The first time I seriously considered climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro was after I watched an interview with a particular female celebrity.
She was recounting her trip to the summit and mentioned that she took the Marangu Route – which is known as the ‘Coca Cola route’ because of it’s popularity with Western tourists and relative ease.
At that moment, I remember thinking to myself, “If I ever climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, I’m NOT taking that route.” It wasn’t that I was opposed to taking the easiest way to the summit. It was much more about avoiding those dreaded crowds.
I’m a bit of an introvert and I like more tranquil adventures. Places like Disneyland, with its crowded chaos and people milling around, is not MY happiest place on earth. I prefer more serenity, and often opt for the more challenging hikes because they tend to be less crowded.
Picking a route
As I started researching the different routes on Mt. Kilimanjaro, choosing a less-traveled path was one of my main criteria. There are seven possible routes to get to the summit for non-techinal climbers. And many of them merge together for the final summit approach.
The Marangu route (starting on the east side of the mountain) and Machame route (starting on the south side) have become insanely popular with trekkers. Both of these routes have high success rates, which leads many climbers to choose them.
Meanwhile, the Lemosho and Shira routes, which begin on the west side of Kilimanjaro National Park are still relatively tranquil and less traveled. Moreover, these routes go through much more varied terrain on the west side of the mountain, and provide you with panoramic views of Kilimanjaro as you approach it.
The primary difference between the two western routes is where they begin. Climbers using the Lemosho Route have an extra day of walking and begin at a lower elevation. Meanwhile, climbers using the Shira route are driven to 11,000 feet. Consequently, Shira trekkers may initially struggle with altitude sickness from ascending more rapidly by vehicle.
Lemosho Route
Given my desire to make this adventure last as long as possible, I quickly opted for the Lemosho route. This journey would take me through rain forests, heath, moorland, alpine desert, and arctic terrain as I made my way to the summit and back down.
Not only is this route more scenic and challenging, but its length would give me longer time to acclimate to the high elevation. At the time, I was living in Kansas City. This city, in the middle of the Great Plains, is doesn’t even crest 1,000 feet above sea level. So I knew the more time I had to acclimate to the altitude, the higher my chances of successfully summiting would be.
Summiting Kilimanjaro isn’t a given. Just because you paid your money, doesn’t mean the guide will be able to get you to the top. All told, there’s only a 45% success rate for summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro!!
However, when you dig into these statistics a bit, something interesting jumps out. The biggest factor in determining whether a climber successfully summits is NOT the route they take. It’s the total time they spend on the mountain.
- Climbers who use a 5-day route only have a 27% success rate.
- This percentage jumps to a 44% success rate for 6-days routes.
- And it increases to 64% success rate for the 7-day routes.
But, then when you get to the 8-day routes, like the Lemosho route, the summit success rate is a whopping 85%. Given the additional beauty of this longer route and the opportunity to spend more time enjoying the tranquil scenery, why wouldn’t I opt for Lemosho?
Final Thoughts
Choosing a route for my Kilimanjaro climb was one of the most important choices of my journey. In fact, it was second only to choosing a guide service (which I also wrote about HERE).
These choices would have a tremendous impact on whether I made it safely to the summit. And whether I enjoyed my experience while doing so.
If you’re thinking about climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, and want to know more about the different routes, here’s a few resources to help you decide which route is best for you: