Lemosho (Shira) Western Breach/Crater Camp route

8 Days/7 nights on Mount Kilimanjaro

We at Serengeti Pride Safaris & Kilimanjaro Climbs find that this route is very successful for our clients and is our favorite.   Although the Western Breach is a challenging day, with the excellent support of your highly trained and experienced guides you will find this to be an extremely rewarding way to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.   Some of the highlights of this route choice are that camps are less crowded than on Machame and than the latter half of Lemosho/Southern Circuit route (which overlaps with the busy Machame route).  Also, multiple days on Lemosho/Western Breach/Crater Camp route have relatively short hiking days where you will arrive at your next camp by lunch time or early afternoon.  This allows you to rest in camp, or take an afternoon nature walk or hike to help your body prepare for the next day.   We prefer this plan of moving slowly up the mountain over some other route options where you spend two nights in the same camp to acclimatize.  This route also allows you to spend a night at Kilimanjaro's Crater Camp.  The Crater is quite beautiful and a unique environment.  Those who arrive to Crater Camp early enough and with enough energy, can climb to the edge of the ash pit - quite a remarkable sight.  On your summit morning, a short 1 1/2 - 2 hour hike leads you from Crater Camp up to the summit - much more enjoyable than those ascending Machame, Marangu, Rongai routes who have been hiking for the summit since 11 PM or midnight. 

Mountain Day 1 – Forest Camp 8,817')

From town we drive several hours over highways, then dirt roads, and finally narrow dirt tracks to the Londorosi Gate where you will sign in with the rangers.  A short drive further to Lemosho Glades brings us to meet your porters and start the hike. From here we’ll walk about 4 hours through the forest to our camp. A picnic lunch will be provided during our hike.  In the forest, exotic moss and flowers delight the eye while bird calls entertain the ear.  You may see signs of the elephants that travel in this area. 

Our views open as we leave the Montane Forest and enter the Hagenia zone.  This is a good acclimatization hike of 6-9 hours as we climb to 11,500 before descending a little to camp.

Day 3 – Moir Camp (~13,650')

Our hike will take us across the Shira Plateau and onto the western slope of the Kibo Massif.  Hike around 5-6 hours through the Heath zone of the Shira Plateau, a World Heritage Site.  Picnic lunch en route.  Camp will be in the upper heath zone.  Acclimatization walk in the late afternoon.

Day 4 – Lava Tower Camp (~15,214') 

Today we hike about 3-4 hours to our camp near the Lava Tower, a volcanic lava plug on Kilimanjaro's flanks.   We enter the alpine zone, where plant life becomes much smaller and the landscape rocky and volcanic.  If time and weather permit, we'll have a short acclimatization hike after lunch in camp, or scramble up Lava Tower itself.

Day 5 – Arrow Glacier Camp (~15,960')

Today's hike is short, allowing us plenty of time to acclimatize at this high altitude.  The terrain and altitude make for much slower hiking as we ascend about 3 hours to Arrow Glacier Camp.  The Western Breach is visible above us in all its imposing glory.  Exploring the area around camp will help our acclimatization and improve our performance tomorrow. 

Day 6 – Western Breach to Crater Camp (~18,769') 

After an early start (5 AM) we will wind our way slowly up the Western Breach route to the crater rim of Kilimanjaro, about 7-8 hours of hiking due to the altitude despite the short distance.  Although the Breach does not have any technical climbing, it has some areas of scrambling where you use your hands to help you up rocky areas.  Once in the Crater, if time permits we might explore the inner crater and the ash pit. This route puts you in Crater Camp usually early enough in the day to maximize your chance of seeing the inner crater and ash pit.  Our Camp has wonderful view of the Crater's glaciers, and it is amazing to walk over to and around the nearest one. 

Day 7 – Summit and Mweka Camp (up to 19,340', down to 10,448')

Summit day. We will start our ascent to the summit (19,340ft - 5,896m) around 6:00 AM and reach the summit in under 2 hours. After taking in the view from Uhuru Peak we’ll begin the long descent down to Barafu Hut for lunch and then to our camp at Mweka Camp.  Hiking poles will help protect your knees on this steep descent.  A long day, around 8-11 hours usually.

Day 8 – Mweka Park Gate

We make the final descent to the trail head today, only 3-4 hours hiking. Here we will have lunch and say goodbye to our mountain crew before leaving Mount Kilimanjaro and heading back to town.