Trail Information
Distance: 9km
Difficulty: Hard
Transport: None. This is a tough point to turn around, as its uphill in every direction.
Terrain: Kilimanjaro spans five ecological zones. Each day progresses through one or more of them.
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800-1,800m: Cultivation Zone
Where people live, work and farm. this is the main altitude of Tanzania.
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1,800-3,000: Rainforest Zone
Mountain forests and evergreen. Heavy rainfall and high humidity.
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3,000-4,000m: Moorland Zone
The start of lower oxygen and stranger flora. There is little tree cover and the change from rainforest to moorland is both dramatic and obvious.
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4,000-5,000m: Alpine Desert Zone
You will see some real changes in your body at this altitude, very few animals and plants live at this level.
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5,000m+: Arctic Zone
Hail, snow, freezing winds are all possible. Nothing lives at this altitude. Rocks and stones are your only friends.
Technically starting in the Moorland, this section of the trail is entirely in the Alpine Desert. You may duck slightly back into the moorlands at times when you descend valleys after Barranco Wall, but you will almost immediately climb back into the Alpine Desert.
Accommodation
Barranco Camp
Altitude: 3,976 meters
Barranco camp is the last camp you’ll sleep at on the way to the summit. Whilst you’ll get a bit of time to rest at Barafu Basecamp, you won't get much sleep. Make the most of Barranco, turn in early and try and get as much rest as you can.
Camping at Barranco Camp
The view in the evening of the peak is outstanding, as the sun hits the summit during sunset the peak is illuminated and the wall is dark and forboding.
The toilets are not as clean as previously, as the number of people around is much higher. The ground is also very rocky so it can be easy to lose footing.
On the one open side, the lights of civilization can be seen.
Sights
Barranco Wall
This is nonsense. Don’t be careless, but you have plenty of room to walk and climb up the trail. A more appropriate nickname is the ‘breakfast wall’ as its the first thing you’ll be doing after breakfast.
Aside from the peak, Barranco Wall is perhaps the most iconic vista on the trail. I ended my trip in a tattoo parlour in Zanzibar (the fantastic Malaika Tattoo in Kendwa) having the view from Barranco camp of the summit of Kilimanjaro & Barranco wall tattooed on my arm.
The Experience
Day 4
This was the day. We had hours of hiking ahead of us to reach the summit, and hours more to reach camp. We were woken at 6 am and had coffee, porridge, boiled eggs and toast. By this point we were all practised in packing up and so were fed and ready to leave in plenty of time.
Ahead of us loomed Barranco wall. To reach it from camp was a simple matter of a short walk and a short stream crossing. It was then a long clamber upwards. Whilst it looks hard from a distance, like you’ll be doing some real climbing, it's actually a pretty straightforward (though steep) hike. There are a few places where you are scrambling through rocks, but generally it's nothing to worry about despite the appearance.
It's a long climb, and you gain a lot of altitude doing it, but the views from the top are fantastic, and the weather and clouds when we reached the top made the second peak in the distance look like an islands in the ocean.
We took a brief break in the shadow of the peak, before heading along the trail and losing some of that precious height we’d gained summiting Barranco wall. Whilst it is necessary, it always feels like a step backwards. Particularly on the day you’d be reaching the top.
We followed the trail down and ended up in a valley and crossed a small stream. The shape of the valley implies the stream is typically much larger, but we were hiking just before the rainy season kicks off.
Dragonhead Rock
It was another uphill hike for a while and then a very steep switchback downwards. The climb down took quite some time, and we passed ‘Dragonhead Rock’ (named by yours truly). When we hit the bottom of the trail, we then had a very steep hike back up again on the other side of the valley to reach the temporary camp where we were having lunch. The final climb was tough, and when we reached the camp, it was surrounded by mist, so visibility was limited. We piled into the tent and worked our way through the food and coffee.
This ended the first of four ‘sections’ of our hike, but the longest in distance.
After lunch, we had a steady climb upwards, along a misty hill, and then a short flat section. From there it was the ‘false flats’ a series of plains streched out with the trail cutting through them. We passed, or were passed a number of other groups during this section of the trail, as we were all heading to the same Basecamp. Many of the groups were singing as they hiked.
The final fifteen minutes to reach Barafu Base Camp was extremely hard, a steep upwards climb on sharp volcanic rocks to reach a flat plain of scree where our tents were pitched. This last climb had me worried. Not for the summit, but for the 4+ hours hiking after we reached Uhuru Peak.
We arrived at camp at about 4pm, and met in the main tent at 5, so I had time to setup my gear and grab a photo or two of the view.
Total Distance: 9km
Altitude Gained: 697 meters