The Lemosho route has earned its reputation as Kilimanjaro's most scenic trail, unfurling panoramic views of the mountain from every side. As one of the newer routes it also happens to be one of the finest choices you can make, offering a rare balance of low crowds, beautiful scenery and a reassuringly high summit success rate. It is where we have guided some of our most memorable climbs, and it remains the route we most often recommend, with clients consistently reporting that they loved it.
Unlike the mountain's busier eastern approaches, Lemosho climbs from the west, beginning with a long drive from Moshi to Londorossi Gate. The first two days wind up through the rain forest to Shira Ridge, after which the route crosses the entire Shira Plateau from west to east in a pleasant, comparatively flat hike. Crowds stay thin until the trail merges with the Machame route near Lava Tower; from there you pass beneath Kilimanjaro's Southern Ice Field along the Southern Circuit before summiting from Barafu, then descend by way of the Mweka route.
Bueno Safaris offers Lemosho as an eight day group climb or as a seven to eight day private climb. The seven day variation folds days five and six together, heading straight from Barranco Camp to Barafu Camp without the night at Karanga; a nine day variation that includes an overnight at Crater Camp can be organised as a private climb by special request.
Whichever length you choose, the whole Lemosho approach is built around one goal: giving you the finest possible chance of a safe, joyful summit. The long, steady route rewards you with excellent acclimatization, wildlife and scenery on the lower slopes, and a quieter, more personal experience than the crowded eastern trails - in short, the ideal way to reach the roof of Africa.
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After an early breakfast (07.00hrs), you leave the hotel one hour later to arrive at the Londorosi Gate, where formalities are completed by around 11.00hrs and in time for your picnic lunch. After Londorosi, a short drive brings you to the start point of today's walk. Today your walk is a distance of 7 km/4 miles, with an expected 3.5 to 4 hours of walking time. Your starting altitude is some 2,100 metres and you finish at 2,650 metres. Your approach to the mountain using the Lemosho Route is from the west, which many people say provides the best views of Kilimanjaro. At the start of your walk, you may be lucky enough to spy some colobus or blue monkeys, though an encounter with buffalo, elephant or leopard – while possible – would be rare nowadays. Your walk, steadily upwards, is a wonderful experience, with fantastic forest and some really colourful flowers.
If anything, you soon grow used to the early 07.00hrs breakfast, and today you depart at 08.00hrs. The distance is only slightly longer than yesterday, but the climbing is greater - you ascend from 2,650 metres to 3,610 metres - and you can expect between 4.5 and 5 hours of walking. You begin climbing almost immediately, to the top of a ridge as you head eastwards and upwards. Today the trees of the first day thin out, until you eventually leave the forest behind completely as you step out onto the moorland. From here, you earn your first views of both the Shira Plateau and mighty Kibo itself. As ever the advice is the same: walk pole pole (slowly) to reduce the chances of feeling unwell. Your direction is largely eastwards, and a picnic lunch is taken around 13.00hrs. Walking is steep at first after lunch but then flattens, and with the snow-topped Kibo ahead of you, you descend slightly to Shira 1 Camp. Arriving at around 16.00hrs, there is some welcome resting time before dinner, served at 18.30hrs.
Today you potentially have a little less climbing to do than yesterday, so you celebrate (!) with a later breakfast at the leisurely hour of 08.00 and a departure roughly an hour afterwards. We say 'potentially' because your guide will explain that you can take the option of trekking via the Shira Cathedral, depending on how you are feeling (see below). The standard walking distance you cover today is about 7 km/4 miles, a steady uphill climb with roughly 3.5 to 4 hours of walk time in total.
You set off first in a south-easterly direction across the moor and heathland of the Shira Plateau, where buffalo, dik-dik and klipspringer graze and can occasionally be seen. By this standard route you intend to reach Shira 2 Camp at 3,850 metres - which is also known as Shira Huts - by 13.00hrs, in time for a cooked lunch, with dinner at 18.00hrs. (As we mentioned above, you can also choose to divert via the Shira Cathedral, at 3,872 metres or 12,703 feet; this adds walking to your day, but your extra hours of trekking are rewarded with stunning panoramic views of the plateau and beyond. Your guide will discuss the option with you in detail).
You are back to the early 07.00hrs breakfast today, ready for an 08.30hrs departure, with around 10 km/6 miles on the cards. Although you finish only 50 metres higher than you began, in between you must climb to the foot of the Lava Tower (4,600 metres) before you descend once more, down to Baranco Camp at 3,900 metres for your overnight stop.
Plan for a total of 6.5 to 7 hours of walking, during which you leave the Shira Ridge behind. The Lemosho Route joins the busier Machame trail here, so the path grows noticeably more crowded. The scenery meanwhile shifts to predominantly alpine desert. Your picnic lunch falls at 13.00hrs, arrival at Baranco is around 16.00hrs and dinner at about 19.00hrs.
You breakfast a touch later at 07.30hrs and leave camp at 08.30hrs. Today's walk is genuinely short - just 4 km/2 miles - yet it still demands between 3.5 and 4 hours of trekking. The day begins with the hardest section, as you scramble up the near-vertical face of the Baranco Wall, fittingly nicknamed the Breakfast Wall since you tackle it right after your breakfast.
At the top of this climb you are rewarded with views of the Heim Glacier, after which matters ease: you first descend gradually to the gully below and into the cold but beautiful Karanga Valley, then finish with a steep series of zig-zags up to Karanga Camp at 3,995 metres. Your overall altitude gain today is only 95 metres, and you break for a cooked lunch on arrival at around 13.00hrs, with the afternoon free to enjoy the views before dinner at 18.00hrs.
Another short day - in terms of distance at least - begins with breakfast at 07.30hrs and an 08.30hrs departure. Today you ascend about 670 metres across roughly 5 km/3 miles, with walking time once again between 3.5 and 4 hours. The aim is to reach Barafu Camp at 4,673 metres by 13.00hrs, rewarded with a cooked lunch. With tomorrow being summit day, it is vital to relax and prepare for the hard work ahead. Dinner tonight is served at 17.30hrs, giving you time to get to bed early.
After leaving Karanga, the stage climbs steadily through barren, rocky landscape, with the Decken and Kersten glaciers glinting away to your left. At the top of the climb, the terrain stays bleak as you descend into a valley, where you get your first sight of another glacier, the Rebmann. The day's goal, Barafu Camp, waits at the end of this valley, reached after a short, steep scramble and a walk.
Today is the hardest day of the climb, balanced by the immeasurable sense of achievement that comes with reaching your goal - the summit of Kilimanjaro! Your schedule is necessarily very different from your other days on the mountain. Rising at 23.00hrs, you take tea and biscuits at 23.30hrs before departing at midnight. The day starts with the long, tough climb from Barafu at 4,673 metres to Stella Point at 5,756 metres, some of it across loose scree that hampers every step.
From Stella Point, a further 139 metres of ascent and 45 minutes of walking remain to the summit. Your goal is to crown the mountain by around 07.00hrs, then celebrate, take your precious photos and enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime experience. After the summit (5,895 metres), you return to Barafu (4,673 metres), where you rest for a couple of hours, take a brunch and then leave again at 13.30hrs to continue the descent to Mweka Camp (3,100 metres), where you spend the night.
You would expect to arrive there at 17.00hrs and take your dinner at 19.00hrs. In total you cover around 17 km/10 miles today - 11 to 14 hours of walking, tough going, but with your objective hopefully achieved!
After breakfast the descent resumes through mossy forest toward the Mweka Park Gate, where your summit certificates wait. At these lower altitudes the ground can be wet and muddy, so gaiters and trekking poles are useful. Shorts and t-shirts will probably be plenty to wear, with rain gear and warmer clothing kept handy. From the gate you continue another hour to Mweka Village, where a vehicle meets you to drive you back to your hotel in Moshi.
Although you still have 10 km/6 miles to walk, departure is at a leisurely 09.00hrs and you descend steadily to the Mweka Gate, which sits at an altitude of 1,640 metres. There you are served a cooked lunch at midday and presented with your hard-earned certificate. Your transport is waiting to bring you back to your hotel in Moshi, where you can choose to relax - or, if you have any energy left, to celebrate!
Lemosho begins far on the western flank of the mountain, and this map shows exactly why that distant entrance rewards you with Kilimanjaro's grandest panoramas. Follow the drive from Moshi, the crossing of the Shira Plateau and the southern circuit toward the summit, all at a single glance. It is the perfect companion for understanding this remote and beautiful approach.
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