Kilimanjaro Machame Route

Kilimanjaro: Machame Route 7 Night/ 8 Day package African Encounters is a fully accredited ASATA member, the official regulating body for travel agents and tour operators in South Africa. That means when you book with us you have peace of mind that we are financially and operationally secure. Make sure you only book with official agents to protect yourself

Also referred to as the Whiskey Route, Machame attracts around 25% of the total climbers on the mountain. We feel that this is the most varied and scenic route up Kilimanjaro. The downside is that accommodation on the Machame route is strictly tents only. This is more than made up for by the incredible sights you will be treated to, that will not be seen by those who have chosen the easier Marangu route. From late afternoon sunsets at Shira, to the misty heights of Kibo at the great Barranco Wall, the Machame route provides the more adventurous hiker with stunning photo opportunities. The day walks are longer and steeper and generally physically more challenging than the Marangu route, so you need to be fit to do this route.

DAY 1: Moshi Today you will leave from Johannesburg International Airport for Kilimanjaro International Airport on Air Tanzania flight. Upon arrival you will be met and transferred to Moshi to spend your first evening in your hotel. You will be briefed on your climb either before dinner tonight, or before breakfast in the morning.

DAY 2: Machame Gate - Machame camp After breakfast you will be transferred from Moshi to Machame village where all your supplies and your equipment will be prepared by your guide, his team of porters and your cook. More than likely it will be wet and muddy so you will have take an hour long walk of nearly 3 km from the village to the Machame gate – otherwise you will be driven there if the road is dry enough. After you have registered at the gate office you will begin your Kilimanjaro climb for real. First, you will enter the rain forest (where it really does rain!), so you can fully expect to take a wet and soggy hike along a muddy trail until you hit the halfway point to the Machame camp. Here you will stop for lunch before heading off for the Machame camp. By the time you arrive at Machame Camp later in the afternoon your porters will already have arrived and will have started preparing everything for your arrival, your tents will be pitched and water will be on the boil. You will be given a supply of water to wash with and later on your cook will prepare dinner for you. African Encounters 40 Chester Rd Parkwood Johannesburg Tel: (011) 880 3079 Fax: 086 611 9589 Mail:[email protected]

Web: www.africanencounters.com

Kilimanjaro: Machame Route 7 Night/ 8 Day package You can expect temperatures to drop to freezing point at this campsite. Altitude range: 1500 metres – 3100 metres Hiking time: 7- 8 hours Distance: 16 – 19 km's Habitat: Rain forest

DAY 3: Machame camp - Shira camp After an early start you will be served breakfast at Machame Camp, then you climb an hour or so before you leave the glades of the forest. The gradient eases off a bit as you hike through moorlands for a further 2 hours until it’s time for lunch. After a quick lunch and a short rest you will continue your ascent up a rocky ridge leading onto the Shira plateau. On a clear day you will see from here the Western Breach with its awesome glaciers in the east. A short hike from here will bring you to the Shira campsite, where you will be spending the night. Again, the porters will have your tents pitched before you arrive and will boil drinking and washing water, before your cook prepares your dinner. At 3850 metres, your night at this camp will see temperatures dropping to more than just a few degrees below freezing. Altitude range: 2980 metres – 3850 metres Hiking time: 6 hours approx Distance: 9 – 10 km’s Habitat: Rain forest and Moorland

DAY 4: Shira Camp - Lava Tower - Barranco camp From Shira camp the route turns east towards Kibo and you will find yourself hiking through semi desert conditions and fairly rocky conditions surrounding Lava Tower – to get here you will have hiked for about 5 hours and you will have attained an altitude of over 4450 metres. You will have lunch before beginning your ascent towards Lava Tower at 4600 metres. After lunch you descend again by approximately 650 metres down to the Barranco camp – this will take a little over 2 hours of hiking. On the way you should make the most of the excellent vantage points along the way which overlook the Western Breach and Breach Wall – a good time to get your cameras out to get some stunning pictures. The camp is located in a valley just below the Breach and the rather impressive looking Great Barranco Wall. Enjoy the magnificent sunset while you wait for your cook to finish preparing a well deserved dinner and the porters get your tents ready for a night of rest in sub zero temperatures. Altitude range: 3850 metres – 4600 metres – 3950 metres Hiking time: 7 hours approx Distance: 14 - 15 km's African Encounters 40 Chester Rd Parkwood Johannesburg Tel: (011) 880 3079 Fax: 086 611 9589 Mail:[email protected]

Web: www.africanencounters.com

Kilimanjaro: Machame Route 7 Night/ 8 Day package Habitat: Semi desert and rocky terrain

Optional Extra: Extra acclimatisation day If you like, and we highly recommend this as it improves your chances of success by 75%, day 5 can be spent as an acclimatisation day. On this day you will walk from Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp. It will take around 4 hours over 7km through Alpine Desert. Your guide will use this walk to assess your strength and stamina for the summit ahead. This also assists your guide in determining the pace you should summit at and what time to wake up to begin hiking for the summit. This evening you will be sleeping at altitude, at around 4200 metres above sea level. On day 5, you will only ascend by 360 metres, hence giving you sufficient time to acclimatise. DAY 5: Barranco camp - Barafu camp After breakfast you will leave Barranco camp and make your way up the Great Barranco Wall – this part of the climb looks far worse than it really is – remember this when you start this climb! From the Great Barranco Wall you will then descend through the Karanga Valley over intervening ridges and valleys, to the junction that connects with the Mweka route. Make sure you fill up with water in the Karanga valley as there will be no water at Barafu camp where you will be spending part of the night. Carry your water in a thermal flask otherwise it will freeze later. Mweka is the preferred route down from the summit, so make a mental note to remember it. From this junction it will take you almost another hour to reach Barafu Hut. At an altitude of 4560 metres, your tents are pitched on a narrow, stony, and dangerous ridge and are exposed to all the elements – you can bank on gale force winds and a freezing night out here. At camp, your guide will advise you to familiarise yourself with your surroundings before dark, as you will be leaving at midnight to make the final ascent to the summit, and you won’t want to be caught stumbling around or causing an accident on this ridge at this stage. You will also need to spend some time preparing your equipment for your summit attempt. Ensure that headlamp and camera batteries are in order and make sure you have spare sets of batteries available as well. Make sure you are in bed by 19h00 - you will only have 4½ hours before your wake up call so it’s important to get as much sleep as possible before. Altitude range: 3950 metres – 4560 metres Hiking time: 7 hours Distance: About 13 km's Habitat: Alpine desert

African Encounters 40 Chester Rd Parkwood Johannesburg Tel: (011) 880 3079 Fax: 086 611 9589 Mail:[email protected]

Web: www.africanencounters.com

Kilimanjaro: Machame Route 7 Night/ 8 Day package DAY 6: SUMMIT: Stella Point, Uhuru Peak, Mweka Campsite Today will by far be your toughest day of climb, you will rise around 23h30, and after some tea and biscuits you head off into the night towards Stella Point on the crater rim. The walk to Stella point is for many climbers probably the most mentally and physically challenging part of the entire route. You will be hiking about 6 hours to get to Stella Point here you will stop for a rest and if the weather is kind, you will see a truly magnificent African sunrise. Departing from Stella Point, you will more than likely be walking through snow for the next 2 hour, when you will finally reach the summit of Uhuru Peak at 5895 metres. Don’t get too relaxed and spend too much time on the summit, even if the weather is good. Cold and fatigue will set in quickly and you may find it very difficult to get started again. So spend a little time to enjoy the fact that you have conquered Kilimanjaro, get the camera out and take some pictures, then it will be best that you get moving again – it’s a long way down! The first part of your descent to Barafu will take almost another 3 hours. Here you will stop for a short rest before heading down to Mweka hut – it takes an average of 5 hours to work your way down the rock and scree path to the moorland and eventually back into the rain forest. Mweka camp is situated in the upper forest and mist or rain can be expected in the late afternoon. As usual your tents, dinner, and washing water will be prepared Altitude range: 4560 metres – 5895 metres – 3100 metres Hiking time: 15 – 16 hours Distance: 30 kilometres Habitat: Snow, Ice and Stoney scree

DAY 7: Mweka camp - Mweka Gate After an early and well-deserved breakfast, it is a short 3-hour and scenic hike back to the Mweka Park gate, where you sign your name and enter your details in a register. To make your achievement official, you will receive a summit certificate. If you reached Stella Point you will be presented with a green certificate, and if you made it all the way to Uhuru Peak you will have earned yourself a gold certificate. It’s not over yet though - you still have to walk from the Mweka Gate down into the Mweka village, normally a muddy 3 km hike that will take an hour or so. Here you will be served a delicious hot lunch before returning to Moshi where you will stay at your hotel. Take some time out for a bit of celebrating before getting a decent night's rest in a comfortable bed. Altitude range: 3100 metres – 1970 metres Hiking time: 3 hours Distance: About 15 km's Habitat: Forest DAY 8: Back home After breakfast you will be transferred back to Kilimanjaro International Airport to catch your flight back home to Johannesburg. African Encounters 40 Chester Rd Parkwood Johannesburg Tel: (011) 880 3079 Fax: 086 611 9589 Mail:[email protected]

Web: www.africanencounters.com

Kilimanjaro: Machame Route 7 Night/ 8 Day package Pricing Structure Dates

Nights

1-5 Pax

6 Pax +

7

17,524.00

17,332.00

Machame Route 01.05.09 - 31.12.09

Package includes airport taxes of

R 2,000.00

These rates are based on a package price per person sharing with a minimum of 2 persons. All quotes are subject to availability, change due to airfare increases, hotel rate increases, currency exchange fluctuations and any other unforeseen circumstances, without prior notice. African Encounters Terms & Conditions apply. E&OE.

Price includes: • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Airfare Johannesburg – Kilimanjaro – Johannesburg All transfers Accommodation at Springlands hotel on a bed and breakfast basis All meals on the mountain Park Fees Camping and hut fees Guides and porters Camping equipment where applicable (tents mattresses, chairs and awnings) Mountain rescue fees Certificate Free door-to-door document delivery Free African Encounters travel bag South Africa air departure tax and air passenger tax

Price excludes: • • • • • •

Visas ($50) Guide and porter tips. Tips are compulsory, please see our tipping guide below. Drinks Sleeping bags Personal climbing equipment (these can be hired in Moshi) Inoculations

Health requirements: You have to have a Yellow Fever inoculation and a certificate to get into the country. These can be obtained from any travel clinic close to you (most Netcare hospitals have clinics, phone and enquire beforehand). The inoculation must be obtained at least 10 days prior to departure

Visas: As a South African passport holder you will be required to obtain a visa. Visas can be obtained: Upon arrival in Tanzania: This will cost you $50 and you only need to present your passport. You will not need to complete any forms or take any photographs. African Encounters 40 Chester Rd Parkwood Johannesburg Tel: (011) 880 3079 Fax: 086 611 9589 Mail:[email protected]

Web: www.africanencounters.com

Kilimanjaro: Machame Route 7 Night/ 8 Day package From South Africa: This will cost you $50 plus and additional R160 admin fee per application. We will require you to complete the visa application forms and supply us with two passport size photos per applicant. Direct: Directly from the Tanzanian embassy at 822 George Avenue, Arcadia, Pretoria, Tel: (012) 342-4393. We recommend that you obtain them when arriving in Tanzania, as this will save you time and money. *Travel Insurance: It is compulsory for all African Encounters clients to have comprehensive travel insurance. Please speak to one of our travel consultants who will gladly assist you with all your travel insurance needs

PLEASE NOTE A MAXIMUM OF 12KG IS ALLOWED ON THE MOUNTAIN. Tipping: It is compulsory to tip the staff who take you up the mountain. Below is a guideline of what to tip. This is per guide or porter, and the tips should be shared amongst all the climbers. You should pay your guide, advise him how much to pay to each individual, and he will then pay the staff in turn. Each guide has his own team, and it is in his interests to pay his staff what you have paid over to him: Guide (Chief Guide): Assistant guide: Cook: Porters:

US$10 - US$15per day. US$ 8 - US$12per day. US$ 5 - US$ 10per day US$ 5 to US$ 7 per porter per day

If you have any old clothing, please give this to them as well, as this is highly appreciated.

African Encounters 40 Chester Rd Parkwood Johannesburg Tel: (011) 880 3079 Fax: 086 611 9589 Mail:[email protected]

Web: www.africanencounters.com

Kilimanjaro: Machame Route 7 Night/ 8 Day package Package Name: Machame Route package Please complete the booking form and fax it back to your consultant at African Encounters. Please remember to mark it for his/her attention otherwise we can’t guarantee the booking. Travel Agency: Travel Agent name:

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African Encounters 40 Chester Rd Parkwood Johannesburg Tel: (011) 880 3079 Fax: 086 611 9589 Mail:[email protected]

Web: www.africanencounters.com