THE MARANGU ROUTE
Because this trail is popularly called the ‘Tourist Route’ or ‘Coca Cola Trail’, some trekkers are misled into thinking this five- or six-day climb to the summit is simply a walk in the (national) park. But remember that a greater proportion of people fail on this route than on any other. True, this may have something to do with the fact that Marangu’s reputation for being ‘easy’ attracts the more inexperienced, out-of-condition trekkers who don’t realize that they are embarking on a forty-kilometre uphill walk, followed immediately by a forty-kilometre knee-jarring descent. But it shouldn’t take much to realize that this is not much easier than any other trail: with the Machame Route, for example, you start at 1800m and aim for the summit at 5895m. On Marangu, you start just a little higher at 1828m and have the same goal, so simple logic should tell you that it can’t be that much easier.
The main reason why people say that Marangu is easier is because it is the only route where you sleep in huts, rather than under canvas. The accommodation in these huts should be booked in advance by your tour company, who have to pay a US$30 deposit per person per night to KINAPA in order to secure it. To cover this, the tour agencies will probably ask you to pay them some money in advance too. This deposit for the huts is refundable or can be moved to secure huts on other dates, providing you give KINAPA (and your agency) at least seven days’ notice.
Unfortunately, some of the cheaper agencies prefer to trust to luck when it comes to accommodation on the Marangu Route, deciding that it is too much bother to travel all the way to Marangu Gate to pay a deposit. Instead they prefer to assume/pray that there will be room in the huts for their clients when they get there. In days gone by this resulted in some trekkers sleeping on dining tables or hall floors in situations where the huts were overbooked. More and more frequently, however, KINAPA are refusing to allow trekkers without a reservation even to start their walk if the huts are fully booked. For your own peace of mind, therefore, you should ask your agency to show you a receipt confirming that they have paid a deposit for your accommodation on the trek. Furthermore, be suspicious of any agency that doesn’t ask for at least some of your trekking fee upfront to cover these deposits, or who agrees to accept a last-minute booking for the Marangu Route – they should have at least a day’s notice in order to book the huts and pay the deposits. Of course, in most cases these agencies get away with their lackadaisical approach to hut booking, simply because the huts aren’t always fully booked and there are usually enough spaces for you, especially if your party is a small one of only two or three trekkers. But don’t be surprised if, having booked with one of the cheaper and less reputable agencies, it transpires that there is no room for you at the huts and you get turned away at Marangu Gate. Incidentally, there are 70 spaces at Mandara Huts, 148 at Horombo – the extra beds are necessary because this hut is also used by those descending from Kibo, as well as those coming from the Rongai Route – and just 58 at Kibo. If any one of those are already booked to capacity on the night you wish to stay there, you will not be allowed to start your trek and will have to change your dates.
The fact that you do sleep in huts makes little difference to what you need to pack for the trek, for sleeping bags are still required (the huts have pillows and mattresses but that’s all) though you can dispense with a ground mat for this route. You may also need some small change should you give in to temptation and decide that the exorbitant price of sweets and drinks that are available at the huts is still a price worth paying. The fact that there’s no tent to carry, however, means you can probably get away with just two porters per person, or even one if you carry your own bag – something of a false economy I’ve found, as explained on p151. Regarding the sleeping situation, it does help if you can get to the huts early each day to grab the better beds. This doesn’t mean you should deliberately hurry to the huts, which will reduce your enjoyment of the trek and increase the possibility of AMS. But do try to start early each morning: that way you can avoid the crowds, beat them to the better beds, and possibly improve your chances of seeing some of Kili’s wildlife too.
In terms of duration, the Marangu Route is one of the shorter trails, taking just five days (or 24 hours if you happen to be as nutty as the Brazilian mentioned in the introduction to this book). Many people, however, opt to take an extra day to acclimatize at Horombo Huts, using that day to visit the Mawenzi Huts Campsite at 4538m. In theory this is entirely sensible, though in my experience just as many ‘six-day’ people fail as those who take five days. Aesthetically such a plan cannot be argued with, however, for the views from Mawenzi across the Saddle to Kibo truly take the breath away (assuming, that is, that you have some left to be taken away after all that climbing).
One aspect of the Marangu Route that could be seen by some as a drawback is that it is the only one where you ascend and descend via the same path. However, there are a couple of arguments to counter this perception: firstly, between Horombo and Kibo Huts there are two paths, and it shouldn’t take too much to persuade your guide to use one trail on the ascent and a different one on the way down; and secondly, we think that the walk back down the Marangu Route is one of the most pleasurable parts of the entire trek, with splendid views over the shoulder. Furthermore, it offers the chance to greet the crowds of sweating, red-faced unfortunates heading the other way with the smug expression of one for whom physical pain is now a thing of the past, and whose immediate future is filled with warm showers and cold beers.
STAGE 1: MARANGU GATE TO MANDARA HUTS [MAP 1, p174]
'The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.'
Robert Frost, as seen on a signwriter’s wall in Moshi
As the headquarters of KINAPA (Kilimanjaro National Park), you might expect Marangu Gate (altitude 1800m) to have the best facilities of all the gates, and it doesn’t disappoint. Not only does the gate have the usual registration office, but there’s also a picnic area, a payphone and some latrines, and a shop-cum-tour-agency that sells stamps, has a good collection of books and souvenirs and allows you to make international phone calls (at premium rates, of course). There’s also a small booth run by the Kilimanjaro Guides Cooperative where you can hire any equipment you may have forgotten to bring along, from essentials such as hats and fleeces, sleeping bags and water bottles, to camping stuff that you almost certainly won’t need on the trail such as stoves and so forth, which should be provided by your agency. Sample prices: ski poles Ts3000 per trip, sleeping bags Ts6000.
Having gone through the laborious business of registering (a process that usually takes at least an hour, though it can be quicker if you manage to get here before the large tour groups arrive), you begin your trek by following the wide, sealed road leading off to the north-west behind reception. After a few minutes the path divides. Take the left-hand trail; the right-hand path is a 4WD track used by the porters. Unfortunately, it is customary for some guides to send their trekkers on ahead with a porter on the first morning while they sort out the paperwork back at Marangu Gate, and as a result some trekkers unwittingly take the wider, uglier porters’ trail. Avoid this by insisting to whoever accompanies you that you take the trekkers’ trail, which is signposted (albeit not clearly) at the junction. NB During the research for this book, construction of a new trekkers-only path that begins right at Marangu Gate – thereby avoiding the 4WD road altogether – was already well under way, and by the time you read this should have been completed. This new path is marked on the map opposite.
This first day’s walk is a very pleasant one of about 6km or so, and though the route is uphill for virtually the entire time, there are enough distractions in the forest to take your mind off the exertion, from the tall and solid Macaranga kilimandscharica trees with their smooth grey bark by the entrance gate to troops of vervet monkeys further along. In the early stages the path is so neat and well maintained, lined with stones and with drainage channels on either side, that it feels at first as if you are walking in the grounds of an English country house rather than on the wild slopes of Africa’s highest mountain. Gradually, however, the forest closes in on all sides and the mountain’s endemic flora – the vivid red Impatiens kilimanjari and its violet cousin Impatiens pseudoviola – make their first appearance by the wayside, thereby confirming that you are on Kili and not at Chatsworth. The path soon veers towards and then follows the course of a mountain stream; sometimes through the increasingly impenetrable vegetation to your right you may be able to glimpse the occasional small waterfall.
After about an hour and a quarter a wooden bridge leads off the trail over this stream to the picnic tables at Kisambioni and a reunion with the 4WD porters’ trail. This is the half-way point of the first stage, and in all probability it is here that you will be served lunch.
'At a height of 6,300 feet, however, all these were merged in the primaeval forest, in which old patriarchs with knotted stunted forms stood closely together, many of them worsted in the perpetual struggle with the encroachments of the parasitical growths of almost fabulous strength and size, which enfolded trunks and branches alike in their fatal embrace, crippling the giants themselves and squeezing to death the mosses, lichens, and ferns which had clothed their nakedness. Everything living seemed doomed to fall prey to them, but they in their turn bore their own heavy burden of parasites; creepers, from a yard to two yards long, hanging down in garlands and festoons, or forming one thick veil shrouding whole clumps of trees. Wherever a little space had been left amongst the many fallen and decaying trunks, the ground was covered with a luxurious vegetation, including many varieties of herbaceous plants with bright coloured flowers, orchids, and the modest violet peeping out amongst them, whilst more numerous than all were different lycopods and sword-shaped ferns.'
Lieutenant Ludwig von Höhnel, Discovery by Count Teleki of Lakes Rudolf and Stefanie, 1894.
Returning to the trail and turning right, you continue climbing north for thirty minutes to another bridge, this time leading off to the right of the trail; your path, however, heads off to the left, due west directly away from the bridge. The trail is a little steeper now as you wind your way through the forest; this is a very pretty part of the walk, with varieties of Impatiens and begonias edging the path; though by now you may be feeling a little too tired to enjoy it to its fullest.
Press on, and fifteen minutes later a second bridge appears which you do take. Like some sort of botanical border post, the bridge heralds the first appearance of the giant heathers (Erica excelsa) on the trail, intermingling with the camphorwood tree, with masses of bearded lichen liberally draped over both; and though the forest reappears intermittently right up to the Maundi Crater, it’s the spindly heathers and stumpy shrubs of the second vegetation zone, the alpine heath, that now dominate.
From this second bridge, the first night’s accommodation, the Mandara Huts (2700m), lies just thirty-five minutes away. There are some smaller private rooms here, though most trekkers sleep in the large dormitory in the roof above the dining hall. If you have the energy, a quick fifteen-minute saunter to the parasitic cone known as the Maundi Crater (see Map 2) is worthwhile both for its views east over Taveta and north-west to Mawenzi and for the wild flowers and grasses growing on its slopes. On the way to the crater, look in the trees for the bands of semi-tame vervet monkeys that live here and are particularly active at dusk.
Incidentally, the Mandara Huts are the only huts on the mountain to be named after a person rather than a place. Mandara was the fearsome chief of Moshi, a warrior whose skill on the battlefield was matched only by his stunning greed and cupidity off it. Mandara once boasted that he had met every white man to visit Kilimanjaro, from Johannes Rebmann to Hans Meyer, and it’s a fair bet that all of them would have been required to present the chief with a huge array of presents brought from their own country. Failure to do so was not an option, for those who, in Mandara’s eye (he had only one, having lost the other in battle), were insufficiently generous in their gift-giving, put their lives in peril. The attack that led to the death of Charles New (see p84), for example, was said to have been orchestrated by Mandara after the latter had ‘insulted’ him by refusing to give the chief the watch from his wrist. Read any of the nineteenth-century accounts of Kilimanjaro and you’ll usually find plenty of pages devoted to this fascinating character – with few casting him in a favourable light.
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