10-Day Women Only Kilimanjaro Climb — Lemosho Route + Safari Extension

Welcome to Tanzania. We run two group airport pickups timed around the Qatar Airways arrival on Day 1, taking you straight to The Maridadi Hotel in Moshi at the foot of the mountain. If your flight lands outside those windows, additional pickups can be arranged at $100 USD each way.

The rest of the day is yours to rest, unpack and settle in. In the late afternoon we'll run a full briefing with your guide team — what to expect on the mountain, a kit check, and a chance to meet the other women you'll be climbing alongside.

After breakfast, we drive from Moshi to the Lemosho trailhead on Kilimanjaro's western side (2,300m), where the full crew — guides, cooks and porters — meets us to register at the gate. From here, the trek begins through dense montane rainforest, home to colobus and blue monkeys if you're lucky.

It's a gentle first day, designed to ease everyone into camp life. We arrive at Mti Mkubwa ("Big Tree") Camp in the early afternoon, with plenty of time to settle into your tent before dinner.

The forest thins out as we climb, giving way to heath and moorland. The trees get shorter, the views get bigger, and the giant heather and lobelia start to appear — your first real sense of how different this landscape becomes the higher you go.

We emerge onto the edge of the Shira Plateau by the early afternoon, with views back across the rainforest we came up through and, on a clear day, your first proper look at Kibo's summit ahead.

Today is a shorter, gentler walk across the wide, open Shira Plateau — a good day for "walk high, sleep low" acclimatisation, with side trails your guides may use to gain extra altitude during the day before dropping back down to camp.

The landscape here feels almost lunar: rolling moorland, volcanic rock, and Kibo's summit dominating the skyline ahead of you for most of the walk.

One of the most important acclimatisation days on the route. We climb up to the Lava Tower (4,600m) for lunch — a dramatic volcanic rock formation — before descending into the lush Barranco Valley, dropping over 600m in altitude in the process.

The valley floor is scattered with giant senecio and lobelia plants found almost nowhere else on earth, and the camp sits right beneath the imposing Barranco Wall, which we'll be climbing first thing tomorrow.

The day opens with the famous Barranco Wall — a steep scramble that looks more intimidating than it is. It's non-technical, but exposed in places, and your guides will be right there with you the whole way up. The view from the top, looking back over the valley, is one of the best on the mountain.

From there, the trail rolls across a series of ridges and valleys to Karanga Camp — a shorter day overall, which helps keep your body adjusting gradually before the push toward Barafu.

A shorter, steady climb up to Barafu — your base camp for the summit attempt. The terrain turns rocky and sparse, and the air noticeably thinner. We arrive with enough daylight left to rest, sort summit kit, and get a thorough briefing from your guides on what tonight and tomorrow will involve.

Dinner is early, and so is bedtime — you'll be woken well before midnight to begin the push for the summit.

This is the day. We leave Barafu around midnight, climbing slowly by headtorch up loose scree switchbacks toward Stella Point on the crater rim, then on to Uhuru Peak — the highest point on the African continent, at 5,895m — usually arriving as the sun comes up over the clouds below.

After time at the summit to take it all in, we descend back to Barafu for a short rest, then continue down through changing terrain to Mweka Camp, back in the forest zone, for a well-earned night's sleep at a far friendlier altitude.

A final descent through cool, damp forest down to Mweka Gate, where you'll receive your summit certificate and say thank you (and probably a tip) to the crew who got you up and down safely. From here, it's a drive back to The Maridadi Hotel in Moshi.

A hot shower, a real bed, and a celebration dinner — you've earned all three.

A relaxed final morning to rest, pack, and let it all sink in, before your transfer to the airport for your departure flight. If you've added the safari extension, this is the morning you'll instead head onward to Tarangire to start the next chapter.

After the mountain, Tarangire feels like a different world entirely. We drive south to the park, known for its enormous elephant herds, ancient baobab trees and open grassland, spending the day on a full game drive with a picnic lunch out in the bush.

Down into the Ngorongoro Crater for a full day among its 30,000-plus resident animals — the highest density of lions in Africa, permanent black rhino, large bull elephants and flamingos gathered at the soda lake on the crater floor. A picnic lunch down on the crater floor, then back up to the lodge for a second night in the area.

Two full days exploring one of the largest wildlife areas on earth: endless golden plains, big cat sightings, and — season permitting — the chance to catch the Great Migration moving through. Sundowner drinks out in the bush make for a memorable end to each day.

One last morning game drive before heading back toward Arusha, with stops along the way as wildlife allows. A free evening to relax, pack, and reflect on everything the last two weeks have covered — from summit to safari.

A final breakfast, then transfer to the airport for your departure flight home. Sixteen days, one summit, three national parks, and a group of women who climbed the highest mountain in Africa together.