There are six established routes to climb Mount Kilimanjaro – Marangu, Machame, Lemosho, Shira, Rongai, and Umbwe. The Marangu, Machame, and Umbwe routes all approach from the south of the mountain. The Lemosho, and Shira routes approach from the west. The Rongai route approaches from the north near Kenya. All routes except Marangu and Rongai descend via Mweka.
As a newer route, it is more remote and arguably more beautiful, but a bit longer and slightly more expensive. It starts on the western side of the mountain at the Londorossi Gate, which is a further drive from town, and was introduced as an alternative to the Shira route.
After beautiful forests and moorlands, it crosses the Shira Plateau on day 3 to connect with the Machame Route at Lava Tower and down towards Barranco Valley via the Southern Circuit. You may be lucky enough to see buffalo, elephant, and other game. Because this route can be done over a longer period of time for acclimatization, it has a higher success rate for summit.
