Kilimanjaro: choosing a route and giving yourself enough days

Kilimanjaro is 5,895 metres and has no technical ground. Thousands of ordinary people stand on Uhuru Peak every year, and a third of the people who try do not. The difference is almost never fitness. It is how many days they gave the mountain.

Why days matter

The body needs time to adjust to thin air, and the mountain rises fast. A five-day climb gives you no margin; the summit night starts around midnight at 4,600 metres and the failure rate is high. Seven or eight days lets you walk high and sleep low, which is what the guides mean by acclimatisation, and the success rate roughly doubles. Every extra day costs money and is worth it.

Machame, seven days

The most popular route for a reason. It climbs through forest to the Shira plateau, traverses under the southern glaciers, and drops to Barafu for the summit night. Scenic, well run and busy in season. Seven days is the version to book.

Lemosho, eight days

Starts further west, joins Machame on the Shira plateau, and gives one more day of acclimatisation on the way. Quieter for the first two days, the best views of any route, and the highest success rate we see. If the budget allows, this is the one.

Marangu, six days

The only route with huts instead of tents, which sounds easier and is not. It goes up and down the same way, gains height quickly, and its five and six day versions have the lowest success rates on the mountain. We sell it to people who want the huts and understand the trade.

Before and after

Arrive two nights before to sleep off the flight. Afterwards, the hot springs at Chemka or a day at Materuni waterfall are the right speed, and then the beach. A Kilimanjaro climb followed by Zanzibar is the trip we plan most often after the bush and beach one.