The Machame route of Kilimanjaro
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Near the Kilimanjaro peak -
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The hike towards Lava tower -
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The Barranco Wall -
Climbing up the Barrangco wall -
Such change in sceneries! -
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Alpine Desert
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- Near the Kilimanjaro peak
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- The hike towards Lava tower
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- The Barranco Wall
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- Climbing up the Barrangco wall
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- Such change in sceneries!
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- Alpine Desert
Just a little bit more than a year now, me and my friends did the Kilimanjaro trek. We chose the Machame route, knowing its reputation as the most scenic of all the routes. Contrary to The Marangu route(Coca Cola route- the easiest), you are supposed to sleep in tents, and the path does not have a gradual ascent, which is the reason why Machame is called the Whiskey route!
The route takes six days minimum overall, but I would highly recommend to add another day. The Barranco camp to Barafu camp hike can be quite tricky for some(Mountain sickness), and for this reason, a night of stay at Karanga camp is beneficial for rest.
The organizer of our Hike is Zara. They are a well-established company, and I suppose a lot of international travel companies outsource their tours with them. I would highly recommend them if you want to organize a group trek. Note that the added cost of a portable toilet is worth it, especially with the SAD state of toilets up there.
In general, for this hike, I think it is good to be relatively fit. While the scenery is marvelous, you have to contend with altitude issues and fatigue because of the hike.
Some take Diamox to contain altitude sickness, but I would say it isn’t a Silver bullet.
To be continued…