Kilimanjaro Trek – 12 Things To Know Before You Go

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Taking part in a Kilimanjaro trek might be the most incredible – yet difficult – adventure of your life. But that’s something you probably already know. And while a lot of what you end up researching is around the gear you need or the training you should do, there are things that don’t even cross your mind.

I had been planning my Kilimanjaro trek for about a year before I landed in Tanzania. I’d read article after article, review after review, and honestly the volume of information was overwhelming.

So I’m going to keep it simple here, and share some of the main things I took away from my experience. Things I didn’t really consider before I started the hike. If you end up climbing Mount Kilimanjaro I’d love to hear about your experience.

Which Kilimanjaro trek should you choose?

Narrowing down your options is one of the hardest things to do while planning. There are climbs ranging from five to 9 days, and about 7 different routes up the mountain.

You’ll come across dozens of companies all offering similar things, with similar promises and only mildly varying pricing. So how do you know where to start?

The number of days

It can be tempting to want to go for the shorter treks of 5 or 6 days, usually because there’s so much more you want to do in Africa. However, the length of the trip could potentially impact the success rate.

There are, of course, a lot of factors at play in determining your success. Would it surprise you to know that a 5-day trek might give you a success rate of around 60-70%, whereas an 8-day trek might give you closer to 90%?

The longer you take, the more time you have to acclimatize to the altitude. The 8-Day Lemosho Route that I took is a longer route, a more gradual route, and therefore can usually claim a better success rate.

The routes

The 7 main routes up Kilimanjaro are: Lemosho, Machame, Marangu, Rongai, Northern Circuit, Shira and Umbwe. All take a slightly different path up the mountain.

Umbwe is known to be the hardest of all the routes, while the Machame is known to be most scenic. The Marangu route, also known as the Coca-Cola route, is the only route where you sleep in huts along the way instead of tents. And then the Northern Circuit route, being the longest route, has the highest success rate at around 95%.

Most companies offer around two or three different routes, so you might have to shop around if you have a particular route in mind.

The companies

Everybody and their brother seems to have a company offering a Kilimanjaro trek in Tanzania. There are so many to go through it almost hurts to figure out.

We’d already decided we wanted to do the Lemosho 8-Day route, which to us gave one of the best chances of success. Some companies only offered the 7-Day route or other routes so we were able to eliminate them.

After that we made a good old fashioned spreadsheet and started eliminating companies one by one depending on what we found out about the things they offered, what we read about treatment of crew, reviews from others, and price.

You don’t want the most expensive but you should also be suspicious of ones that are much cheaper as where they likely save is on paying the staff.

Then it came down to responsiveness, and our ability to get questions answered at a decent rate, or at all. Climb Kili emerged the top choice for us and I’m really glad we went with them, they were awesome. Read more about my experience here.

12 Things you need to know about taking a Kilimanjaro trek

Choosing the route, the company and the number of days is really tough. Not as tough as the training, or actually climbing the mountain, but tough enough. But what about the things that you don’t think about? Or the things that often get overshadowed by training and what gear is best to buy.

Here are some of the top things I wanted to share about my Kilimanjaro trek. Some are obvious, some are not. But most are overlooked when actually preparing for your adventure.

The trails are really busy

It doesn’t matter which route you take, there will often be hordes of trekkers snaking along the paths. Slower hikers are overtaken by faster hikers, who are overtaken by impressively speedy porters. You’ll often have to shift over to let people pass.

This isn’t something that would have changed my mind about doing a Kilimanjaro trek, but as a slower hiker I would have preferred to be a bit more prepared.

Summit night was long, with hundreds of people below and above you on the trail. A never-ending line of ants with headlamps on a path that was at times impassable. Which meant you often had to keep going to a passing point if you started to tire.

Water is heavy but you need lots of it

This goes without saying, but you need to drink a lot of water when climbing Kilimanjaro. You’ll sweat, and exert a lot of energy, so it’s good to keep hydrated.

You’ll be told to drink at least 3 liters of water a day and will likely drink more, but since each liter weighs 2.2lb, your bag will get heavy really quickly.

Drinking water is also the best way in the ongoing war you’ll have against altitude sickness. Your body is struggling to inhale oxygen at those higher elevations and works harder as a result. Therefore you need more water to balance the lost energy. So no matter the weight implications, don’t short yourself on water.

TOP KILIMANJARO TREK TIP: Drinking a liter before you leave camp in the morning is a good way of getting ahead of your daily water intake goal – and will help lighten your load on the trail.

There are very few bathrooms

Probably fairly obvious to most. However, you don’t consider it too much on your average hike. But what about when you are guzzling 3 liters or more of water each day? Or how you see less and less trees and places to hide the further you go on the trail?

On the Lemosho route there are the occasional pit toilet huts that look like they might cave in around you. Plus you’ll need to hold your breath a LOT if you choose to use them. Privacy can therefore become an issue, especially for us girls. So what do you do?

You can hold it, which I don’t recommend. Or you can go for it, which you’ll probably have to. Find the most covered spot you can – insert huge rock or tree here. When you see a good spot, it’s best to take advantage.

TOP KILIMANJARO TREK TIP FOR WOMEN: Invest in a female urination device. The Shewee or similar is a great product. Usually made of silicone, these funnels help you pee standing up without the need to completely de-trouser. I’d recommend practicing at home first, and it’s best to lean forward a bit and pee with confidence. You’ll be grateful when there are no rocks to hide behind.

You won’t have cell reception for days

Shocker, right? Spoiler alert: there is also no gift shop at the top! It’s hard to know if you’ll have any reception on the mountain but I would plan for none. If you get the occasional bar you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

We had a couple of pockets where we spotted some reception and were able to get a message out. But they were few and far between and incredibly unreliable.

Our company, Climb Kili were really good at taking photos and sending them to our family with a daily email update. So we didn’t need to worry about that also.

TOP KILIMANJARO TREK TIP: If you ever see a huddle of porters sitting down in a spot on their phones, that’s where the cell reception is. After hiking this mountain a number of times, the crew know where to get the bars, so just pay attention.

Never underestimate the luxury of clean socks

You have a limit of what you can bring due to the weight restrictions for porters to carry. Rightly so, but you also don’t want to pack a bunch of things you won’t need. In my opinion though, socks are a necessity you shouldn’t leave behind.

A lot of guides and packing lists talk about having about 4 pairs of socks and swapping them out every couple of days. You’re hiking, you’re not going to get fully clean anyway, so weight becomes more important than clean clothes every day. Except socks.

I would argue that there is no greater feeling after a hard day of hiking, than putting on a clean pair of socks after you wash your feet.

I brought a pair for every day, and a cozy fluffy pair for sleeping in. Yes, I had to sacrifice a couple extra snacks I didn’t need, but I have zero regrets.

Pack what your guides tell you

Each evening you’ll have a debrief for the next day. Here your guides will tell you what you can expect, and what to wear or pack. Make sure you listen to them and take their advice.

We were told one night to pack a heavier jacket and hat and it didn’t look like it would be cold. But lo and behold, it got cold and we needed them.

Another time we were told to pack rain pants and gaiters when it didn’t look like rain at all. The path ended up so incredibly muddy that without that gear our hiking pants would have been filthy. The guides know best, take their advice.

After water, your backpack weight is typically due to rain gear and extra layers that you may use. Make sure your day pack is big enough, and easy to access for what you might need.

It’s also a good idea to limit the other things you probably won’t need for a 4-6 hour hike: a week’s supply of snacks or two battery packs for example. Leave space for the layers instead.

There’s so much dust and dirt

On Kilimanjaro the dust and dirt seemed to get everywhere. It’s non-stop. In the dry season you can be inhaling clouds of dust for multiple days. Just when you think it’s died down, the muck starts swirling as a group rush by. Every blow of your nose will result in a dirt-filled tissue. It’s gross.

And don’t even get me started on your fingernails. Your hands will be caked with dirt, even on the days you wear gloves. Don’t ask me how, it defies logic. My friend took off her shoes and two pairs of socks and her toes were filthy.

I wore gaiters from day 1 until I got off the trail. Never a day without them. Without them I can’t imagine the state I would be in, much worse I’m sure. They protected my boots from becoming filled with dirt.

At some point you give up caring, knowing you’ll probably be eating dirt all week since you can never get your hands fully clean.

TOP KILIMANJARO TREK TIP: If I can urge you to pack two things they would be a nailbrush and a mask. The nailbrush helps get your hands a lot cleaner. You’ll feel halfway human again each evening. And a mask will keep the worst of the dust off. My group all came home with cold-like symptoms from breathing so much in.

I had a buff, but with the decreasing mountain temperature, and my deeper breathing it just got soggy way too quickly, which then freezes on summit night. A surgical mask may have helped keep the dust at bay and you can swap them out.

Altitude will make you feel horrible

Not everyone gets affected to the same degree, or in the same way. But you’ll likely feel something throughout your Kilimanjaro trek. For me it was mostly headaches. On top of that, the last couple of days I had trouble eating and had a lot of nausea. So what can you do to combat altitude sickness?

First there’s the actual medication. Diamox, in my opinion, was pivotal in reducing my symptoms. To simplify it, Diamox helps expel more carbon dioxide from your body, which in turn speeds up your intake of oxygen. Oxygen helps you acclimatize quicker. Fun side effect of Diamox: your fingers and toes often tingle shortly after taking it. It’s a really weird feeling but is typical.

Then there’s the natural remedies. Ginger will be your friend as it helps beat nausea. Take ginger candy and chews, or biscuits. Take some ginger tea (Climb Kili started providing us with ginger tea at a certain altitude).

TOP KILIMANJARO TREK TIP: Whatever altitude effects you feel just be honest with your guides so they can determine what is normal and what is not. Safety comes first.

The sun is stronger than you think

Why wouldn’t it be? You’re closer and with less protection from clouds since they are now below you. Plus you’re exposed on the side of a mountain for multiple days.

Have sunblock with you – ideally a cream or pump action spray since aerosols may not work with higher altitude. Apply it regularly and don’t forget your face! A lip balm with SPF protection should be applied regularly too.

I would recommend a sun protection shirt. My lightweight UV protective long sleeve shirt saved me from baking. I also wore lightweight gloves to protect the back of my hands which were exposed a lot as I held my trekking poles.

You’ll need good UV protection sunglasses – sports style wraparound ones are best. The last thing is to wear a sun hat. They don’t look very cool, and you kind of feel like you’re going fishing, but they work. Get a lightweight one that has a wide enough brim to cover the back of your neck too.

Being pale and covered in freckles I managed to avoid any real sunburn with all of these things. Others weren’t as lucky.

Camps can be really noisy

Since I already talked about the number of people on the trails, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the camps are also quite busy. In our group were 5 hikers, and 19 crew members. Even the smallest group has a lot of people.

Tents are often put up very close to other tents as everyone struggles to fit into the designated camp areas. While you’ll be so tired I’m sure you will sleep, I’d suggest a couple of things to help you on your way…

The first thing is a sleep mask – block out any light or distraction around you. The most important thing though is earplugs. You might go to bed early, but not everyone else will. Plus, people snore. I snuggled up in my sleeping back with my eyes and ears blocked out to the world and had a great sleep each night.

You’re fed even when you don’t want food

Your day typically starts before 6am with a hot drink. Breakfast follows and involves fueling grub like porridge, fresh fruit, eggs, pancakes, toast and sausages. This will keep you going through your hike until the next camp.

TOP KILIMANJARO TREK TIP: A few extras from home can jazz up a monotonous meal like porridge. I brought freeze dried strawberries – they’re tasty and barely weight anything.

Lunch and dinner usually consist of soup, toasted sandwiches, starches like pasta, rice, or potatoes, meat sauce, or curry or vegetable dishes to go with them as well as more fresh fruit. And before dinner we were often given popcorn and more hot drinks. You will not go hungry.

I brought more snacks than I needed – granola bars and trail mix for each day, energy gummies and gels, as well as all my favorite chocolate bars. I barely ate half of what I brought as they fed us so well.

However, it’s important to know that a big side effect of altitude is nausea or loss of appetite. Or both. The food you loved on day one and two will become difficult to force down on day five or six. But you need to try.

Forcing down pasta was one of the worst things I had to do. The last couple of days I felt like I couldn’t eat anymore, my portions getting smaller. This probably contributed to my lack of energy on summit day. But it’s hard to keep eating through nausea.

That’s why my favorite chocolate bars were a life saver. Bringing a few things from home you love will give you an energy boost and a bit of variety. But, try to eat as much as you can throughout your Kilimanjaro trek. You need the energy.

You’ll feel like giving up at least once

But barring any medical issues, most of what you deal with is just mind over matter. It’s day after day of pole pole (that’s slowly, slowly in Swahili) hiking.

Everyone has their day when they feel defeated, like they’re not doing as well, or when they just plain want off the mountain. Don’t feel bad when it’s your turn.

Day 2 was a rough one for me: a hot sunny day and a pretty big continuous incline which led to me just feeling destroyed. For my friend I think she’d admit that Day 5 climbing the Barranco wall when her knee kept giving out on her was the worst. That is until summit night.

That night you will have at least one moment where you wonder why you’re doing this, whether you can climb anymore, or wondering if you’ll ever feel your toes again as the cold rips through your multiple pairs of socks.

Focusing on taking one step in front of the other, distraction conversations and the sheer determination to reach the top are what will get you through.

I uttered the words “I think I’m done” twice on summit night. But I just kept going. And I made it. You can too.

The best part of a Kilimanjaro trek

Some might tell you it’s the top of the mountain when you realize you absolutely crushed your goal. For me it was once I got down the mountain and had time (and oxygen) to take it all in.

The 3-hour bus ride back to the hotel where I would have the best shower of my life, even if the water pressure was sub-par at best. That’s where it sank in, where I muttered to myself “I did it” as everyone else was passed out with exhaustion.

I looked through my photos in awe that just over 24-hours earlier I’d been standing at the highest point on the African continent. The mud was still thick on my shoes, and I was waiting for my ears to pop (it would take another 5 days). I smiled to myself as I looked out the window, seeing Kilimanjaro for the final time.

If you’ve enjoyed this post leave a comment or share using the social media buttons below. Have you ever thought of taking a Kilimanjaro trek? If you’ve done it already, what do you think people should know to best prepare them for the adventure that lies ahead?