Kilimanjaro Climb Shira Route

6 days— With the Hiking & Trekking tour Kilimanjaro Climb Shira route

$2100-2200 USD

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Safari summary

6 Days 5 Nights . Tanzania . Multi-Environment Adventure

Almighty Kilimanjaro leads treks up the Shira route. The Shira Route traverses the large Shira Plateau to join the Machame Route. The Shira Plateau west of Kibo is the remains of Kilimanjaro's first volcano. Mawenzi erupted second, and finally, supported by its neighbors, Kibo rose to its great height between Shira and Mawenzi. Older and more eroded than Mawenzi, the Shira Plateau's ridges and moorland comprise one of Kilimanjaro's most scenic areas. The drive to Shira offers magnificent views of the Great Rift Valley, Mount Meru, and Longido, and the plateau's parasitic cones extend north of the road, rising from from plain to plateau. The vegetation changes along the route are striking. The plateau is grassland, heath, and moor, with senecios up to 10 meters high in valleys near the cone.

About this tour

	Tour type	Set-date, set-itinerary, group
	Main focus	Hiking \| trekking
	Activity level	Strenuous activity
	Best months	All months
	Countries	Tanzania
	Parks	Kilimanjaro

Fine details

Safari highlights

Bird watching—with professional guide
Photography safari—with professional guide
Hiking | trekking

What’s included?

Accommodation
Airport transfers
Meals
Park fees
Private vehicle and driver

What’s not included?

Alcoholic beverages
All drinks
Hot air balloons
Internal flights
International flights
Laundry
Premium alcoholic beverages
Spa treatments
Tips and gratuities
Visas

Itinerary

Shira Camp

After breakfast and a briefing from your guide, leave Moshi and drive for several hours to the Shira Gate on the western side of Kilimanjaro, register with the national park. Begin hiking, and enter the rain forest immediately. Your walk through the rainforest is on a winding muddy trail up a ridge. At these lower elevations, it can be wet and muddy, so gaiters and trekking poles will help. Stop halfway for lunch, and reach the Shira Camp in the afternoon.

Camping

Shira Camp

After breakfast, you will hike east up a steepening path above the highest vegetation toward Kilimanjaro’s looming mass. After several hours, you walk through a rocky landscape to reach the prominent landmark called Lava Tower at 4,630 m/15,190 ft. This chunky remnant of Kilimanjaro’s earlier volcanic activity is several hundred feet high, and the trail passes right below it. For extra credit, the sure-footed can scramble to the top of the tower.

Camping

Barranco Camp

After breakfast, we continue up a steep ridge to the great Barranco Wall, then you climb this imposing obstacle, which turns out to be easier than it looks. Topping out just below the Heim Glacier, you can now appreciate just how beautiful Kilimanjaro really is. With Kibo’s glaciers soaring overhead, you descend into the lush Karanga valley to the Karanga Valley campsite. From the camp, you can look east and see the jagged peaks of Mawenzi jutting into the African sky.

Camping

Barafu Hut

In the morning, you hike east over intervening ridges and valleys to join the Mweka Route, which will be your descent route. Turn left toward the mountain and hike up the ridge through a sparse landscape for another hour to the Barafu Hut where you will receive a hot lunch. The last water on the route is in the Karanga Valley; there is no water at Barafu Camp, The famous snows of Kilimanjaro are far above Barafu Camp near the summit of the mountain.

Camping

Mweka Camp

You will rise around 11:30 PM, and after some steaming tea and biscuits, you shuffle off into the night. Your 6-hour climb northwest up through heavy scree between the Rebmann and Ratzel glaciers to Stella Point on the crater rim is the most challenging part of the route for most climbers. At Stella Point (5,685 m/18,650 ft) you stop for a short rest and a chance to see a supremely sanguine sunrise.

Camping

Mweka Gate

After a well-deserved breakfast, it is a short, scenic, 3-hour hike back to the park gate. Don’t give your porters any tips until you and all your gear have reached the gate safely, but do remember to tip your staff at the gate. At Mweka Gate, you can sign your name and add details to a register. This is also where successful climbers receive their summit certificates.

Hotel

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