Kilimanjaro Lemosho Route

Climb Africa’s highest mountain via the beautiful wild Lemosho Route supported by some of the most experienced guides on the mountain. Lemosho offers a slice of mountain wilderness that is rare on Kilimanjaro.

There are several routes up Kilimanjaro and Lemosho is one of the least popular but is nevertheless a fantastic choice, especially if you value a quiet route away from the crowds. The initial section through mountain forest still offers a very real chance of encountering wildlife (sightings of small antelope are virtually unique to the Lemosho and Rongai routes). The Lemosho route offers stunning views and quiet trails and can be the best option during the peak season.

The traditional Lemosho route joins with the busy Machame on day 3, but this variant uses a unique Team Kilimanjaro route developed in 2008 that preserves the sense of wilderness right up to the night before summit when you join the Marangu route at School Hut for the summit bid via Gilman’s Point. The trek starts at Lemosho Start Point and routes via the Shira Plateau and around the Northern Slopes of Kilimanjaro offering classic views of the Kenyan plains to the NW, North and NE. Lemosho is not possible during the rainy months (April, May, November) when the conditions of roads make vehicle passage to the start point unsafe. This trek includes airport transfers and a night’s accommodation at both ends of the trek in Arusha.

Adventurous trekkers can choose the outstanding Excel crater camp option, which includes an extra night after summiting, camping in the crater. It will be cold and the effects of altitude are strong, but the reward is a once in a lifetime experience in a truly alien environment of glaciers, ash-pits and wilderness. Details and photos from crater camp are available here.

Kilimanjaro via the TK Lemosho route is a fantastic option especially during the peak season as it offers a rare sense of wilderness on Kilimanjaro. It offers some of the finest views on the mountain, the best chances of seeing wildlife and the best chances of avoiding crowding.

TK Lemosho offers a combination of camping and huts, but if you don’t fancy camping, then then Marangu (Coca-Cola route) may be a better choice. It is also worth noting that not everybody is after mountain wilderness and some would relish the opportunity to meet trekkers from all nations of the earth. Marangu and Machame both experience far more trekkers than Lemosho and the epic human drama of scores of groups dragging themselves up an essentially inhospitable mountain can be fascinating.

The usual rules that apply to Kilimanjaro apply similarly to the Lemosho route. See our advice on health requirements for Kilimanjaro.

• Option 1: 7 Days TK Lemosho Advantage Series

  The standard option. High level of support with plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables and meat. Mess tents will be used and three course hot lunches will be served most days. (NOTE: This is a 7 day trek, but encompasses 8 nights including the nights before and after in Arusha)

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• Option 2: 8 Days Lemosho Excel Crater Camp

  This is a very exciting series that spends the night with a small lightweight support team in the crater at 5729m after summitting Kilimanjaro. The following morning we launch excursions to a number of fascinating and rarely seen features within the crater from the Reusch Ash Pit at the crater's centre, to the rapidly retreating edges of the northern and eastern ice fields, where health and strength permit.

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