| Out of the six best-known routes to climb the | | | | the jagged edges of the Mawenzi Peak. This is a |
| mountain Kilimanjaro, the Marangu is considered one | | | | five-hour hike that leaves you at 4730 meters above |
| of the easiest and safest. It is not known why, but | | | | sea level, but with a comfortable place to rest in Kibo |
| the Marangu route is also called the "Coca-Cola | | | | Hut. |
| Route". | | | | The next day, brings the pinnacle of this trek - the |
| The Marangu route is both breathtakingly beautiful | | | | Kibo summit itself. Most of the route so far is pretty |
| and astonishingly comfortable, with hut | | | | much plain sailing, which may leave climbers slightly |
| accommodation available throughout in cozy huts. | | | | unprepared to tackle the steepness of the scree |
| Starting from the Marangu Gate, trekkers take a | | | | that leads to Gillman's Point and its crater rim - 5681 |
| 4-hour hike through the dense rainforests to the | | | | meters high. In the brilliant, almost supernaturally clear |
| second camp called Mandara hut. Mandara hut is at a | | | | and beautiful dawn seen from Gillman's Point, though, |
| height of 2743 meters - a fairly steep climb, making it | | | | most climbers forget their inexperience, fatigue and |
| easier to overcome the effects of altitude. | | | | woes in their eagerness to reach the top. |
| In the next leg, the forest has to be left behind, only | | | | Once Gillman's Point has been reached, it is time for |
| to be replaced by the glorious fields of moor heath, | | | | the final leg - a 1 hour 30 minute trek to Uhuru Peak, |
| as climbers ascend a further thousand meters to | | | | the highest point of Mount Kilimanjaro at 5895 |
| Horombo hut at 3760 meters. This leg takes five | | | | meters. |
| hours. | | | | All too soon, it is time to descend. Once again, you |
| Then follows a day to rest and acclimatize at the | | | | pass the lichen-filled, sometimes icy peak areas. After |
| Horombo hut, doing nothing but enjoying the clean - | | | | lunch at Kibo hut, the heath makes its reappearance |
| though rare - mountain air and giving fatigued muscles | | | | all the way back down to Horombo Hut. This day, |
| some relaxation. If you feel adventurous, you can | | | | climbers will walk a total of 13 hours. |
| take the walk to Mawenzi Hut or to the Zebra rocks. | | | | Finally, there is the five-hour descent to Marangu |
| After this, climbers renew their acquaintance with the | | | | gate, amid the rainforests whose sights and sounds |
| heath-covered moors, only to find themselves face | | | | feel at once welcome and unwelcome, familiar and |
| to face in some time with The Saddle - the desert | | | | unfamiliar after the ethereal experience of the |
| region that separates the highest peak, Kibo, from | | | | mountains. |