Acclimatization

One of the best safety precaution you can take for a Kilimanjaro summit is to have time to become properly acclimatized to high altitude. If you have been unable to benefit from a preliminary practice tour of Mount Meru, you can still choose a route which allows you extra day(s) to adjust. Some trails are gentler than others with diversions to allow you to gain height during the day and sleep lower down, by using the ridges and valleys along your route.

The primary six ascent trails are;

• Machame
• Lemosho
• Marangu
• Rongai
• Shira
• Umbwe (ascent & Descent)

They enter the cone area from different directions over trails of differing lengths, covering different terrain of different gradients and starting at different altitudes. Some offer ascents in 6 days or less, but success rates can drop by 50% compared with longer routes, some of which now have extremely low failure rates. For anyone unable to acclimatize in advance on their African mountain safari, the best choice is the longest route, with the greatest possible variation between altitudes reached during the day and lower overnight camps. Of these trails, Machame & Lemosho provide the best options, both easy climbs with with unique flora and fauna to geological wonders and spectacular scenery.

Lost in Africa will be happy to take all your needs and preferences into account when advising you of the best route to choose.

Opt for and extra acclimatization day in order to be sure of avoiding severe altitude sickness and to maximize your summit chances by having the chance to sleep no more than 300 meters higher than the previous night’s camp or spending two nights at every third camp site or detouring an extra day to acclimatize before the summit attempt.

These treks take six to eight days (sometimes 9) on the actual mountain, giving you ample time to enjoy your Kilimanjaro adventure trip, rather than hauling yourself to the summit in a miserable endurance test. You will be fitter and happier for investing more time in your ascent, and will have been able to explore many of the unique aspects of this Tanzanian trekking vacation.

Extra days are also suitable to parties containing children, Moderately fit, elderly or Untrained climbers who often perform better at a slower pace than trained athletes and mountaineers who try to push their limit.

Kilimanjaro is a unique mountain, needing no special training nor mountaineering skills. It is within the reach of most reasonably fit trekkers over seven years of age and under eighty. But it is also a mountain to relish and take your time, rather than rushing the steep ascent to the top and risking altitude sickness by climbing too high, too fast.

Lost in Africa can offer a special twin program for the successful conquest of the highest free standing mountain in the world, by including a pre hiking trip to Mount Meru before your Kilimanjaro climb tour. The twin program is not designed as a definitive two-summit attempt, although that is possible, but a leisurely, enjoyable acclimatizing trek through incredible mountain wilderness scenery as a delightful source of extra memories to enhance the achievement of your life.