Kilimanjaro Machame route climb
| country: | Tanzania |
| location: | Kilimanjaro |
| trip type: | High altitude, very challenging trekking holidays |
| departures: | 2009: 6 Dec 2010: 17 Jan, 14 Feb, 14 Mar, 11 Apr, 9 May, 6 Jun, 11 Jul, 8 Aug, 12 Sep, 10 Oct, 14 Nov, 12 Dec 2011: 9 Jan, 13 Feb, 13 Mar, 9 Apr, 8 May, 12 Jun |
| price: | From £1070 (8 days) excluding flights. We can arrange flights from the UK. |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Trek the amazing Machame Route to the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest point. At high altitude, it's a challenging journey through uniquely varied terrain. Camp out at night, enjoy the scenery along the way and at the very top of Uhuru Peak, rising 5,895 m above sea level, feel the exhilaration of achievement and marvel at the incredible views.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Marangu. Glimpse the snow-capped peaks of Mt Kilimanjaro looming in the distance. Spend the night at a turn of the century farmhouse set on 12 acres of tropical gardens. |
| Day 2: | Machame Camp. The trek begins with a gentle stroll through rainforest. Spot brightly coloured birds and listen out for different types of monkeys. Get to know the friendly porters on the walk through misty rainforests to the historic Machame campsite. |
| Day 3: | Shira Camp. Leave the rainforest behind and watch the vegetation grow more sparse as the path heads uphill. Continue up a steep ridge to the Shira plateau, the camp for the night. Spend the evening gazing out at sensational views of snow-dusted Kibo peaks. |
| Day 4: | Baranco. The undulating river valley terrain makes for easy acclimatisation on the trek towards the more rugged areas of the mountain. |
| Day 5: | Barafu. Meaning 'ice', Barafu is a fitting name. The path grows challenging as it heads up and down over craggy landscapes. A steep ascent through the dry desert region offers rewarding vistas of glaciers above. |
| Day 6: | Summit. Start early with a light breakfast before climbing towards the ultimate goal, Uhuru Peak. Watch the sunrise at Stella Point and pass by Rebmann Glacier. Make the final push to the peak and be rewarded with incredible views. Rising 5,895 m above sea level, conquering Africa's highest mountain is an amazing achievement. Descend to Mweka Camp for a final night on the mountain. |
| Days 7-8: | Marangu. Down once again at the base of the mountain, relax tired muscles during a celebratory meal back in Marangu. |
small group adventure holiday
Typically you will be sharing your experiences with between 4-20 like minded travellers (depending on the trip, operator and how many others are booked on the trip) and you'll have a group leader with you. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends its good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of privacy. This trip will appeal to travellers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as seeing new places. this tourism business won an award
in our 2005 First Choice Responsible Tourism Awards - organised by responsibletravel.com in association with The Times, World Travel Market and Geographical Magazine.how this holiday makes a difference
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For every week that our passengers spend in Africa, we plant a tree in Kenya through the Woodlands 2000 Trust, a local NGO. The Woodlands 2000 Trust is a wonderful project that provides seeds and seedlings with planting materials as well as land-planning, tree survival and woodlot management services. It aims to increase reforestation and bio-diversify in semi-arid regions, and also to create sustainable and profitable tree products micro-industries that contribute to alleviating poverty.
On Kilimanjaro, we insist that porters carry no more than the maximum (20Kg) recommended load, and we also make sure they have sufficient warm gear to climb comfortably. Back off the mountain, we cover their medical expenses and ensure an equitable distribution of the much sought after jobs. Although we attempt to keep the price of our climbs down for the customers, we don't feel it would be fair to do so at the expense of the local workforce. We also lead the battle to stop the use of firewood on the mountain as the lower slopes were rapidly being denuded of trees. Paraffin is now standard and gas is supplied to the mountain huts for cooking. In 2002 we organised and paid for 14 people to climb Kilimanjaro, in return they raised money for the Kilimanjaro Village Education Project (KVEP) and this money was used to build a computer-training centre at the base of Kilimanjaro. The total raised was in excess of £48,000, which far exceeded the target and the computer-learning centre is now operating. The centre will serve the 7 villages that are grouped together in the area. These villages are far removed from the British concept of a village and together they are home to several thousand people. In 2004 we again sponsored a Kilimanjaro climb, this time to build a nursery school for the KVEP. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |