Kilimanjaro, Umbwe route

[illicit]

I summited Kilimanjaro on the 12th of January, 2005.

I climbed the Umbwe route (steepest, fastest and the best views).
Although the Umbwe route was supposedly the hardest, at age 15, I managed well, and I found the route to be surprisingly easy for the first 4 days. (5th day being the summit.

I recommend this route to anyone who is interested in climbing Kilimanjaro, because of the great views. This route goes as follows:

Day 1: Umbwe gate to Umbwe cave camp (5:30 - 6:30 hours)
Day 2: Umbwe cave camp to Baranco hut (5:30 - 6:30 hours)
Day 3: Baranco hut to karanga hut (2:30 - 3:30 hours)
Day 4: Karanga hut to Barafu camp (2:00 - 3:00 hours)
Day 5: Barafu camp to Uhuru peak, to Barafu camp, to Mweka hut (10:00 - 13:00 hours)
Day 6: Mweka hut to Park gate (2:00 - 3:30 hours)

It was a great experience, although the summit night was cold, tough and incredibly long, it was well worth it, and I will be back next year to climb the Marangu route.

If you have any questions about the hike, please ask.

[7summits]

hello Illicit,

welcome on the forum, congratulations on your ascent!
If you have any pictures to share, they are welcome as we do not have Umbwe pix yet.

If you have a lot of pictures and or a tripreport, let me know and I can create a picture category or a trip reports page for you.

Thanks,
7s

[illicit]

I have quite a few images, although many are on a standard camera, and I have not yet uploaded many digital pictures.

Here are a couple teasers:

The first is a view just after sun rise, of the glaciers. This was taken standing on a path near the Uhuru peak sign.

The second is of myself at Uhuru peak.