Life on Kilimanjaro: What the Climb Really Feels Like

What Is the Weather on Kilimanjaro?

In brief, expect everything from hot to bitterly cold. One reason a Kilimanjaro climb is so unusual is that, between the trailhead and the top, you pass through several distinct climate zones. People often say the trek feels like traveling from the equator to Antarctica in just a few days! The mountain has five major ecological zones, each spanning roughly 3,280 feet (1,000 m) of elevation. As you gain altitude, every zone brings less rainfall, cooler temperatures, and fewer plants and animals.

Moshi, the gateway town where we organize our climbs, sits just south of the base of the mountain. Standing at 2,667 feet (900 m) above sea level, it lies within the lowest and warmest ecological zone. The table below lays out Moshi's typical temperature, humidity, and rainfall.

Average Temperature, Humidity, and Precipitation in Moshi, Tanzania
Month	Low (F)	Average (F)	High (F)	Humidity (%)	Rainfall (in)
January	64	78	92	58	1.4
February	64	78	92	57	2.0
March	66	78	90	63	4.7
April	67	76	85	73	13.8
May	65	72	79	77	9.3
June	62	70	78	72	1.5
July	60	69	78	69	1.0
August	60	70	80	66	0.7
September	60	71	83	61	0.6
October	62	75	88	57	1.0
November	64	76	89	57	2.5
December	64	77	90	60	2.1

Going by these figures, January and February are the warmest months, April and May the wettest, June and July the coolest, and August and September the driest. The same general pattern applies up on Kilimanjaro itself.

Because the mountain lies so close to the equator, temperatures barely shift from one season to the next. Altitude and time of day matter far more. When you start out at the foot of the mountain, the average temperature is about 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (21 to 27 degrees Celsius), and it falls steadily as you pass through each ecological zone.

At Uhuru Point, the summit, nighttime temperatures can fall anywhere from 20 to -20 degrees Fahrenheit (-7 to -29 degrees Celsius). Kilimanjaro is so tall that it generates its own weather, which swings widely and can't be predicted. Whatever month you choose, plan on wet days and cold nights.

The Five Ecological Zones of Kilimanjaro

What follows are the mountain's zones, from the lowest elevation to the highest, with each one's average yearly precipitation, its main characteristics, and links to current weather conditions for that zone.

Bushland/Cultivated Zone Altitude: 2,600 to 6,000 ft (800 to 1,800 m) Precipitation: 20 to 70 in (500 to 1,800 mm)

The bushland is the lowest climate zone, sitting a half-mile or more above sea level. It is made up of farmland, grassland, and villages.

This area was once covered by natural bush, plains, and lowland forest. Its fertile volcanic soil, though, makes it ideal for farming. The Chaga people made their homes on these lower slopes, where they grow many crops, including prized coffee and tropical fruit. Underground channels carry water down from the lush rainforest above to irrigate the land.

A good number of local mountain guides come from the villages nearby. Farmers cleared out large wild animals generations ago, so you will rarely see any here. Small nocturnal mammals such as galagos and tree hyrax still do well, though, and birds like speckled mousebirds and tropical boubou are plentiful.

Rain Forest Zone Altitude: 6,000 to 9,200 ft (1,800 to 2,800 m) Precipitation: 79 to 40 in (2,000 to 1,000 mm)

Six to seven feet of rain fall on the rain forest every year, and life here is abundant. By day this thickly wooded zone is warm and humid, but rainy nights can be surprisingly cold. Keep your rain gear within easy reach, since the drizzle rarely stops.

No other zone offers as many chances to see African plants and animals found nowhere else. Orchids, ferns, sycamore figs, olive trees, and palms draped in hanging moss all grow here. Camphorwood trees push up through the canopy to as much as 130 feet, reaching for light. Blue monkeys and Colobus monkeys swing through the branches, calling loudly for mates, while a lively chorus of birdsong rises from the forest.

If you approach the summit by the Rongai, Lemosho, Shira, or Northern Circuit routes, you may be lucky enough to see elephants, buffalo, antelope, and now and then a predator wandering through looking for a stray meal.

Heath/Moorland Zone Altitude: 9,200 to 13,200 ft (2,800 to 4,000 m) Precipitation: 51 to 21 in (1,300 to 530 mm)

This semi-alpine zone, also called moorland, is defined by heath-like vegetation and plenty of wildflowers. Mountain medicine places the heath zone in the "high altitude" range, so some climbers may notice the first signs of acute mountain sickness. Most of our clients sensibly spend several days at this height, letting their bodies adjust to the thinning oxygen and the greater elevations ahead.

As we climb, the humid air and thick forest give way to drier air and cooler temperatures. Plants shrink to low shrubs such as heather, and wildlife becomes ever more scarce. The most striking plants are the distinctive Senecios (also called groundsels) and Giant Lobelias, both endemic to Kilimanjaro. The name Senecio comes from the Latin for "old man," and the plants have thick, weathered stems crowned with big, succulent rosettes. Lobelias look like oddly shaped palm trees, and their rosettes close each evening as protection from the chilly night air.

Easily recognized black and white crows, which scavenge around camp, are the birds you will see most in the heath zone. Large raptors such as the crowned eagle and lammergeyer sometimes circle overhead.

You can check current weather for Kilimanjaro's heath zone here

Alpine Desert Zone Altitude: 13,200 to 16,500 ft (4,000 to 5,000 m) Precipitation: 10 in (250 mm)

Little water reaches the alpine desert, so the plant life is sparse. Daytime temperatures can top 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Thin air and the nearness of the equator mean intense solar radiation, so putting on plenty of sunscreen is an absolute must. At night, temperatures often drop well below freezing, and a light frost may coat the tents by morning.

Mountain medicine calls this the "very high altitude" range. To acclimatize as well as possible, climbers should spend a few days here. Our preferred routes follow the "climb high, sleep low" approach, which lessens the effects of altitude.

The soil in this dry zone is thin and holds little water, so most plants and animals can't live here. Everlastings, tussock grasses, and several kinds of moss are among the few plants that tolerate such harsh conditions. A handful of animals from the moorland occasionally wander up this high, but sightings are very rare.

You can check current weather for Kilimanjaro's alpine desert zone here.

Arctic Zone Altitude: 16,500+ ft (5,000+ m) Precipitation: <4 in (100 mm)

The arctic zone is the last stretch of the climb. Finding such a place in Africa's equatorial belt is a bit like coming across a patch of rainforest in the middle of an Arctic glacier. Ice and rock dominate, and almost no plants or animals live at this height. Glacial silt blankets slopes that the retreating glaciers, still visible from Kilimanjaro's crater rim, once covered. Nights are bitterly cold and windy, and the sun beats down with nothing to soften it during the day.

Mountain medicine labels this zone "extreme altitude." Oxygen is roughly half of what it is at sea level, so breathing becomes slow and labored. Climbers are likely to feel altitude symptoms to some degree up here. To counter that, we keep our time in this zone short, summiting and heading down quickly before AMS can worsen.

You can check current weather for Kilimanjaro's artic zone here.

What Gear Should I Carry in My Day Pack?

Carry only the items from your gear list that you might need before you reach the next campsite. A small to medium backpack of up to 2000 cu in (30 liters) works well. What goes in depends mostly on how long the walk to camp will take and on trail and weather conditions. A typical daypack holds waterproof gear, extra clothing, water, snacks, gloves, a hat, sunglasses, and small items like bug repellent and sunscreen. If you are unsure what to bring, ask your guide

Put everything else in your duffel bag, which the porters carry. The duffel's weight limit is 15 kgs, and the porters take it from one campsite to the next. Use plastic bags or dry bags to keep your gear sorted and waterproof. Each morning, you will be expected to pack both your daypack and your duffel. A backpack can stand in for a duffel bag, but a duffel is preferred because porters bundle the bags with other loads and carry them on their heads.

Where Will I Sleep?

During the trek, you will sleep in state-of-the-art, four-season mountain tents. Our Mountain Hardwear tents are warm, waterproof, and roomy - a great fit for your Kilimanjaro adventure. We know some climbers feel nervous about camping for so many days, so we work to keep the tents as dry, warm, and comfortable as we can.

Mountain Hardwear makes gear for the toughest alpine conditions. Trango 3 tents are standard issue for refined basecamp shelters on mountaineering expeditions around the world.

A three-person tent comfortably holds two climbers plus their gear. Inside, you get 48 square feet of floor space, a large vestibule, dual doors, and mesh pockets. The Trango 3 is entirely waterproof, with fully taped seams and welded corners.

Every climber receives a 1.5-inch foam sleeping pad. These locally sourced pads beat any commercially available sleeping pad: thick, warm, and comfortable, even if camping is new to you. Each pad goes inside a washable cover to keep it clean.

What Does a Typical Day Look Like?

On a typical mountain day, a staff member wakes you at your tent around 6:30 AM. Hot drinks are waiting in the mess tent then, and breakfast follows at about 7:00 AM. Before you eat, pack your day pack and duffel bag and set them outside the tent so the porters can take it down. Meals are served in a mess tent, or sometimes outdoors when the weather is nice, with chairs, tables, dinnerware, and silverware provided. Walking usually starts around 8:00 AM, while the porters stay back to clean the campsite and pack up the tents and other equipment. A health check is also done in the morning.

Hours differ from day to day, but you will average about four to six hours of walking daily. Your guide sets the pace and decides when to stop for breaks, based on how he judges the group is doing. The porters always move ahead of the group so they can prepare food, collect water, and set up tents, leaving everything ready by the time the party arrives. Lunch is usually hot and served partway through the day's trek, though sometimes you will get a boxed lunch instead.

Snacks are served when you reach camp, and dinner comes around 6:00 PM. Another health check takes place in the evening, and after dinner the guide goes over the next day's plans with the group. Free time goes to chatting with fellow climbers, staff, and others at the campsite, reading, or simply relaxing.

Many clients worry that they will be "too slow" and fall behind the guide and the rest of the group. There is no need to worry. Going slowly is fine and is actually recommended. Our guides keep a very slow hiking pace so that everyone has the best chance to acclimatize as the altitude rises. Climbers who get turned around on the mountain usually do so because altitude sickness got the better of them, not because they were too tired to keep up or carry on.

Summit Day

Summit day is a hard 11 to 16 hours. That huge effort is what makes a Kilimanjaro climb such an achievement. It starts very early, since guides aim to get their group to Uhuru Point by sunrise. You turn in after an early dinner the night before, then get woken around midnight to get ready. After a light snack, you head upward through the dark, cold, and wind. Not surprisingly, the going is tough in these conditions, especially on loose rock and a very steep slope. This is where your physical strength and mental toughness get tested.

Our team of Ultimate Kilimanjaro® guides stays with you every step of the way. Along the route you take short breaks, usually under ten minutes, for a quick snack and a drink. The purpose is to keep climbers energized and hydrated without letting them get cold from standing still. Guides check in regularly on how everyone feels and lend a hand to anyone who needs extra help.

Sometimes a climber has to turn back because of altitude sickness, exhaustion, or any number of other reasons. Every group has a lead guide, a number of assistant guides depending on group size, and summit porters, and all of them can escort climbers down. So if someone can't continue upward, a staff member goes down with that person while the lead guide carries on with the group. Everyone else is unaffected and keeps climbing on schedule.

At the top, you spend a little while celebrating and taking photos, then head back to high camp, either Barafu or Kibo Hut. There you eat lunch and recover your strength before continuing down to a much lower camp. Most people feel tired during that long descent right after the summit, because of the broken night's sleep, the energy spent reaching the top, and the great distance covered that day. That is completely normal. If altitude has made you feel ill, reaching this lower elevation often brings relief quickly and completely.

Altitude Acclimatization

No one can predict how they will respond to high altitude. Some bodies adapt well to the reduced oxygen, and others don't. Being fit and healthy helps, but it doesn't guarantee that you will acclimatize. That is why our best advice is to give yourself 7 or more days on the mountain.

Summit success rates rise strongly with the number of days spent on the mountain. The human body adjusts to altitude slowly, so the more time you give it, the better your odds of acclimatizing. Reaching the top usually comes down to how well a climber acclimatizes, not how well he or she can climb. By trekking standards, most of Kilimanjaro's day hikes aren't very strenuous. The big exception is the summit attempt, which takes tremendous effort and is hard for nearly everyone. Climbers who acclimatize well have a great chance of reaching the top.

 

What Are the Trail Conditions Like?

Kilimanjaro's trails are well marked and well maintained, and our routes require no technical skills. Only a couple of places call for scrambling (using hands and feet), such as the Barranco Wall, the Western Breach approach (now closed), and the optional Lava Tower climb. The path to and from Uhuru Point runs over scree, which can be especially tiring and slippery.

Bad weather can make things harder. Be ready to trek through every kind of weather, including fog, rain, and snow, and over every kind of ground, whether loose, dusty, muddy, wet, snowy, or icy.

Every campsite has "long drop" public toilets. These are wooden shacks built over a deep hole in the ground. They have no commodes, so you stand or squat over a hole cut into the floor of the shack. With the crowds on Kilimanjaro, these public toilets get heavy use and can become quite dirty.

All of our climbs offer private toilets for an extra cost. A private toilet is a plastic toilet inside a privacy tent.

The mountain has no shower facilities.

What Food and Water Will Be Provided?

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are provided every day you spend on the mountain. The meals are chosen specifically to support your climb: high-energy, easily digestible carbohydrate foods.

Rice, potatoes, and pasta are the main carbohydrates. Fresh fruit and vegetables come with every meal. Meat is served on the mountain, but only in small amounts, since it is hard to digest at high altitude and doesn't keep well there. We resupply the team with fresh food throughout the climb.

Water comes from mountain streams and is treated with purification tablets. It is available only at the campsites, so you need to carry enough, usually about 3 liters, to stay hydrated while you hike.

You might want to bring a few extra "comfort" foods, such as candy, gum, chocolate, health bars, or powdered energy drinks.

We can accommodate vegetarian and vegan diets. If you have other special dietary needs, please contact us to talk through what we can and cannot do. Food choices are limited in Tanzania, so while we try to please every client, some will be asked to bring their own specific foods for our cooks to prepare.

Where Will We Stay Before and After the Climb?

We arrange hotel stays before and after your Kilimanjaro climb. Our guests stay at several different hotels, all in Moshi. They are comparable within their class, though not every amenity is available at each one.

Our standard hotel is the Keys hotel in Moshi town. This simple, clean hotel is roughly 60 minutes by vehicle from Kilimanjaro International Airport.