Kilimanjaro Day Hike on the Machame Route from Moshi

Kilimanjaro National Park and Machame Gate

Kilimanjaro National Park protects the upper slopes of the highest free-standing mountain in the world, whose Uhuru Peak rises to five thousand eight hundred and ninety-five metres, and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. Machame Gate, at about one thousand eight hundred metres on the south-western side, is the start of the Machame Route, known among climbers for its steeper profile and for the most varied scenery on the mountain. The drive from Moshi takes around forty-five minutes to an hour through Machame village and its coffee and banana farms.

At the gate your guide completes the park registration while you watch the porters of the multi-day expeditions weighing their loads; the entrance fee for the day is paid by card here, which is why we ask you to bring a bank card. The Kilimanjaro day hike from Moshi then begins on the same wide forest track the summit climbers use, so you share the first steps of a journey that many people dream about.

The montane rainforest belt

The rainforest zone is the reason a Kilimanjaro day hike on the Machame Route is so rewarding. Between the gate and the forest's upper edge the trail climbs steadily through a dripping green world of giant tree ferns, moss-draped camphor and podocarpus trees, hanging lichens and wild flowers, including the red-and-yellow Impatiens kilimanjari that grows nowhere else on earth. Clouds often roll through in the afternoon, which keeps the forest cool and makes the light beautiful for photos.

Your guide points out black-and-white colobus monkeys leaping in the canopy, blue monkeys, turacos and hornbills, though as everywhere in the wild, sightings are never guaranteed. The forest section is usually walked for three to four hours up and about two to three hours down, with the turnaround point chosen by your guide according to the group's pace, the weather and the time; strong hikers reach the forest's upper edge, where the heather zone and the first long views over the plains begin.

Lunch on the mountain and the walk down

Your packed lunch is eaten at a rest point in the forest or near the turnaround, with the sounds of the forest around you and, on a clear day, glimpses of the summit glaciers through the trees. Drinking water is carried for you, but a reusable bottle you can refill is a good idea. The descent follows the same route and is faster but harder on the knees, so trekking poles help; they can be hired at the gate.

Back at Machame Gate you sign out of the park, and our vehicle drives you down to Moshi, arriving in the late afternoon or early evening. Is a Kilimanjaro day hike worth it if you are not climbing to the top? For most of our guests, absolutely: the forest is the richest ecological zone of the mountain, the walk is challenging but achievable, and you go to sleep in a comfortable bed in Moshi.

Moshi, the town at the foot of Kilimanjaro

Moshi is a relaxed, green town at around nine hundred metres on the southern foot of Kilimanjaro, about fifty kilometres from Kilimanjaro International Airport, and the natural base for anything on the mountain. On clear mornings, usually from your hotel roof before eight o'clock, the snow-capped summit of Kibo floats above the town; the best time for the view is the dry seasons of January to early March and June to October. Pickup for the hike is from any hotel in Moshi town.

If you stay longer, the same mountain slopes offer the Materuni waterfall and coffee villages, the Kikuletwa hot springs and the Marangu side of the mountain, all of which we can arrange as separate day trips. Guests staying in Arusha can join this hike too; the Arusha pickup is arranged with us in advance and paid locally, as it is not part of the standard option.