12 Days Kilimanjaro Climb & Serengeti Safari

Day 1 – Arrival in Arusha

You land at Kilimanjaro International Airport and feel the warm, high-altitude breeze of northern Tanzania. A driver whisks you to your lodge in Arusha, a leafy town resting beneath the blue outline of Mount Meru. Over a welcome drink your mountain guide spreads out a route map, checks your gear, and answers every last question about altitude, weather, and head-torch batteries. Dinner is hearty—think grilled tilapia and ugali—then you settle into a real bed for one final night of sheets and Wi-Fi.
Meals included: dinner. Overnight at Outpost Lodge (budget), Planet Lodge (mid-range), or Arusha Coffee Lodge (luxury).

Day 2 – Machame Gate to Machame Camp (3 000 m)

After breakfast a two-hour drive climbs through coffee estates to Machame Gate, 1 800 m above sea level. Rangers weigh your packs; porters hoist duffels onto their heads with casual grace. The trail dives straight into primeval rain forest—towering fig trees, dripping moss, colobus monkeys leaping overhead. Damp earth muffles your footfalls as you rise steadily for eleven kilometres. By late afternoon the trees thin, mist curls between trunks, and bright tents glow at Machame Camp. Hot cocoa never tasted so good.
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner. Overnight in mountain tents.

Day 3 – Machame Camp to Shira Camp (3 840 m)

The morning greets you with birdsong and a clear view of Kibo’s snow-capped dome. The forest disappears behind you, replaced by heather and giant lobelias. Volcanic rock crunches underfoot; each bend reveals Mount Meru floating on a sea of clouds to the west and after five to six hours of trekking, you find yourself on Shira Plateau, an open moonscape where glacier tongues catch the late sun in pastel pinks and await tommorrow.
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner. Overnight in mountain tents.

Day 4 – Shira Plateau to Lava Tower (4 630 m) and Down to Barranco Camp (3 950 m)

Today is aacclimatisation day. You ascend gradually toward Lava Tower, a hulking chimney of black rock rising from barren slopes. The air thins; every breath reminds you why slow, steady steps matter. Stop over for lunch beneath the tower then you descend a long valley studded with strange giant groundsels until you arrive at Barranco Camp that appears below just like a curtain wall. Dropping altitude after climbing high gives your lungs a grateful break.
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner. Overnight in mountain tents.

Day 5 – Barranco Wall to Karanga Camp (4 200 m)

Dawn paints the sheer Barranco Wall gold. You clip away with trekking poles and scramble hand-over-rock for an exhilarating 300 vertical metres. From the top the southern glaciers gleam in crystal air. Later you shall gentlly navigate through alpine desert that takes you to the Karanga Camp, found into a hollow that protects from the ever-present wind. Your afternoon is for rest, hydration, and a sunset that seems to set the entire mountain ablaze.
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner. Overnight in mountain tents.

Day 6 – Karanga to Barafu Camp (4 673 m)

The path steepens across grey scree and shards of volcanic glass. By midday it gets pretty cold, windy, silent except for flapping tent fabric. Guides serve an early, carb-heavy supper, then insist you try to sleep at 18:00. Around you head-torches flicker as climbers lay out summit layers, check water bottles, and knot boot laces one last time.
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner. Overnight in mountain tents.

Day 7 – Midnight Summit to Uhuru Peak (5 895 m) and Descent to Mweka Camp (3 100 m)

You wake in darkness to ginger tea and biscuits. At 00:30 the line of head-lamps snakes upward. Breath crystallises; footsteps crunch frost. Five or six relentless hours later you reach Stella Point on the crater rim just in time for sunrise—the sky erupts pink and orange behind Mawenzi’s ragged spires. Another gentle climb and the sign at Uhuru Peak appears: 5 895 m, Roof of Africa. Delight, photographs, tears of joy. The descent is long: sliding scree back to Barafu, quick refuel, then into greener air down to Mweka Camp, where you shall hear the sound of celebratory singing drifting among every tent.
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner. Overnight in mountain tents.

Day 8 – Mweka Camp to Gate and Return to Arusha

Today, you shall have a relaxed three-hour stroll through giant ferns and wildflowers that takes you to the Mweka Gate. You sign the summit register, receive a certificate, and join the  the waiting vehicle. Back in Arusha a hot shower, cold drink, and soft mattress feel like pure luxury.
Meals: breakfast, lunch. Overnight at Outpost Lodge, Planet Lodge, or Mount Meru Hotel.

Day 9 – Arusha to Tarangire National Park

Refreshed, you meet your safari driver-guide and roll through Maasai towns toward Tarangire. Within minutes of entering the gate you’re dwarfed by bulbous baobabs and greeted by a parade of elephants heading to the river. Giraffes nibble umbrella thorn, lions snooze in shade, and your picnic lunch comes with zebra traffic passing behind the table. Sunset finds you at camp, cicadas buzzing, stars igniting overhead.
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner. Overnight at Zion Campsite (camping), Fig Tree Lodge (budget), Marera Valley Lodge (mid-range), or Tarangire Sopa Lodge / Tarangire Treetops (luxury).

Day 10 – Ngorongoro Crater Then Into the Serengeti

Pre-dawn start for the drive up to Ngorongoro’s rim. Mist parts to reveal a vast bowl teeming with wildlife. You descend 600 metres to the crater floor and share the track with black-maned lions, fat-bellied hyenas, and (if luck strikes) a critically endangered rhino grazing near the fever trees. After lunch beside a yawning hippo pool you climb the rim road and push westward. The tarmac fades; endless grass rises to meet the vehicle. Even before you reach camp, cheetahs, topi, and the first Serengeti lions appear as if to welcome you.
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner. Overnight at Seronera Campsite, Serengeti Wild Camp, Serengeti Heritage Camp, or Kubu Kubu Tented Lodge / Four Seasons Serengeti.

Day 11 – Full Day on the Serengeti Plains

Dawn breaks to roaring lions. You spend sunrise tracking prides across golden grass, then follow the scent of dust clouds to migrating wildebeest (season permitting). Mid-morning may reveal a leopard draped over an acacia limb; afternoon heat often sends elephants trudging toward hidden marshes. Between drives you relax in camp, watching hyraxes scamper over rocks, until the light softens and the savanna glows copper for your evening game loop.
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner. Overnight at the same camp or lodge.

Day 12 – Farewell to the Wild & Return to Arusha

Choose a final dawn game drive or a lazy breakfast with buffalo grazing beyond the canvas walls. Then board a small aircraft for the scenic hop to Arusha (or settle in for the overland journey via Ngorongoro highlands). By mid-afternoon you’re back in town, swapping wildlife stories and checking in for your onward flight—or perhaps deciding one more night in Tanzania sounds like the best idea yet.
Meals: breakfast, lunch.

Optional Enhancements

Drift above the Serengeti at sunrise in a hot-air balloon, landing to a Champagne breakfast (USD 599).

Add an extra rest day in Arusha between climb and safari to soak sore legs.

Rent high-quality winter gear or hire an extra porter for comfort on the mountain.