Day 1: Machame Gate to Machame Hut
(10km, 7 hours, 1800-3020 metres)

Path through the jungle

With a bit of luck the giant with the white crown appears already on the way to the Machame Gate, the starting point to the peak of the highest free standing mountain in the world.
Machame Gate is one of the entrances to the Kilimanjaro Nationalpark and the origin of the beautiful Machame Route. After the obligatory sign-in and the gear preparation an adventuresome trek through the rain forest beginns. At the very beginning the trek is quite easy but every step above 2000 metres becomes more and more exhausting as the path gets steeper and muddy.
"Regular" trekkers will be overtaken by lots of porters, who are much faster even though they carry much more equipment, before they will reach the camp out of the rain forest at a height of about 3000 metres.

Day 2: Machame Hut to Shira Hut
(6 km, 6 hours, 3020-3840 metres)

The first morning on 3020m

Earyl in the morning the first warm sunbeams wake up the dozen trekkers from all over the world and melt away the ground frost. Initialy its cold on the way to the Shira Hut, but the sun gets more hot every minute and the skin begs to be treated for over-exposure to the sun. After a few steps from Machame Hut the remaining 2900 metres of the Kibo come up on the horizon, with its beautiful glaciers glittering in the sunshine. On the left side the Shira shows up. Shira is one of the three mountains of the Kilimanjaro beside the Mawenzi and the Kibo with the main summit - Uhuru Peak. With every metre in altitude the landscape becomes craggier and the route climbs up to the second campsite Shira Hut close to 4000 metres.

Day 3: Shira Hut to Barranco Hut
(5 km, 6 hours)

Way to the Lava Tower