6 Days Kilimanjaro Marangu Route

The Marangu Route is the oldest and most established path up Kilimanjaro. It is the only route on the mountain with permanent sleeping huts, dormitory style A frames at Mandara, Horombo and Kibo, which means you sleep on a wooden bunk with a mattress rather than in a tent. Meals are taken in a shared dining hut. For climbers who prefer a roof over their head and a slightly gentler daily schedule, Marangu is the natural choice.

The route ascends and descends on the same trail, up the south east side of the mountain and back down the same way. That symmetry gives Marangu a shorter total distance than the western routes and a gentler daily gradient, but it also means the classic acclimatisation trick of climb high and sleep low is only partially available. For that reason we run Marangu as a six day itinerary with an extra acclimatisation day at Horombo Hut (3,720 m), rather than the five day version that some operators still sell.

The scenery is more understated than Machame or Lemosho. The first day is a beautiful walk through cloud forest to Mandara Hut, with a chance to detour to the Maundi Crater rim for a first view of Kibo. The second day climbs through heather and moorland to Horombo, where you spend two nights. The third day is the acclimatisation walk to Zebra Rocks or Mawenzi Ridge, back to Horombo for a second night. Day four crosses the high alpine desert of the Saddle to Kibo Hut (4,703 m), the summit base. Summit night starts at midnight and finishes at Uhuru Peak (5,895 m) at sunrise, with the long descent back to Horombo by mid afternoon.

All our Marangu climbs are KPAP registered. Guides, assistant guides, cook and porters are paid the proper wage, are limited to 20 kg per porter, and are fed and sheltered to KPAP welfare standards. The extra acclimatisation day pushes success rates on our six day Marangu to around 80%, materially higher than the industry five day average of roughly 45%.