INDEPENDENT TREKKING NOT AN OPTION
In 1991, the park authorities made it compulsory for all trekkers to arrange their walk through a licensed agency. Furthermore, they insist that all trekkers must be accompanied throughout their walk by a guide supplied by the agency. When these laws were first introduced, it was for a while still feasible to sneak in without paying, and many were the stories that arose about trekkers who managed to climb Kilimanjaro independently, tales that were often embellished with episodes of encounters with wild animals and even wilder park rangers.
Fortunately, the authorities have tightened up security and clamped down on non-payees, so these tedious tales are now few in number. Don’t try to climb Kilimanjaro without a guide or without paying the proper fees. It’s very unlikely you’ll succeed and all you’re doing is freeloading – indeed, stealing isn’t too strong a word – from one of the poorest countries in the world. Yes, climbing Kilimanjaro is expensive. But the costs of maintaining a mountain that big are high. Besides, whatever price you pay, trust us, it’s worth it.
WITH FRIENDS . . .
It’s Kili time! Time to kick back, relax and take it easy with your friends.
Printed on the labels of Kilimanjaro Beer
So you have decided to climb Kilimanjaro, and have thus taken the first step on the path that leads from the comfort and safety of your favourite armchair to the untamed glory of the Roof of Africa. The second step on this path is to consider with whom to go.
This may not be as straightforward as it sounds, because Kilimanjaro breaks friendships as easily as it breaks records. The tribulations suffered by those who dare to pit themselves against the mountain wear down the most even of temperaments, and relationships are often the first to suffer. Idiosyncrasies in your friend’s behaviour that you previously thought charming now simply become irritating, while the most trivial of differences between you and your chum could lead to the termination of a friendship that, before you’d both ventured onto its slopes, you thought was as steadfast and enduring as the mountain itself. Different levels of stamina, different levels of desire to reach the top, different attitudes towards the porters and guides, even differences in the film speeds you’re using or the colour of your socks: on Kilimanjaro these things, for some reason, suddenly matter.
Then there’s the farting. It is a well-known fact that the regular breaking of wind is a sure sign that you are acclimatizing satisfactorily (for more about acclimatization, see pp200-206); while the onset of a crushing headache, combined with a loss of sleep and a consequent loss of humour, are all classic symptoms suffered by those struggling to adapt to the rarified atmosphere. Problems occur, of course, when two friends acclimatize at different rates: ie, the vociferous and joyful flatulence of Friend A is simply not appreciated by Friend B, who has a bad headache, insomnia and ill-temper. Put the two parties together in a remote, confined space, such as that provided by a two-man tent on the slopes of a cold and lonely mountain, and you have an explosive cocktail that can blow apart even the strongest of friendships.
It rained terrible all night, and we put most of the Wachaga porters in our tent. It was rather distressing to the olfactory nerves ... At 4am a leopard visited us but did not fancy our scent.
Peter MacQueen, In Wildest Africa (an account of an expedition of 1907, published in 1910)
Of course, the above is just one possible scenario. It may be that both of you adapt equally well/badly to the new conditions and can draw pleasure/comfort from each other accordingly. People from Northern Europe seem particularly good at making the best of the windy conditions: while researching the first edition of this book we encountered a party of four Germans holding a farting competition, and one particularly talented Dutch pair who even managed a quick game of Name that Tune. (It may or may not surprise you to know that all but one of the participants in these competitions was male.)
And there are plenty of advantages in going with a friend too. There’s the companionship for a start. It’s cheaper, too, because away from the mountain you’ll probably be sharing rooms, which always cuts the cost, and if you are planning on booking your climb through an agency in Tanzania your bargaining position is so much stronger if there are two of you. Having a companion also cuts the workload, enabling, for example, one to run off and find a room while the other looks after the luggage. It also saves your being paired with someone you don’t know when you book with an agency; someone who may snore and blow off more violently than your friend ever would. And if you do both make it to the top, it’s good to know that there will be somebody to testify to your achievements upon your return.
Climbing Kili with a companion has its problems, but there’s no doubting the extra pleasure that can be gained as well. As the graffiti on the walls of Room 3 in the Kibo Huts tells us: ‘What does not break us makes us stronger’. If you are planning on travelling with a friend this, perhaps, should be your motto for the trek.
. . .OR ON YOUR OWN?
Those without friends, or at least without friends willing to climb a mountain with them, should not worry. For one thing, you’ll never truly be on your own, simply because the park authorities forbid your climbing without a guide (see previous page) and you’ll need at least one other crew member to act as porter. Furthermore, planning to go on your own means you can arrange the trek that you want; you choose the trail to follow, the time to go and for how long; the pace of the walk, the number of rest-stops, when to go to bed – these are all your decisions, and yours alone. You are the boss; you have nobody else’s feelings to consider but your own.
If you want to join up with others, for companionship or simply to make the trek a little cheaper, that’s not a problem: you can book your trek in your home country with a tour operator (they always insist on a minimum number of participants before the trek goes ahead); or you can book in Tanzania, and ask to be put with other trekkers (which will often happen anyway, unless you specifically say otherwise). And even if you are walking alone, you can always meet other trekkers at the campsite in the evening if you so desire.
Trekking by yourself is fun and not the lonely experience many imagine; unless, of course, you enjoy the bliss of solitude and want to be alone. That’s the beauty of walking solo: everything is up to you.
BUDGETING
The most significant cost of your holiday, unless you opt for a few days at Serengeti’s Kirawira Camp at the end of your stay (top suites US$950 per night in season – and this is not even the most expensive place!), is the walk itself. Set aside US$900-plus for a budget trek, more if you plan on ascending by an unusual route or insist on walking without other trekkers. Once on the mountain, however, you won’t need to pay for anything else throughout the trek, except for the occasional chocolate bar or beer which you can buy at the rangers’ huts on the way.
Away from the mountain and the other national parks, by far the most expensive place in Tanzania is Zanzibar. Elsewhere, you’ll find transport, food and accommodation, the big three day-to-day expenses of the traveller’s life, are pretty cheap in Tanzania and particularly in Moshi and Arusha.
ACCOMMODATION
Basic tourist accommodation starts at around £2-3/US$3.50-5. You can get cheaper, non-tourist accommodation, though this is often both sleazy and unhygienic and should only be considered as a last resort. We have not reviewed these cheap hotels individually in the book, but we do give some indication of where they can be found in the introduction to the accommodation sections in the city chapters.
At the other end of the spectrum, there are hotel rooms and luxury safari camps going for anything up to US$2000 per night in the high season.
FOOD
Food can be dirt cheap if you stick to the street sellers who ply their wares at all hours of the day – though dirt is often what you get on the food itself too, with hygiene standards not always of the highest. Still, even in a clean and decent budget restaurant the bill should still be only £2-3/US$3.50-5.
TRANSPORT
Public transport is cheap in Tanzania, though it could be said you get what you pay for: dilapidated buses, potholed roads, inadequate seating and narcoleptic drivers do not a pleasant journey make, but this is the reality of public transport, Tanzanian-style. Then again, at around £0.40/US$0.70 per hour for local buses and dalla-dallas (the local minibuses; see p74), it seems churlish to complain. Extra safety and comfort are available on the luxury buses, and at only a slightly higher price.
WHEN TO GO
The two main trekking seasons for Kilimanjaro correspond with the mountain’s two dry seasons (an imprecise term, the weather being occasionally inclement during these periods too) namely January to mid-March and June to October. Of course you can walk in the rainy season but not only is there a much higher chance of walking in the rain, the summits of Kibo and Mawenzi are likely to be wreathed in thick cloud too. Indeed, several agencies even suspend their operations in November and December, deciding that any trek is foolhardy at this time and the rewards for the trekkers considerably less. Curiously, however, Christmas and New Year, when the weather is far from perfect, are actually the most popular times to go.
As to the relative merits of the two trekking seasons, the differences are small though significant. The January to March season tends to be colder and there is a much greater chance of snow on the path at this time. The days, however, are often clearer, with only the occasional brief shower. It is usually an exceptionally beautiful time to climb and is often a little quieter than the other peak season of June to October, which coincides with the main academic holidays in Europe and the West. In this latter season the clouds tend to hang around the tree-line following the heavy rains of March to May. Once above this altitude, however, the skies are blue and brilliant and the chance of precipitation minimal (though still present).
Although the June to October season tends to be busier, this is not necessarily a disadvantage. For example, if you are travelling independently to Tanzania but wish, for the sake of companionship or simply to cut down on costs, to join up with other travellers for the trek, then the high visitor numbers in the June-October peak season will give you the best chance of doing this. And even if you do crave solitude when you walk, it can still be found on the mountain during this peak season. The trails are long, so you can always find vast gaps between trekkers to allow you to walk in peace; some of the routes – Rongai, for example, or the two trails across the Shira Plateau – almost never have more than one or two trekking groups on them at any one time, and are often completely deserted. And besides, Kilimanjaro is just so huge that its presence will dwarf your fellow trekkers to the point where they become, if you wish them to be, quite unnoticeable.
ROUTE OPTIONS
Getting to the mountain
This book aims to take you from your armchair to the summit of Africa’s highest mountain. If you have booked a package from home, of course your transport to and from the mountain will already have been sorted out and you needn’t worry. If you haven’t then this book will tell you about the city you are flying to and the towns of Arusha, Moshi and Marangu that lie nearest to the mountain. It also goes into some detail about which trekking company to book with and where you can find them; having booked your trek with a company in Tanzania, you will invariably find that it includes transport to and from the Kilimanjaro National Park gates. From there, it’s all about the walking...
Getting up the mountain [see colour map, p322]
Kilimanjaro has two main summits. The higher one is Kibo, the glacier-clad circular summit that stars on all the pictures of Kilimanjaro. While spiky Mawenzi, to its east, is impossible to conquer without knowledge of advanced climbing techniques and no small amount of courage, it is possible to walk up to the top of Kibo at a height of 5892-5896m (for a discussion of the exact height of the mountain, see p84).
Look down at Kilimanjaro from above and you should be able to count seven paths trailing like ribbons up the sides of the mountain. Five of these are ascent-only paths (ie you can only walk up the mountain on them and you are not allowed to come down on these trails); one, Mweka, is a descent-only path, and one, the Marangu Route, is both an ascent and descent trail. At around 4000m these trails meet up with a path that loops right around the Kibo summit. This path is known as the Kibo Circuit, though it’s often divided into two halves known as the Northern and Southern circuits. By the time you reach the foot of Kibo, only three paths lead up the slopes to the summit itself. For a brief description of the trails and a look at their relative merits, read on; for a map, see p322, while for further details check out the full trail descriptions, beginning on p220. Note that some trekking agencies vary the routes slightly, particularly on the Shira Plateau, but any agency worth its salt will provide you with a detailed itinerary so you can check exactly which path you’ll be taking each day.
Ascending Kilimanjaro: the options
There are six ascent trails leading up to the foot of Kibo peak. These are (running anti-clockwise, beginning with the westernmost trail): the little-used Shira Plateau Route, the Lemosho Route, Machame Route, Umbwe Route, Marangu Route and, running from the north-east, the Loitokitok (Rongai) Route. Each of these six routes eventually meet with a path circling the foot of the Kibo cone, a path known as either the Northern Circuit or the Southern Circuit depending on which side of the mountain you are. (It is possible and very worthwhile to walk right around Kibo on this path, though this needs to be arranged beforehand with your agency, takes a long time, and permission from KINAPA may need to be sought before embarking on such an expedition.) The trails mix and merge, so that by the time you reach Kibo just three trails lead up to the crater rim: the Western Breach Route (aka the Arrow Glacier Route), Barafu Route, and the nameless third path which runs up from Kibo Huts to Gillman’s Point, and which we shall call the Kibo Huts Route. Which of these you will take to the summit depends upon which of the six paths you took to get this far: the Shira, Lemosho, Machame and Umbwe routes can use either the difficult Western Breach Route or the easier (but longer) Barafu Route, while the Marangu and Rongai trails use the Kibo Huts Route. You can deviate from this rule and design your own combination of trails to take you to the summit and back, but it will require special permission from KINAPA and the agencies charge a lot more to organize such a trek.
A brief description of each of the six main trails follows:
The Marangu Route (5-6 days) is the oldest and, officially at least, still the most popular trail on the mountain (though most guides now consider Machame, below, to be more popular). It is also the one that comes closest (though not very) to the trail Hans Meyer took in making the first successful assault on the summit. It is also the only ascent trail where camping is not necessary, indeed not allowed, with trekkers sleeping in dormitory huts along the way. From the Kibo Huts, trekkers climb up to the summit via Gillman’s Point. The trail should take a minimum of five days and four nights to complete, though an extra night is usually taken after the second day to allow trekkers to acclimatize.
The Machame Route (6-7 days) is possibly now the most popular trail on the mountain. Whether this is true or not, it’s certainly the one the majority of guides consider the most enjoyable. Though widely regarded as more difficult than the Marangu Route, the success rate on this trail is higher, possibly because it is a day longer at six days and five nights (assuming you take the Barafu Route to the summit) which gives trekkers more time to acclimatize; an extra acclimatization day can also be taken in the Karanga Valley. You can also take the more difficult Arrow Glacier Route though this shortens the trek by a day or two.
The Shira Plateau and Lemosho routes (5-8 days each) both run from west to east across the centre of the Shira Plateau. The Shira Plateau Route is the original plateau trail, though it is seldom used these days, for much of it is a 4WD track and walkers embarking on this trail often begin their trek above the forest in the moorland zone. After traversing the plateau the trekker has a choice of climbing Kibo via the Western Breach/Arrow Glacier Route, or the longer and easier Barafu Route. If opting for the former, expect the trek to last a total of five nights and six days. By the latter trail the walk could last as many as eight days if extra overnight stops on the plateau and in the Karanga Valley are taken – if not, six days is more likely.
The Lemosho Route improves on the Shira Plateau Route by starting below the Shira Ridge, thus providing trekkers with a walk in the forest at the start of the trek, giving them more time to acclimatize. As with the Shira Plateau Route, you can ascend Kibo either by the Arrow Glacier Route or by the Barafu Route; allow five nights for the former, up to seven nights for the latter if stops at Shira 1, Shira Huts and in the Karanga Valley are taken. It’s becoming very common for trekking agencies to refer to the Lemosho Route as the Shira Route, which is of course confusing. If you have already booked your ‘Shira’ trek and want to know what route it is you will be taking, one way to check is to see where your first night’s campsite will be; if it’s the Big Tree Campsite – or Mti Mkubwa in the local language – then it’s actually the Lemosho Route that you’ll be using.
The Rongai Route (5-6 days) is the only trail to approach Kibo from the north. Indeed, the original trail began right against the Kenyan border, though recently the trail shifted eastwards and now starts at the Tanzanian town of Loitokitok, after which the new trail has been named (though everybody still refers to it as the Rongai Route). For the final push to the summit, trekkers on this trail take the Kibo Huts Route, joining it either at the huts themselves or at the 5000m mark just below Hans Meyer Cave. Again the trek can be completed in five days and four nights, though trekkers usually take a detour to camp beneath Mawenzi peak, adding an extra day.
The Umbwe Route (5-6 days) is the hardest trail, a tough vertical slog through the jungle, in places using the tree roots as makeshift rungs on a ladder. Having reached the Southern Circuit, trekkers then traditionally continue north-west to tackle Kibo from the west and the more difficult Arrow Glacier/Western Breach Route, though you can also head east round to Barafu and approach the summit from there. The entire walk up and down takes a minimum of five days if going via the Barafu Campsite (though this is much too rapid; take six minimum, with a day at Karanga Valley); or four/five minimum (six is again better) if going via the Western Breach, with additional days if sleeping in the crater.
Descending Kilimanjaro – the designated descents
In an attempt to control the number of people walking on each trail, and thus limit the amount of soil erosion on some of the more popular routes, KINAPA introduced regulations regarding the descent routes and which ones you are allowed to take. In general, the main rule is as follows: those ascending Kilimanjaro from the west, south-west or south (ie by taking the Machame, Umbwe, Lemosho or Shira routes) must take as their descent route the Mweka trail; whereas if you have climbed the mountain from the south-east or north (ie on the Marangu or Rongai/Loitokitok trails) you must descend by the Marangu Route. See p292 for descriptions of these trails.
Those trekkers who wish to deviate from these rules should first seek permission from KINAPA.
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