The Uhuru peak : The Kilimanjaro Mountain is the tallest free standing mountain in the world and in Africa, when at the Uhuru peak is literally being on top of Africa. The Kilimanjaro Mountain Is found due the volcanic eruption that lead to the formation 3 different peaks, that’s Uhuru peak which is the summit and the highest point of Africa, followed by Mawenzi and lastly the Kibo peak. At different point of the peaks you’re literally still at the highest points and mostly on top of Africa. It takes about five to nine day on the routes that are longer to summit to this point, the more days you spend on the mountain acclimatizing the better chances of reaching at the peak. Trekking who spends only five days have the lowest summit rate because of climatic condition and the altitude at the top as it chances.
There is no technically method of reaching to the Uhuru peak because Kilimanjaro is the walking up mountain, the summit depends on the how well you’re able to acclimatize to the lack of oxygen at certain altitudes. And more people fail to summit because they cannot acclimatize to the altitude of the mountain. Taking more day’s means that you’re slowing adapting to the climate and your body get used to the low oxygen supply and thus creating more chances of summit.
There are different routes that lead up to the Kilimanjaro Mountain, at the begging of the hiking of the Kilimanjaro Mountain.
The Marangu route
The Marangu route is the easiest route of all and has gradually slopes on hiking the mount, the minimum days for hiking is 5 -7 days to summit. It’s the route with traffic since most of people prefers since it is simple so it’s populated than any other route. The route has the least scenery and favored only during the rain seasons as it offers the great shelter of huts other than the over wet grounds. It’s the only route that uses one path when going up and coming down hence highly crowded. It’s the cheapest route as it doesn’t need camping equipment. It’s the route with the least success to summit.
The Machame route
The Machame route is the most strenuous with a lot of highs and lows, sessions of valleys and ridges along the way but with spectacular sceneries since it has a lot of habitats along the way, coffee farms and large banana trees are what you will meet along the way. It’s less cheap than the Marangu route, and also difficult to hike.
Lemosho rotes
It’s the routes that takes along the west of mount Kilimanjaro , and it’s the through the forest, it’s the route that you will have to explore a lot of plant species and animals, along the journey one is sure to meet the colobus monkeys, plenty of birds and the giant camphorwood trees. It takes 8 days to summit through this route; hence the increase of more day leads to the increase of the costs, the route has the high chances of success. It provided the unparalleled and impressive view of the gorges of the west side of the Mount Kilimanjaro.
Rongai route
It’s the only route on the northern part of the mountain; it’s along the northern slopes that has the tendency of being drier and hence have less scenery but can offer the clear view of Kilimanjaro. It also offers the true wildness experiences on the early stages and there is possibility of seeing wild animals such as the antelopes, buffalos and elephants. It takes 7 days to summit using this route. Rongai is less crowded and the quietest route to summit.
Shira route
This route is highly characterized by having a high altitude at the start hence its chances of success becomes a bit low, one will experience the serious altitude on just the first day of the hiking. it’s found on the west side of the mountain Kilimanjaro, the added transport cost makes the Shira route expensive since the first day of Shira route is different from the other routes, the drives takes you far and near where the hiking begins if one decided to walk then it can take up to several days before hiking. This route is also for the people who are sure of their hiking skills and its less traffic but more expensive.
The Umbwe route
The Umbwe route joins the Machame route on the Barraco camp, on the second night. It’s the direct steep and very tough route as it is steeper route. It’s the most demanding route as the first and second day are on the steep and up hills all the way. The route is well exposed hence cannot be suitable for people who are scared of heights. The route is not recommended unless one has a well experience with the mountain climbing.
Northern circuit
This is the newest route that is found on the north part of the mountain and it’s characterized with the best acclimatization and an impressive view of Kilimanjaro. The route is less crowed and for the people who enjoys the long trekking and true wilderness experiences. It takes at least 8 days to reach the summit.
Ranges of routes that lead Uhuru peak from the simplest to the hardest.
- The Machame route is highly recommended the path is the oldest and the paths are well maintained. It is highly recommended for ones who have no prior mountain trekking experience, as it more favorable for unexperienced mountain trekkers. It is this feature that makes it outrun the rest.
- Lemosho route is also the second highly recommended route due to its scenic beauty and the highest success rate. It covers approximately seventy two Kilometers, which are usually cleared in an average of six days (five nights).
- Shira route- It is among the longer routes which crosses the Shira plateau (hence its name Shira route) which do start from the western side of mount Kilimanjaro at a relatively higher sea level during the start
- Rongai route- is more recommended route especially during the rainy season and normally less crowded route, it’s the only route that begins from the northern part of Tanzania and close to Kenya.
- Northern circuit route- this route is more preferred when you spent more day during the hiking, it’s also the longest route and normally takes up to 9 day to summit.
- Marangu route– known as the Coca-Cola route, this route is highly recommended because it’s the only route that has a great accommodation, you sleep in the huts instead of camping during hiking when using this route.
- Umbwe route is the shortest, but the route with the steepest elevation. This makes it suitable for use while descending the mountain.
The beauty of the Uhuru peak, enjoy the birds and wild animals when hiking towards the Uhuru peak.
The every man’s Everest has an exceptional beauty and can be reached by any one not necessary professional climbers or the athletes, but for them they can hike within a half day to summit at this peak. The most common barrier to summit is the altitude sickness because the rest of the hiking is not so challenging.
While hiking towards the Uhuru peak enjoy the Kilimanjaro Mountain which is the home of different wild animals and birds. Kilimanjaro Mountain has a unique vegetation cover as it all begins with thick forests that is the home of different animals and birds the higher you go the vegetation reduces and then there are some points that is like dessert and finally on summit you will meet the snow and hike all the way to the top through the snow.
The wild animals such as velvet monkey, genet cat, honey badgers, baboon elephants, and the Columbus monkey can be spotted easily, elephants and giraffes cannot be missed while hiking. There are about 150 different bird species that are found on this forest. Both the migratory birds as well as the endemic birds are available on these forests. Birds such as the white necked raven, resident black shoulder kite, African Eagle, grey horn bell etc. the bird watching activity is done better on the months of November to April when is the rain season in Tanzania.
