8-Day Lemosho Route Kilimanjaro Climb

Eight Days on Lemosho — the Extra Night Goes on the Shira Plateau, Where It Does the Most Good

🏆 TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice 2024, 2025 & 2026 · ✅ Kenya TRA Licensed No. TRA1/47/C01/25895 · 🏛️ TOSK (Tour Operators Society of Kenya) Member #0082 · 🇹🇿 Operated in Tanzania by our TALA-licensed partner — licence 037480. Certificate available on request.

8 Days · Kilimanjaro National Park · From $1,750 per person (group of 3+) or $2,099 private · All park fees included

Why the 8-Day Lemosho Route?

Same western approach as our seven-day Lemosho: register at Londorossi Gate — Tanzania National Parks spells it Londorosi — drive an hour up the forest track to the Lemosho Glades trailhead, roughly 2,360 m, and walk in through rainforest. The difference is one night, and where it sits is the argument.

The seven-day crosses from Mti Mkubwa at 2,895 m to Shira 2 Camp in one long day, lifting your sleeping height more than 900 m at once. The eight-day stops halfway at Shira 1 Camp, 3,505 m, then crosses to Moir Hut at 4,206 m: a halved first step, and a night at 4,206 m before the Barranco valley. It costs one more day of your leave; both prices are on this page.

📋 Lemosho Route at a Glance

🗓️ Your Climb, Day by Day

🌲 Day 1 — Lemosho Glades to Mti Mkubwa, 2,895 m

6 km · 3–4 hours · Rainforest

An easy first afternoon under closed canopy, at a camp also called Big Tree.

🌾 Day 2 — Mti Mkubwa to Shira 1 Camp, 3,505 m

8 km · 5–6 hours · Heath and moorland

Giant heather, then moorland, to the western rim of the plateau. On the seven-day you eat lunch here and walk on; here you stop.

🏜️ Day 3 — Shira 1 across the plateau to Moir Hut, 4,206 m

6–11 km · 5–7 hours · Moorland into alpine desert

The day the extra night pays for: an almost level caldera floor of rock and low heath around 3,600 m, then north of Shira 2 to Moir Hut. Published distances vary; the hours do not. You sleep higher tonight than any camp on the seven-day before Barafu.

🏜️ Day 4 — Moir Hut over Lava Tower to Barranco Camp, 3,976 m

7 km, then 3 km · 4–5 hours, then 2–3 hours · Alpine desert

Up to Lava Tower at 4,630 m for lunch, then a long descent into the Barranco valley: the second half of a climb-high, sleep-low sequence.

🧗 Day 5 — Barranco Wall to Karanga Camp, 3,995 m

5 km · 4–5 hours · Alpine desert

The wall is 257 m of steep ground on a zigzag path — a scramble, not a climb: hands on rock in places, no ropes and no equipment. One to two hours.

🏜️ Day 6 — Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp, 4,674 m

4 km · 4–5 hours · Alpine desert

Short and steady, nearly 700 m of gain over bare rock.

⛰️ Day 7 — Barafu to Uhuru Peak, then down to Mweka Camp, 3,068 m

5 km up, 12 km down · 11–16 hours in all · Arctic, then every zone in reverse

The day seven nights of walking were for: away at midnight, the rim at Stella Point around dawn, Uhuru an hour later, then all of it back and 12 km to Mweka Camp. Set out in full below.

🌳 Day 8 — Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate, 1,640 m

10 km · 3–4 hours · Rainforest

A steady descent through warm forest, muddy in any season.

🫁 Acclimatisation — and Exactly What the Extra Day Does

Sleeping heights: 2,895 m, 3,505 m, 4,206 m, 3,976 m, 3,995 m, 4,674 m — against the seven-day's 2,895 m, 3,810 m, 3,976 m, 3,995 m, 4,674 m. The biggest step is halved: 610 m to Shira 1, then 701 m to Moir Hut with a night in between, instead of more than 900 m at once.

And you sleep at 4,206 m on night three, then 230 m lower the next, having crossed Lava Tower at 4,630 m: climb high, sleep low, as a sequence rather than a single event.

⛰️ Summit Night

Barafu at midnight: 5 km and about 1,200 m of ascent on scree, six to eight hours in the dark and in serious cold, reaching the rim near dawn with daylight left to descend to 3,068 m.

You reach the rim at Stella Point, 5,756 m — the entry for the western and southern routes, where Gilman's Point serves Rongai and Marangu — then about an hour round to Uhuru Peak, 5,895 m, before scree back to Barafu and 12 km to Mweka Camp: eleven to sixteen hours on your feet. Eight days of walking does not make summit night easy. It makes it more likely you are still in a state to do it.

🩺 Altitude, Health and Turning Back

Altitude, not fitness, is what stops most people. AMS — acute mountain sickness — is the common form: headache with some mix of nausea, lost appetite, dizziness and broken sleep, because you have climbed faster than your body has adapted. Between half and three-quarters of Kilimanjaro trekkers get some degree of it, and it usually settles with rest, water and no further climbing that day. AMS is normal; what it can turn into is not. HAPE, high-altitude pulmonary oedema, is fluid on the lungs — breathlessness at rest, a cough that will not stop, blue lips. HACE, high-altitude cerebral oedema, is swelling of the brain — confusion, stumbling, unable to walk a straight line. Both are life-threatening, and both have one treatment: go down, at once. Do not hide symptoms.

Rescue, honestly. Helicopters fly on Kilimanjaro but cannot land above roughly 4,900 m, do not fly at night and do not fly in bad weather — which rules them out for most of summit night. Above Barafu Camp, real evacuation means walking down with a guide, which is why we would rather catch a problem two days early. Your insurance must cover trekking to 6,000 m including helicopter evacuation: a policy written for 4,000 m does not cover Uhuru Peak, and the park rescue fee in your price is a park charge, not insurance.

Ask before you book. We will put in writing what health monitoring, what emergency equipment and what crew your climb carries. Ask us — and ask everyone else you are considering. An operator who will not answer that in writing is telling you something.

📊 About Success Rates

You will not find a percentage on this page. No operator's summit rate is independently audited, there is no shared definition of success, and nothing stops a company printing a flattering number.

The only figures the park authority is known to have published date from 2006, and they are far too old to describe the mountain as it is climbed now.

What decides it is unglamorous: time on the mountain, a gradual profile, a slow pace, water, and a guide who will turn you around.

This is the long version of Lemosho, and taking the extra day is the single biggest thing you can do to improve your own odds. We would rather explain that than print a number we cannot stand behind.

✅ What's Included

• All Kilimanjaro National Park fees — conservation, camping and rescue
• Your licensed mountain guide and crew
• All meals on the mountain
• Drinking water on the mountain
• Group camping equipment
• Transfers to the start gate and back from the exit gate

❌ What's Not Included

• Flights
• Your Tanzania visa
• Travel insurance — cover to 6,000 m with helicopter evacuation
• Personal gear hire
• Tips for the mountain crew

About tips. Tips are customary and are in nobody's price. They are worked out for the group as a whole and shared among the guides, cook and porters — not charged per climber — so the cost per person falls sharply as the group grows: two climbers carry the whole tip between them, six carry the same tip between six. We put the recommended figure in writing before you travel.

🎒 What to Bring

• A four-season sleeping bag rated to about −10 °C or colder — you are in a tent every night
• Waterproof boots with ankle support, worn in before you fly, plus camp shoes
• An insulated down jacket for camp and summit night
• Waterproof shell jacket and over-trousers
• Two sets of thermal base layers, a fleece mid layer and trekking trousers
• Insulated gloves or mitts plus thin liners — you cannot work a zip in the outers
• A warm hat, a sun hat and a neck buff
• Category 3 or 4 sunglasses, high-factor sunscreen and SPF lip balm
• A head torch and spare batteries, kept warm against your body
• Three litres of water capacity including two bottles — bladder tubes freeze on summit night
• Two adjustable trekking poles for the descent
• A 30–35 litre daypack with a rain cover, and a soft duffel for the porters
• Blister plasters, a small first-aid kit, rehydration salts and prescription medicine in your hand luggage
• Passport, insurance documents and your yellow fever certificate if you travel from Kenya, plus small notes in cash for crew tips

👍 Who This Route Suits — and Who It Doesn't

It suits anyone who can spare the eighth day: climbers who have felt altitude before and did not enjoy it, and anyone who would rather add a night than add speed.

It does not suit a holiday that cannot absorb the day — the seven-day Lemosho is the same route, one plateau night shorter. For a bed, huts exist only on the Marangu route; for fewer days, the six-day Shira and six-day Machame give your body less to work with.

🔗 Combine it: The shorter version is the 7-Day Lemosho Route Climb. Nearest: the 7-Day Machame and 7-Day Rongai climbs. The 6-Day and 7-Day Shira Route climbs share the camps above the plateau. All thirteen are on our Kilimanjaro Climbs page. Either side, the Shira Plateau day trip and Kikuletwa hot springs are on the Moshi day trips page. Or compare all six. The two Lemosho itineraries are set side by side on the Lemosho route page.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

How fit do I need to be?

Fit enough for five to seven hours of walking a day with a daypack. Nothing technical to learn. Fitness does not predict altitude tolerance, which is why this profile is worth having.

What does the eighth day actually change?

It halves the biggest step and adds a night at 4,206 m: the seven-day gains more than 900 m of sleeping height in one day; this one gains 610 m, sleeps, then 701 m. Same climbing, more nights.

What happens if I cannot continue?

You go down, and going down early is the difference between a bad day and an emergency. Descent is the treatment for altitude, and it is your guide's call. We put the crew arrangements for your climb in writing before you book.

Do I need a yellow fever certificate?

It depends where you fly from. Tanzania requires one from travellers over a year old arriving from a country with a risk of yellow fever transmission, or transiting more than 12 hours through an airport in one. Kenya is on the World Health Organization's risk list, so bring it if you are coming from Nairobi or crossing the land border — and carry it even on a connection, where a delay can push you past 12 hours. Flying direct from Europe you generally do not need one. Confirm current requirements before you travel.

What does the price include, and can I cancel?

All park fees, your licensed guide and crew, all meals and drinking water on the mountain, group camping equipment and gate transfers. Not flights, visa, insurance, gear hire or tips. A 50% deposit confirms the booking and the balance is due 14 days before departure; cancel with 14 days' notice for a full refund, or reschedule within 12 months.

Why eight days on Lemosho rather than seven on another route?

Because nights matter more than which trail you walk in on. Above the plateau, Lemosho, Shira and Machame are one path; this one gives the lowest start and the most nights before Barafu.

📞 How to Book

A 50% deposit confirms the booking. The balance is due 14 days before departure. Booking inside 14 days: full payment confirms it. Cancel with 14 days' notice for a full refund, or reschedule within 12 months. The group rate applies from three climbers.

We accept M-Pesa and bank transfer. Payment details are sent with your written invoice.

We never request payment through social media, personal phone numbers, or any account or link not confirmed in writing by our office. If in doubt, call us before paying anyone.

Tell us your dates and group size. We confirm availability, your departure date and the arrangements in writing before you pay anything.

📱 WhatsApp / Call: +254 729 257 317 · +254 734 417 496

🇦🇹 Austria: +43 650 702 1313 · +43 676 676 8130

📧 [email protected]

Booking and payment stay with us in Nairobi. Talk to us before you decide.

Operated in Tanzania by our TALA-licensed partner — licence 037480. Certificate available on request.

Prices shown are for non-resident climbers. East African citizens pay lower national-park fees — see our East African citizen rates.