The trip opens beneath Mount Meru at Arusha, northern Tanzania’s staging town, then climbs Kilimanjaro over eight days on the Lemosho route, from forest across the Shira Plateau to the summit and down to Mweka. Back on Meru’s slopes you recover at a lakeside farmhouse before crossing to Rwanda: two nights in Kigali, then Volcanoes National Park for the mountain gorillas of the Virunga Massif.
You walk the mountain in stages, each night in a camp along the route, with acclimatisation built in. Either side, the pace is slower: forest walks near Arusha and gorilla trekking from a lodge on the park boundary. Accommodation runs from a forest camp and a historic lakeside farmhouse to a boutique hotel in Kigali and a design-led lodge at Bisate.
You land at Kilimanjaro International Airport, an hour's drive from camp, and begin not on the plains but in montane forest on Mount Meru's lower slopes, inside Arusha National Park. Days here are walked rather than driven: an hour among the fig trees with an armed ranger, a descent into Ngurdoto Crater where buffaloes and elephants graze, or birding for silvery-cheeked hornbills. Colobus monkeys call at first light. Koroi Forest Camp opened in July 2025, nine rooms on raised timber platforms above a glade where giraffes move through the trees.
The Kilimanjaro climb begins in forest. The Lemosho route enters through dense montane woodland, and the first day's walking is unhurried, a way to settle into the pace of a staged ascent while the canopy still closes overhead. This is the start of eight days on the mountain, each night in a camp set up along the route. Forest Camp is your first night under canvas, before the trees give way to open ground higher up.
The forest ends and the route climbs onto the Shira Plateau, a broad expanse of high moorland below the peaks. The change is abrupt: trees behind you, open ground and long views ahead, the air already thinner. Days at this stage are about walking steadily and letting the body adjust to the altitude. Shira Camp is a camp on the climb, pitched on the plateau for the night.
From the Shira Plateau the route bears higher toward Moir, a quieter camp used to build acclimatisation before the summit approach. The day's walking gains height gradually, and there is time for short climbs above camp that take you higher still before you sleep lower, the pattern that helps the body adjust. Moir Camp is a camp on the climb, set apart from the busier stops on the mountain.
The route now works across the mountain and drops to Barranco, part of the walk-high, sleep-low rhythm that carries you through the altitude. The descent into camp gives the legs a different day after the climbing above Moir, and the views open out as you go. Barranco Camp is a camp on the climb, set in a valley that the following morning's walk climbs out of.
A shorter day brings you across to the Karanga valley, the last staging point before the summit base. The walking crosses ridges and valleys, still gaining height, with the summit now close above. Time here is spent resting and eating well before the hardest section of the climb. Karanga Camp is a camp on the climb, a night to gather strength before Barafu.
The walk to Barafu is short but takes you onto exposed, rocky ground high on the mountain. This is the summit base, and the day is given over to rest and an early night, because the summit attempt begins in the dark. Barafu Camp is a camp on the climb, the last night before the top and the point the summit push sets out from.
You set out in darkness for the summit, the long climb to the top of Kilimanjaro timed for sunrise on the highest ground of the trip. From the top the descent runs down through the changing vegetation zones to Mweka, on the forest edge, a long day on the legs after the effort of the night. Mweka Camp is a camp on the climb, the final night on the mountain before you walk out.
Off the mountain, you slow down on the forested lower slopes of Mount Meru, around 20 kilometres east of Arusha. Days here take their rhythm from the water and the trees: a boat out on the spring-fed lake, a ride on the estate's horses, a walk in the private forest, colobus and Sykes' monkeys in the canopy. On clear mornings the glaciers of Kilimanjaro come into view. Ngare Sero Mountain Lodge is a 1905 colonial farmhouse the Leach family has run since 1974, with meals from its own organic garden and freshly caught trout.
You leave Tanzania for Rwanda's capital, spread across ridges at the centre of the country and widely regarded as the cleanest city in Africa. Two nights give you time for the Kigali Genocide Memorial at Gisozi, the textile stalls of Kimironko Market and the Inema Arts Center, all reached by private driver-guide. Hemingways Retreat Kigali is a 20-room boutique hotel of stone and teak in the leafy Kiyovu district, with a solar-heated saltwater pool and farm-to-table dining.
Kigali lies about two and a half hours by road from Volcanoes National Park, where the mountain gorillas live across the forested Virunga peaks. Treks assemble at Kinigi Park Headquarters by 7am and climb through bamboo and Hagenia woodland to a habituated family, a permit granting one hour with the gorillas and only eight visitors per family each day. The park also holds golden monkeys, endemic to the Virungas. Bisate Lodge stands on 42 hectares of reforested farmland, six thatched villas with views spanning six volcanoes.
Ed Charles, BBC Producer
Fitzroy are true specialists in accessing the wilderness. They know where to go and importantly, when to go there. Highly recommended.
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Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape a journey that is both thoughtfully considered and expertly delivered.
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