We begin our climb near the beautiful village of Machame, which is south of Kilimanjaro. We walk through the Machame forest and then into the moorlands, where we climb over some rocks to reach the Shira Plateau. From there, we go around the mountain counterclockwise, passing under Kibo’s southern side. We climb up to Lava Tower for amazing all-around views, then tackle the tough but fun Barranco Wall. The final push to the top, Uhuru Peak, starts from either Barafu or Kossovo Camp, following a ridge near the Southeast Valley. From Barafu, you get great views of Mawenzi Peak and the old part of Kilimanjaro’s volcano.
This route doesn’t give much time to get used to the high altitude, and because the climbing is hard, fewer people make it to the top compared to other paths.