Mount Kilimanjaro - 8 day Machame Route
/In this blog post, I’m going to give you MY experience on the mountain and an in-depth description of each day, trekking the Machame Route. I also have other blog posts on Kilimanjaro - Packing Guide for Kilimanjaro and 10 things I didn’t know before climbing Kilimanjaro.
I climbed Kili at the beginning of September 2016 and still to this day, it’s THE best thing I've ever done. I booked the trek through STA Travel and G Adventures - I honestly can't recommend them enough! I booked the trip in March 2016 which gave me exactly 6 months to prepare. I was in the gym 5 days a week - spinning, running in my walking boots and doing many intense incline walks on the treadmill. I was also eating the cleanest I ever have done. Even though many experts say that you don’t need to have much climbing experience to tackle the mountain, I just knew that I wanted to be the fittest I could possibly be. In just a few months I lost over 2 stone and felt ready to go!
When I initially booked the trek, I wanted to use the most scenic route. Naively not knowing that it was one of the toughest ways up... it was so worth it though, the views were unbelievable! There are seven established routes to climb Mount Kilimanjaro - Marangu, Machame, Lemosho, Shira, Rongai, Northern Circuit and Umbwe. The Mweka Route is used only for the descent.
My main worries before climbing Kilimanjaro were, if altitude sickness was going to affect me, if I could survive camping in minus degree temperatures, not being able to shower or use a proper bathroom for over a week and obviously the big one - how the hell was I going to get to that all-important sign at Uhuru Peak!
London to Nairobi to Kilimanjaro
On September 2nd, I flew 9 hours with Kenya Airways from London Heathrow to Nairobi. After a short layover in Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, I then flew another hour to Kilimanjaro International Airport. THE smallest and most basic airport I’ve ever been to in my life. With one entrance, one exit, one security scanner, one check-in desk and one cafe.
It was now the morning of September 3rd.
The most amazing part of the journey was flying over Mount Kili before we landed at the airport. Suddenly the nerves hit me and the realisation that I was going to be on the mountain for the next week was terrifying! I obtained a visa on arrival which cost $50, however since 2018, you can now apply for your e-visa online before your trip.
I was picked up by a G Adventures representative and driven from Moshi to the Stella Maris Executive Lodge in Arusha. The drive was a massive culture shock. We passed by nothing but shacks, dirt roads and well… poverty. This was the first time I’d ever been to a country like this. After 40 minutes in the car, we arrived at the lodge and it was a relieving welcome.
I settled into my room and re-packed my duffel bag ready to set off the next morning. We then had a brief meeting with our tour leader and met the rest of the group. There were 11 of us all together. 4 people from Canada, 2 from Wales, 2 Australians and 2 other Brits. We were given dinner at the lodge, before heading to bed for an early night.
Arusha to Machame Gate
Meet the gang! Out of everyone in the group, I was the youngest and had the least hiking experience. Knowing this made me slightly more terrified but I quickly learned how lovely and supportive the whole group were going to be. We had all only met 12 hours before, now we were setting off on one of the greatest adventures of our lives.
We were told to meet at the front of the hotel at 8:30am to set off by 9am. Our bus arrived which was then loaded with all of our luggage and duffel bags. We were told to bring our own waterproof duffel bags just in case it rains on the mountain. I ended up hiring one from G Adventures at the hotel as the ones they had were much more durable. Baring in mind, these duffel bags carry everything you need for the week and are carried to the top of the mountain by the porters. Pack wisely and don’t take anything expensive. For example, a regular phone charger would be useless, however, a portable phone charger or a power bank will come in handy.
September 4th - it was a hot day! Before midday, it was already reaching 30 degrees. We got onto the bus and headed to the Machame Gate which is where the trek starts. The bus journey took around an hour, plus we had the chance to get snacks and use the ATM in the town. Arusha sits at 1,400m above sea level and we elevated another 400m to get to the Machame Gate.
Machame Gate to Machame Camp
When we arrived at the Machame Gate, we were given packed lunches and met the rest of our tour leaders. On the mountain, the G Adventures porters and guides are called G-Fighters. We waited a couple of hours before starting the trek, as we needed to be registered on the books. This is something we had to do each time we arrived at a new camp. I wasn’t expecting the gate to be so busy. There were a few hundred people waiting to start plus double the number of porters waiting to be assigned with their tour groups. For our group of 11, we had 35 porters all together. It works out that we get 3 each - one to carry our duffel bag, one to carry our tent, and one for food and water.
We made use of the last decent-ish toilets, then it was finally time to start walking. This part of the mountain is very green - kinda feels like a rainforest. Parts were muddy underfoot, with huge trees and we even got to see some Colobbus monkeys.
The initial climb is quite steep and we elevated quickly. The famous saying on Kilimanjaro in the Swahili language is ‘pole pole’, which means, go ‘slowly slowly’. I didn’t understand the meaning of it until the second or third day when the altitude started to affect me. Unless you’re used to high altitudes, you must walk slowly up the mountain. This is because your body needs time to acclimatise to the altitude.
On the first day, we walked 11km which took around 6 hours, including toilet stops, lunch and water breaks. Most of the way was through the rainforest and we were walking through the clouds too. We weren’t in direct sunlight as we were protected by the trees, however, the humidity was very high. SWEATY! Although, the higher we climbed, the cooler it became.
The last half an hour before reaching the Machame Camp was the hardest part of the day. I was starting to feel tired and dizzy and knew this was down to the altitude. When we left Machame Gate we were at 5,380 feet. By the time we reached Machame Gate, we had climbed up to 9,350 feet. Baring in mind, the summit of Kilimanjaro stands at 19,340 feet or 5895 meters tall. We still had a LONG way to go…
We arrived at the Machame Camp, still amongst the clouds. At this point, we hadn’t even seen the top of the mountain. The only time I’d seen it was from my aeroplane window. Just like magic, all the tents had already been put up and dinner was being prepared for us.
After registering at the camp, we were shown to our tents. We were given a bowl of hot water to wash our faces and we could change our clothes. The best thing I brought to the mountain were baby wipes. Oh I needed them.
A dinner tent was set up for us. We sat around the table where we were given popcorn and hot drinks. Just what we needed! Dinner was then served. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but certainly not fish and chips! I know it was only the first day, but wow - amazing! After we refuelled, our oxygen levels were tested. At sea level, normal oxygen levels should be 100%. At this point, we were all averaging between 85%-95%. Before heading to bed, our tour guides spoke to us about the history of the mountains and various stories of their lives working on Kili.
Machame Camp to Shira Cave Camp
The most important part about surviving Kili is to make sure you drink between 4 and 5 litres of water a day. That might sound like a crazy amount, but the G-Fighters swear by it. This also meant that our bladders were full every hour. Annoying, but necessary. The toilets… one of the worst parts of the mountain. To put it simply - there aren’t toilets. Unless you have a VIP tour group. The toilets were shacks, with a hole in the ground. I first experienced this in the pitch black, with only my headlight to guide me. Certainly not for the faint-hearted. I now feared how much worse they were going to get. I still had my dignity at this point.
September 5th - our second day on Kili, and we woke up to a beautiful clear day. And FINALLY, we could see the summit! It was actually very reassuring to see where we were heading. Even though it still looked like a million miles away.
The temperature dropped dramatically through the night which was a huge comparison to what it was during the day. Although, I did sleep a lot better than I thought I would. Every morning before breakfast, we were given a bowl of warm water to wash our faces and to brush our teeth. Breakfast was served, which consisted of porridge, toast and hot drinks. Topped with a litre of water - all before 9am.
Day 2 of trekking and the landscape changed dramatically. Suddenly, we were above the rainforest and above the clouds! We got super lucky with the weather and could see for miles. It was also great to see where we had walked the day before. It was hot and the path was steeper. We were climbing bigger steps and over boulders.
Kilimanjaro has three volcanic cones - Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira. Mawenzi and Shira are extinct, however, Kibo is dormant and could erupt again. Uhuru Peak is the highest summit on Kibo's crater rim - which is where we were headed. If you look closely through the clouds, you can see Mount Meru in the distance.
This day was the shortest day of hiking for the whole week. It took around 5 hours to complete 5km, which might sound like a long time, however, the ridges were very steep. Taking our time, ‘pole pole’ was the most important thing. We arrived at the Shira Cave Camp - again we had to register ourselves and were shown to our tents. At this camp, we were already at 12,500 feet.
I didn’t think anything was going to top fish and chips, but here we were. SPAG BOL! We were all very happy customers after that meal. We had an early dinner because surprisingly, we hadn’t finished walking for the day.
Just before sunset, we walked a couple of hundred metres off track, to the Shira Caves. The views were incredible from here.
The special part of this evening - when we were heading back down to camp, all the G-Fighters were singing and dancing. At one point, they were chanting our individual names. This is one of the most memorable moments of my life. Then of course, we all had to get a group photo.
Nothing could have prepared me for what happened next. THE most incredible sunset appeared just above the mountains in front of us. The sky and Kibo peak turned pink. I’ll let the next two pictures explain the rest.
For the rest of the evening, we played card games, had our oxygen levels tested again and were told more stories by our tour leaders. I was still feeling good at this point, but couldn’t wait to get into bed… sorry into my freezing sleeping bag.
Shira Cave Camp to Barranco Camp
September 6th consisted of walking over 7 hours and another 10km. The hardest day yet! From the moment we set off, I started to feel dizzy and short of breath. It’s normal to start feeling the altitude sickness from anything over 12,000 feet - as you enter into the very high altitude zone. Most of the people on my tour had already started taking Diamox, which helps the symptoms. I had researched about Diamox and even asked my doctor to prescribe me some before the trip, however, it wasn’t available at the time. I think it was more the lack of knowledge and understanding on their behalf - how dangerous and challenging Kilimanjaro is. Anyway, one of the ladies on our tour gave me a few of her Diamox tablets. It was probably too late to start taking them, however I was willing to do anything to start feeling better.
The first part of the day was hiking a long stretch up to the Lava Tower. This day is crucial as you climb up to 15,092 feet at the Lava Tower then drop back down 2,133 feet to Barranco Camp.
Although you begin and end the day at the same elevation, the time spent at a higher altitude is very beneficial for acclimatisation.
We hiked over a huge, rocky open area that seemed to never end. Although, we had Kibo peak in our sights the whole time which kept us going. Our original group had split up at this point. I was with Jess - a girl from our group, and two of the tour guides. Jess was amazing, she could have sprinted ahead but she stayed with me. We took it ‘pole pole’.
After a long 5 hours, we finally made it to the Lava Tower which is a
300 foot tall, volcanic rock formation. We ate our lunch sitting on the side of the tower, amongst the clouds. A very surreal experience. Just to put it into perspective, we were already at 3 times higher than Ben Nevis - the tallest mountain in the UK.
For the second part of the day, we made our way down to the Barranco Camp. Unfortunately, this wasn’t all downhill, but at parts, we could stride out and stretch our legs. We walked along steep edges, across several streams, waterfalls and saw many giant Groundsel trees. The wind and dust picked up as we walked over the exposed edges. At the time I didn’t have my gaiter on, so my neck and ears took the full force of the wind. I paid for this a few days later…
We finally arrived at the Barranco Camp. I was exhausted, dizzy, nauseous and had no appetite. We were back down to 13,066 feet. It was time to relax, eat and take 10,000 photos. We were surrounded by the most incredible scenery I’ve ever seen. This is what I was waiting for.
At this point, we were only two days away from summit night. Dinner time came again and there wasn’t a single spag bol insight. Every mealtime was now a different kind of soup. Celery, tomato, pumpkin, cauliflower - you name it, we had it. We were told to keep up our liquid intake so the soup definitely contributed to this. But forcing yourself to eat when you’re feeling sick is horrendous. I haven’t had soup since this trip - scarred for life!
Nope, that isn’t the sea - they’re clouds.
No matter how unwell I was feeling, the sunsets were keeping me going. I still can’t believe that was little old me, taking on the tallest mountain in Africa.
Nighttime came again, and so did the cold. Oh, and the need to urinate every hour. Even though the ‘toilets’ were only a few meters away from my tent, I woke up in the night and knew that I didn’t have the energy to make it there. So I went just outside my tent. Yup, dignity lost. BEST WEE EVER. I looked up and saw every star in the sky. It was magic. They were so big, I felt like I could touch them. Maybe I was hallucinating, maybe they really were that big.
Barranco Camp to Barafu Camp
On September 7th, we hiked to Barafu Camp, with a quick lunch stop at Karanga Camp. However, on the 9-day trek, you camp at both Karanga then Barafu. Barafu is around 600m higher than Karanga.
We first had to conquer the 900 foot Barranco Wall. This is the only time that we physically had to use our hands to climb. At parts, there were specific rocks we had to hold and stand on. One wrong step and we probably would have fallen to our death. No exaggeration.
The wall was physically demanding but we took it very slowly. We were following other tour groups which also helped to pace ourselves. We made it to the top of the Barranco Wall after a couple of hours. I started to feel so much better and energised, even after such a steep incline.
Meet our G-Fighters. They’ve climbed Kilimanjaro hundreds of times and for them, it’s a walk in the park. They’re superhuman. They don’t have much, yet they were always smiling and always made sure that we were ok.
Even the porters - they carry bags, chairs, tents, food and water up and down the mountain, balancing multiple items on their heads and backs. This trek is impossible to complete without them.
We were hiking on an open plain, just following the uphill path. The sun was beating down yet the freezing wind was biting our faces. I was starting to feel tired again, short of breath and my energy was zapped. From the Barranco Camp, we walked for over 9 hours and ticked another 9km off the target. For the last part of the day, I remember being split up from the group once more, and I was with one of the tour guides. He took my bag for the last few metres. I was struggling but relieved that I had made it to the highest camp before the summit.
A loo with a view at 15,331 feet above sea level. The sun was starting to set and it was the latest we had arrived at a camp. After another soup dinner - I barely took 5 mouthfuls, I remember making my way to these toilets. It was pitch black and I had to stop every 5 seconds just to get there. It was awful. I also remember stumbling back to my tent, feeling like I was going to collapse. Wishing I had started to take the Diamox earlier.
Barafu Camp to Uhuru Peak
We headed to bed around 9pm after having our oxygen levels tested for the last time. I was averaging around 70% at this point. We were given a couple of hours to sleep, ready to wake up around 11pm and hike to the summit. I don’t think I slept for a second. I was shivering and couldn’t control my body. I made the mistake of keeping all of my clothes on, which I had been wearing all day. Which included a thermal top and leggings, walking trousers, thick joggers, two t-shirts, two fleeces, a hat, a gaiter, three pairs of socks and two pairs of gloves. Also wrapped up in a sleeping bag. I WAS STILL COLD. Baring in mind, it was around -15 degrees. I should have taken some layers off, to let my body feel the benefit of them when they were reapplied.
Those two hours of ‘sleep’ were torture, but finally, it was time to head to Uhuru Peak - in the pitch black. It was now September 8th - I started off at the front of the group but sure enough, after 30 minutes we had all split up again. These next few hours were the hardest and scariest of my life. The route was so steep. I was still so cold and I had my eyes closed for most of the way up. Literally sleep-walking. We all had our head torches on which gave enough light to see a metre in front. When I looked up, it was amazing to see a line of head torches leading the way into the sky.
After a gruelling 7 hours of wanting to give up and throw up, the sun started to rise over Mawenzi Peak. This was the biggest relief, I can’t even begin to explain. I was stopping to rest every few meters with the help of one of the tour guides. He was amazing and ended up carrying my backpack for most of the way. He also was trying to warm me up by rubbing my hands and giving me hugs. At this point, I didn’t care that I was hugging a stranger on the side of a mountain.
I don’t really remember this photo being taken. But somehow I still managed a smile. We had already walked 4km from the Barafu Camp and were not too far away from Stella Point, which is a kilometre away from Uhuru Peak. I remember passing some of my tour group, already on their way back down to camp. They gave me the biggest hugs, which gave me the motivation I needed to carry on.
We were finally on the roof of Africa! At this point, the terrain was softer and less steep. The sun was starting to beat down on us, but the end was in sight. I was surrounded by huge glaciers and exhausted, broken faces.
I never expected the glaciers to look like this, they were huge! From this point, my tour guide was taking pictures. I was far too weak to even operate my camera. We only had a few metres to walk until the famous sign. I could see it… I COULD SEE IT!!!
I had been imagining this moment for years, ever since I saw those celebrities climb Kili for Comic Relief. It was nothing like I expected. Extreme altitude takes over your body and leaves you with the worst thoughts. I had visions of collapsing and being carried off the mountain or worse, not being able to get off at all. The fear left me frozen and unable to produce any emotion. Months ago, I thought I’d be balling my eyes out or even dancing around the sign. It was impossible. My body was physically broken. I wanted to cry and scream and laugh and put my middle finger in the air, but all I could say is, ‘I want to go back down.’
I think I was in shock and I couldn’t feel my fingers or toes. I couldn’t believe I had finally done it. I was on the roof of the tallest, free-standing mountain in the world. 19,341 feet. 5895m. All by myself. 10,000km away from home.
Before heading back down, I forced myself to drink and eat some biscuits. Before the trek, we were told to take a thermos flask for water, to stop it from freezing. Luckily this is something that I was prepared for. The journey back down was just as hard and the climb up. For the first time, my legs and knees were hurting. It took over 3 hours to get to camp. In total, it took me over 11 hours to the summit and then back down to Barafu Camp. I wasn’t sure who else from the group had made it back. All I wanted to do was sleep.
Barafu Camp to Mweka Camp
After a couple of hours of solid sleep in my tent, I was woken up by one of the guides. I was sweating - laying there in my full gear including walking boots. It was around 1pm in the afternoon. The whole group had made it back. It was such a great feeling to see everyone. Unfortunately, there was an older gentleman from our tour that didn’t make it to the summit. Nevertheless, it was such a proud moment for all of us. Even though we stank and felt completely broken. After a quick lunch, it was time to pack up our bags and start descending.
We were all so eager to get down - we practically sprinted. After just a few hundred metres, I started to feel so much better. It took just over 4 hours to cover another 12km and to get to our final camp. We had gotten so lucky with the weather. Before the trek, I’d heard of many horror stories of people being rained on their entire trip. We didn’t have a single drop. The sky had never been so clear. We could see the towns below the mountain - it was perfect.
We were given the best welcome. All the G-Fighters started singing and dancing again. Their favourite song is Hakuna Matata. Of course, we had to get another group photo. What an amazing team of people! To finish the evening, we had our last dinner on the mountain and then wasted no time in getting to bed.
Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate
September 9th - we woke up early and couldn’t wait to get our feet back on solid ground. The last part of the trek was another downhill 10km and it took us less than 4 hours. We actually ran down most of it. I couldn’t believe the energy we had. The Mweka path is relatively flat and it’s used only for descending off the mountain. The men of our group were the first down - they couldn’t wait any longer for beer! This is Nat and Adam, my fellow Brits of our group. I was supposed to take a photo at the summit with my flag, but for obvious reasons that didn’t happen.
Mweka Gate to Arusha
We packed up the bus were taken to a restaurant for lunch. We were absolutely stinking! We hadn’t had a shower for over a week! I had dust everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Plus my neck and ears were severely wind burnt. Surprisingly they let us into the restaurant haha! There was a gift shop at the restaurant where I purchased two Kilimanjaro t-shirts. After lunch, we were taken back to the hotel so we could rest and take that all-important shower. I must have been in there for over 30 minutes. The best shower of my life!
We were given a celebratory ceremony by our G Adventures tour guides and some of the local women. We were presented with certificates and bracelets made by the women.
In the evening, we ordered pizza - which had to be delivered by taxi. It also took a couple of hours to arrive but it was so worth it. Washed down with a couple of bottles of Savanna cider. We sat on the roof terrace of the hotel and played cards for the rest of the evening.
Our bodies started to suffer. I literally had to crawl up and down the stairs. My knees were completely shot. Maybe running down the mountain wasn’t such a good idea after all.
September 10th was my day of rest. I had an extra nights stay at the hotel whilst most of the group were heading to the Serengeti for a safari tour. The aches in my legs were horrendous so I was glad to not walk anywhere for 24 hours. I reconnected to the world and managed to speak with my parents. They were relieved that I was alive as they hadn’t heard from me for 8 days. I relaxed at the hotel all day and admired the clear view of Kili. It still hadn’t sunk in that I was up there only a few hours before.
