Mt Kilimanjaro Expedition

A Recommended Alternative

Lemosho North Route

The exciting, new Northern Circuit route follows the Lemosho trail at the start, approaching Kilimanjaro from the west. It veers north at the start of the Southern Circuit section, taking a course around the mountain along the rarely visited northern slopes. The Northern Circuit spends more days around the 13,000 ft (3963 m) level, increasing acclimatization. This route also has some of the most incredible and varied scenery on the mountain. You can find a detailed itinerary on the Itineraries page.

Other Considerations

Which is the best route for me?

Seven established routes to climb Mount Kilimanjaro give many options for you. The climbing routes- Marangu, Machame, Lemosho, Shira, Rongai, Northern Circuit and Umbwe-each have advantages and disadvantages. Although we call it "climbing" Mt. Kilimanjaro, there is no mountain climbing involved. These routes are simple, straight-forward hiking routes, only taking on difficulty due to a combination of steepness and altitude.

While the southern Mweka route is only used for descent, the Marangu, Machame, and Umbwe routes all approach from the south. The Lemosho, Shira and Northern Circuit routes approach from the west, and the Rongai route approaches from the north. The following map shows the routes in a basic layout.

Route Selection

Route selection needs to be based on your goals and a reasonable assessment of your chances of summitting. Your goals might include experiencing specific scenery, a specific hiking difficulty, and how many others are travelling along the same path as you. A reasonable assessment of your chances of summitting comes from your knowledge of your ability to acclimatize to altitude and the acclimatization aspects of a specific route. You need to ask yourself some questions to begin to assess your own acclimatization ability.

1. Do you know if you have problems at altitude?
2. Have you felt ill from being at higher altitude before [3050 m (10,000 ft) or higher]?
3. Have you been above 3050 m and gone through a successful acclimatization before?

If you answered question 3 with "yes" your chances of summitting are probably quite good. If you answered "yes" to questions 1 or 2, then you may have problems acclimatizing and want to increase your chances as much as possible, so you will want a route that maximizes acclimatization. Routes that "go high, camp lower" are better for acclimatizing, and routes that take longer at higher altitudes to get to your summit base camp are also better. The Lemosho and Machame routes are better for this. The Rongai route is better for those people who know they have little to no problem at altitude.

One option is to bag two mountains in one trip. Mt Meru, near Mt Kilimanjaro peaks at about 4900 m, similar to the summit base camps on Kilimanjaro. Hiking up Meru is good acclimatization for climbing Mt Kilimanjaro right after.

STATS ON ROUTE TRAFFIC
Machame (45%), Marangu (40%), Lemosho (8%), Rongai (5%), Shira (1%), Northern Circuit (0%), Umbwe (0%)

We prefer the best Kilimanjaro routes – those with the best success rates, excellent scenery, and low traffic.

BEST ACCLIMATIZATION ROUTES (MORE DAYS)
Lemosho Southern Circuit, Lemosho Northern Circuit, Machame Route

MOST SCENIC ROUTES
Lemosho Northern Circuit, Lemosho Southern Circuit, Machame Route, Rongai Route

LEAST TO MEDIUM TRAFFIC ROUTES
Lemosho Northern Circuit, Rongai Route, Lemosho Southern Circuit

MORE TO LESS DIFFICULT HIKING
Lemosho Northern Circuit, Lemosho Southern Circuit, Machame Route, Rongai Route

You can find more detail on the routes we normally take by following the navigation links under Mountain Expeditions at the top of the page. You can find detailed itineraries for popular expeditions on the Itineraries page.