is about 500m mainly because of the much higher starting point at 2360m and the longer duration of the trek. On the summit night you will climb 1200m from Barafu camp to Uhuru peak.
Due to its longer length, summit success rates on the Lemosho route are one of the highest on the mountain. Whilst there are no official statistics, the average success rate across all operators is 90% for the 11 day trek and a 85% success rate for the 7 day trek. However, we have a success rate of over 95% for the 10 day Lemosho route and a 92% success rate for the 7 day option.
The Lemosho Route is considered to be the most scenically beautiful of all the routes. The route takes trekkers from the west side of the mountain through lush rainforest before joining up with the Lemosho Route to cross the spectacular Shira Plateau. The route takes in the west and south of the mountain and the views are incredible, particularly from on the southern circuit.
