Kilimanjaro Hotel Marangu Successful Climb Journal

Kilimanjaro Hotel Climb Journal

Kilimanjaro Hotel Used For The Ascent:

The Marangu

Duration and Route:

6 days September 2003, Machame Route

Journal Author: Gard Karlsen, Norway

Picture by Bruce Whittaker (c)

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Gard decided to use the Marangu Kilimanjaro Hotel to guide his climb after a lot of research into tour companies and even though they were a bit more expensive than some of the others he felt they were very serious about their business and in hindsight it turned out to be the right decision.

Accommodation:

The Marangu Kilimanjaro hotel is a former farm and consists of several cottages and building.

The rooms are reasonably sparsely furnished but they have the required mosquito nets, wardrobe and en-suite bathroom.

No TV or mini-bar in the room but you will be spending most of your time on the mountain anyway so this is just your start and finish point.

Breakfast and dinner is included in the package and tastes just like home cooking. (Your call when dinner is ready is someone walking through the gardens ringing a bell).

The bar is open more or less the whole day and you can get a cheap Kilimanjaro Lager or Kibo Gold and enjoy great views of Kibo and Mawenzi as you drink.

Climb Highlights:

Considering that the porters have to carry all the provisions on their backs, the meals are very good fare. Breakfast consisted of oat porridge, toast, omelette, sausage and some vegetables on the side and a typical dinner consisted of chicken soup, spaghetti with some sort of tomato sauce with vegetables, meat, fried potatoes and bread.

The sunset at Shira camp was beautiful at it made Kibo glow as if it had a light of its own and later when darkness descended there were thousands of stars visible.

It is a pretty amazing feeling to sleep in a tent at 4000 meters above sea level at the equator in Tanzania next to the highest mountain in Africa.

Great views of the crater and the surrounding glaciers on the way up to the summit at Uhuru peak even though it was really a struggle for Gard (everyone struggles at this point) to get there due to the lack of oxygen at this high altitude. Covering the 60m distance between Stella point and the top took about an hour.

Kilimanjaro Hotel Climb Tips & Recommendations:

Walking poles might seem a little whimpy to some people but they really do help on the mountain and when your macho buddies start falling behind because they don't want to use them you will have the last laugh.

Bring a head lamp with which leaves your hands free for things like brushing your teeth, going to the toilet, reading a book etc. Electricity is a scarce commodity up there and the nights can get pretty dark.

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