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7 Days Umbwe Route – Kilimanjaro Climbing
Overview
Kilimanjaro Umbwe route is a short route, providing challenges as it is very difficult to climb due to its steepness. It is arguably the least frequented route on Kilimanjaro passes through the tropical rainforest and runs long the Machame Route, joining it at Barranco Camp. The traffic in this route is very low and unless a day is added to the climb. The route is offered at a minimum of six days, but seven days is preferred. This route also merges along with Machame, Lemosho, and Shira Route. If one wants more adventure, then one can approach the Western Breach route -risky and dangerous.
It requires some scrambling (climbing on hands and feet) at certain points. This path is very beautiful but also very challenging due to its rocks formations and its steep slope. The Western Beach was gaining popularity by climbers using the Umbwe route, Lemosho, Shira and Machame routes until a rock fall claimed the lives of three climbers in January 2006. In response, Kilimanjaro National Park (KINAPA) closed the Western Breach Route, but in 2007 KINAPA opened it again with the conditions that all clients and their supporting members who want to use this option must sign at the entrance gate that they are doing for their own risk.
INCLUDE / EXCLUDE
- National park entry fee
- Camping / hut fee
- Rescue service
- All meals while on the mountain (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner)
- Fair wages for mountain crew as approved by the Kilimanjaro national park and Kilimanjaro association tour operator
- Round trip airport transfers between Moshi and JRO
- Round trip transfers between Moshi and mountain gates
- Hotel stays in Moshi for pre and post trek (2 nights in total) on bed and breakfast
- 4 Season mountain tents.
- Double layered sleeping mats
- Private portable toilet
- Wash basins with hot water each morning and evening
- Treated drinking water 3L or more everyday
- Portable oxygen tanks and ox-meter.
- Emergence first aid kit.
- International or Local flights
- Rental gears
- Tips for guides, porters and other staff
- Lunches, dinners and drinks at your hotel before and after climb.
- Laundry [available in hotel]
- Personal items at toiletries.
- Meals and drinks at the hotel in Arusha
- Travel Insurance, Visa and Medical Insurance
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Reasons to Book with Uphill Treks
SAFETY FIRST
We use equipment of international standards & our guides are trained in First aid & personal protection equipment
CUSTOMER SATISFICATION
We reward our staff based on your feedback & that results in all of us working towards making your trip memorable
Personalized Service
Our guides are trained to pay attention to each clients requirements & situation & customize the program accordingly
Easy Booking
Book by paying advance by card on our website. Balance can be paid upon arrival, before the tour
FULL ITINERARY
You will be picked up at the Kilimanjaro international airport and transferred to your hotel in moshi town, you will meet your Kilimanjaro guide who will brief you on your upcoming trek (Challenging Kilimanjaro Route Climb, Umbwe Route). Our Kilimanjaro Guide will do an equipment check to make sure you have all the necessary mountain gear. The missing gear can be rented on this day .
Meals: no lunch & dinner included.
Your day starts early with a briefing, followed by breakfast and an hour drive from Moshi to Umbwe Village (1,490 m/4,890 ft) where your guides and porters pack your equipment and supplies, and give you a lunch pack. You start your ascent at the small Umbwe Gate just above the village and follow a gentle winding vehicle track for an hour to a signboard that announces the small steep Umbwe trail. The introduction is over, and you now climb up for several hours through a dense forest of rubber trees and giant fig trees. In places, you must scamper up steep sections of roots and rock. The Umbwe Camp is in the forest, and there are some caves nearby. You will be greeted here with a graciously served hot meal.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner included.
Your day starts early with a steaming cup of tea or coffee. After breakfast, you will climb steeply through thinning forest glades to Giant Erica, Heather, and drier air. You continue up a ridge that drops steeply on both sides, and hopefully, the clouds will part to reward you with a view of Uhuru Peak looming overhead. After lunch, you enter a zone of giant groundsels (Scenario Kilimanjaro) that seem to guard the heights, and this garden is one of Kilimanjaros special treasures.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner included.
Extra Day for Acclimatization. Adding this day will ease your effort, and amplify your acclimatization.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner included.
After breakfast, we continue up a steep ridge to the great Barranco Wall, and then you climb this imposing obstacle, which turns out to be easier than it looks. Topping out just below the Heim Glacier, you can now appreciate just how beautiful Kilimanjaro really is. With Kibo's glaciers soaring overhead, you descend into the lush Karanga Valley to the Karanga Valley campsite. From the camp, you can look east and see the jagged peaks of Mawenzi jutting into the African sky. After a hot lunch in camp, your afternoon is at leisure for resting or exploring. This short day is very important for your acclimatization, since your summit push is about to start. Scramble easily to the top of the Great Barranco and then a traverse over screes and ridges to the Karanga Valley campsite (3h, 4000m.), beneath the icefalls of the Southern Glaciers.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner included.
In the morning, you hike east over intervening ridges and valleys to join the Mweka Route, which will be your descent route. Turn left toward the mountain and hike up the ridge through a sparse landscape for another hour to the Barafu Hut where you will receive a hot lunch. The last water on the route is in the Karanga Valley; there is no water at Barafu Camp, even though Barafu is the Swahili word for ice. The famous snows of Kilimanjaro are far above Barafu Camp near the summit of the mountain. Your tent will be pitched on a narrow, stony, wind-swept ridge, so make sure that you familiarize yourself with the terrain before dark to avoid any accidents. Prepare your equipment and warm clothing for your summit climb, and drink a lot of fluids. After an early dinner, go to bed for a few hours of precious sleep
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner included.
You will rise around 11:30 PM, and after some steaming tea and biscuits, you shuffle off into the night. Your 6-hour climb northwest up through heavy scree between the Rebmann and Ratzel glaciers to Stella Point on the crater rim is the most challenging part of the route for most climbers. At Stella Point (5,685 m/18,650 ft) you stop for a short rest and a chance to see a supremely sanguine sunrise. At Stella Point you join the top part of the Marangu Route, but do not stop here too long, as it will be extremely difficult to start again due to cold and fatigue. Depending on the season and recent storms, you may encounter snow on your remaining hike along the rim to Uhuru Peak.
On the summit, you can enjoy your accomplishment and know that you are creating a day that you will remember for the rest of your life. After your 3-hour descent from the summit back to Barafu Camp, you will have a well-earned but short rest, collect your gear, and hike down a rock and scree path into the moorland and eventually into the forest to Mweka Camp (3,100 m/10,170 ft). This camp is in the upper forest, so you can expect mist or rain in the late afternoon. Dinner, and washing water will be prepared, and the camp office sells drinking water, soft drinks, chocolates, and beer!
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner included.
After a well-deserved breakfast, it is a short, scenic, 3-hour hike back to the park gate. Don't give your porters any tips until you and all your gear have reached the gate safely, but do remember to tip your staff at the gate. At Mweka Gate, you can sign your name and add details in a register. This is also where successful climbers receive their summit certificates. Climbers who reached Stella Point are issued green certificates and those who reached Uhuru Peak receive gold certificates. From the Mweka Gate, you will continue down to the Mweka Village, possibly a muddy, 3 km, 1 hour hike if the road is too muddy for vehicles. In the Mweka Village you will be served a delicious hot lunch after which you are driven back to Moshi for an overdue hot shower and comfortable night at your hotel in Moshi.
Remember to tip your guides, cooks, and porters, since you will be leaving them here. A vehicle will take you back to your hotel in Moshi, where it is definitely time for celebration!
Breakfast and lunch. included.
DEPARTURE DATES
The departure dates for all our African safaris and trekking packages are totally flexible according to your own personal needs. Please contact us for further and more detailed info, as well as information on photographic safaris and Kilimanjaro trekking packages.
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