February 07, 2026
Depart from home country. 

February 08
Arrive JRO/Kilimanjaro Tanzania. You will be picked up from Kilimanjaro airport and transported to the Four Points Arusha hotel. This will be our team base pre and post trip. 

Mandatory arrival day for the whole team.

February 09
Full day of orientation, Q&A, gear checks and packing at our hotel. 
Team dinner at a local restaurant. 

February 10
We drive 2 hours to the Machame Gate of Kilimanjaro National Park and trek to Machame Camp at 10,000 feet elevation. Today will we walk through the beautiful montane forest, with huge tree ferns, flowers, towering camphor hardwoods, and giant heather (Erica arborea) trees. The montane forest zone of Kilimanjaro is the most lush and receives the most rainfall on the mountain. Expect some mud and rain this day.

Elevation gain: 3,800 ft.
Time: 6-6.5 hours on average
Distance: About 10 km/6.5 miles

February 11
We will climb more steeply day 2 through the rocky heather and moorlands zone to Shira camp at 12,500 elevation. Shira camp is located on the vast Shira plateau. An ancient volcanic plateau created by the eruptions of the oldest of the mountains volcanic cones Shira, approximately 2.3 million years old. From Shira we can see the upper mountain very clearly and have great views West to Mt Meru towering over Arusha.

Elevation gain: 2,600 ft.
Time: 5-6 hours average
Distance: About 8 km/5 miles

February 12
We ascend more gradual terrain towards the dramatic Western slope of Kilimanjaro. Day 3 is a critical day for acclimation and we follow the very effective climb high, sleep low methodology. This is also one of the most scenic and beautiful days as we reach to Lava Tower at 15,000’ and descend into the beautiful Barranco valley to Barranco camp at 12,900’. This is the 2nd longest day of the climb, 8 hours on average. Barranco camp is located in a protected, u shaped glacial valley surrounded by unique plant life and dramatic views up the massive breach wall of the mountain.

Elevation gain: 2,500 ft.
Elevation loss: 2,100 ft.
Time: 8–9 hours average
Distance: About 12 km/7.5 miles

February 13
With an early start to beat traffic, we will ascend the fabled Barranco wall, complete with a little scrambling just after sunrise. 1,000 feet of gain up the Barranco wall take us to one of our most favorite break spots on the whole mountain. We enjoy a long break with great views of the Southern side of Kilimanjaro, all the way down to the forested slopes on the Umbwe river gorge. We then traverse East to Karanga camp at 13,300 feet and our 4th nights camp. Today is the shortest day of the trip, we are in camp by 12 noon and can rest and relax before the push to high camp the following day. Lunch is in camp on this day.

Elevation gain: 2,000 ft.
Elevation loss: 800 ft.
Time: 4–5 hours average
Distance: About 5 km/3.25 miles

February 14
From Karanga camp at 13,300’ we will ascend at 1st moderate terrain, and then steeper terrain to our special high camp called Kosovo, 15,800’ Typically in 4 pushes, about 1 hour each. We stay 800 feet higher than most climbers, who camp at Barafu 15,000 feet (our 3rd break point), and thus we have a shorter summit push. We will have lunch in camp and then have a detailed summit briefing to discuss schedule and strategy. We go to bed early, prepped for our summit bid.

Elevation gain: 2,500 ft.
Time: 5 hours
Distance: About 6 km/3.7miles

February 15 Summit Day!
We awake by 11pm for a light meal before beginning our summit push at 12am from 15,800 feet. We will ascend packed scree (small rocks) on switchbacks, averaging about 600-650 feet gain per hour push, with a maintenance break between pushes. The 5th break is at Stella Point 18,900 feet where you gain the crater rim of the volcano. We enjoy some hot tea before continuing 1 hour more up to the summit, Uhuru at 19,344 feet. Uhuru means “freedom” in Swahili and symbolizes the country of Tanganyika gaining its independence from Britain on December 09, 1961. Typically the summit is 6 pushes, and around 7-7.5 hours to Uhuru. The descent is done in 2 stages. 1st stage we descend from Uhuru back to Kosovo, have a little rest and then pack up our tents and enjoy lunch. Summit back to Kosovo is 2-3 hours. We then descend down to Millennium camp at 12,250 feet in the heather/moorlands zone for our last night on the mountain. 2-3 hours descent from Kosovo camp. Note: there is significant elevation loss on the last 2 days of the trip (14,000 feet over 2 days) and some folks underestimate this part of the trek.

Summit day average times:
Kosovo—Summit 7–8 hours
Summit— Upper Kosovo 2–3 hours
Kosovo—Millenium 2.5–3 hours

Elevation gain to Uhuru 3,544 ft.
Distance Kosovo-Uhuru-Kosovo About 9.5 km/6 miles

Millennium Camp 12,250 ft.
Elevation loss Uhuru to Millennium 7,150 feet
Distance Kosovo to Millennium: About 4.8 km/3 miles

February 16
We awake early to begin the long descent to the Mweka gate at 5,400 feet. Stage 1 takes us down rocky terrain to Mweka camp at 10,000 feet and the edge of the montane forest zone, in 2-2.5 hours. Stage 2 takes us through the lush montane forest to the Mweka gate at 5,4oo feet and around 3 hours. At the gate we will get our summit certificates from the national park, have a buffet lunch followed by a tipping ceremony for our amazing Tanzanian crew. After celebrating with our crew, we load up in the land cruisers to drive back to Arusha. We will enjoy a celebration dinner together at the hotel to wrap up an amazing journey together. For those joining a safari with us, there will be a short briefing pre dinner.

Elevation loss: 6,900 ft to Mweka Gate
Time: 5-5.5 hours on average
Distance: About 13.7 km/8.5 miles

February 17 Optional Safari Day 1

• Departures for home start from this day.

• For Safari participants, this is the 1st day of Safari.

• Safari itinerary subject to change. Based on team size and availability, travel order of safari parks may be reversed).

  Your safari will begin with an early am flight from the local Arusha airport to Seronera, deep in the heart of the Serengeti National Park. The flight is about 45-50 minutes. At Seronera, your guides from Bushbuck Safaris will pick you and start you game drive in the Southern Serengeti for the full day. The Serengeti is huge, over 5,700 Sq miles and one of the most famous parks to see lions, cheetah, leopard, hippo, zebra, antelope, elephants and bird life.

Overnight will be at the 4 star Serena Serengeti

February 18 Safari Day 2 Arrive home USA if not joining safari.

Day 2 of safari will take you thru the Southern Serengeti to Ngorongoro crater, one of the largest volcanic calderas on the planet. We spend the afternoon in the crater, one of the best places to view wildlife. Here we encounter herds of zebra, antelope, buffalo, elephant and hippo. Lion prides are very common and you are likely to see cheetah as well as serval, a smaller cat.

We overnight comfortably in Karatu, just down from the Carter rim of Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

February 19 Safari Day 3

We begin today with a drive down over the great rift to reach Tarangire National Park. This beautiful valley overlooks African grassland, sprinkled with acacia and baobab trees and is known for its variety of large mammals, particularly elephants and giraffe. Tarangire is home to the greatest concentration of elephants in Africa.

After enjoying a long, leisurely game drive between herds of wild animals and along miles of Africa’s seemingly endless roads, we will come over a slight rise and the lodge appears almost immediately below us. Built to blend in with the vastness of its surroundings, our lodge lies hidden among the kopjes, ancient baobab and grasslands.

Overnight will be at the 4 star Tarangire Sopa Lodge

February 20 Safari Day 4

Today will begin with a game drive to exit Tarangire National Park, followed by a 2.5 hour drive back to Arusha. You will arrive back to the Four Points Arusha Hotel by 12:30pm for lunch. Bushbuck will then transport you to JRO/Kilimanjaro airport for an evening departure to home.

Fly home evening from JRO/Kilimanjaro Airport

February 21 Arrive home from Safari