Kilimanjaro National Park Day Trip
brief overview
Your hike begins at Marangu Gate of the Kilimanjaro National Park. The Marangu Route is the most popular and easiest way to the Uhuru Peak. This route is also called the tourist route or the Coca-Cola route – climbers choose this route because most of the route is pleasant and less steep. The entrance gate is located at an altitude of about 1,800 metres. Until the Mandara Hut (at almost 2,700 m) it is more or less an idyllic walk with a pleasant ascent through dense mountain rainforest. In between you can enjoy a picnic. This path is considered one of the most beautiful in the rainforest area of Kili, as the mountain is called for short.
This day trip is led by a professional Kilimanjaro guide. On the approx. 4 to 5 hours long ascent you will experience an untouched jungle with unique flora and fauna.
Kilimanjaro National Park Day Trip
You will be picked up from Arusha or Moshi and driven to the Marangu Gate of the Kilimanjaro National Park. Here you will meet your guide. Before the hike can start, the guide will help you to register with the National Park Rangers. Here is also the main administration for the Kilimanjaro Park and there are many information boards with interesting background information about the 5895 meter high mountain and its first ascent in 1889 by the German Hans Meyer and his Chagga Guide Yohani Kinyala Lauwo. After about an hour and a half’s walk, you cross a small bridge over a river and follow the forest path upwards. As far as the bird life is concerned, you will certainly notice the large, black and white feathered silver-cheeked hornbills every now and then. Especially pretty is the Hartlaubs Turako, which belongs to the family of cuckoo birds. Sometimes you can spot it in the undergrowth, because its wings light up like a scarlet flame between the lianas. The jungle atmosphere is simply overwhelming. Here in the rainforest huge stone slices (= Podo trees, Podocarpus) and choking fig trees (Nuxia congesta) dominate, from which thick lianas reach down to the forest floor. Giant ferns and giant nettles line the path, and many of the jungle trees are covered with the bearded lichen usnea, which adds to the fairytale atmosphere. Numerous species of begonias, the bright red Balsamine Impatiens kilimanjari and its purple cousin, Impatiens pseudoviola, stand along the path and provide beautiful colour accents. After a short break at Mandera Hut you can take a short walk (2 km) to Maundi Crater. It is a collapsed side volcano of the Kibo, which is scenic and beautiful because of its various grasses and wild flowers. Also the evergreen flowering silver tree plants (Proteaceae) can be found there. The path is also covered with root dwarf and is a bit slippery when it has rained. The small crater of this former volcano can be walked around in a few minutes. From here you have a great view of the surroundings, with clear view down to the valley and the town of Taveta, the Jipe Lake and the mountain ranges of the Pare and Usambara Mountains. Depending on your preference, the specially trained mountain guide will take you on a leisurely hike with a visit to a small waterfall or on a strenuous and challenging tour past Mandara Hut to the high Hormbo Hut. In the early afternoon you will start your way back and will be picked up in the early evening at Marangu Gate.
