Half day
Materuni Waterfalls
Around twenty to thirty minutes outside Moshi are the Materuni waterfalls. Because it is so close, it fits…
Day trip
Kilimanjaro Day Hike
Duration
3–4 hours of hiking
Departs from
Marangu Gate
Best time
The drier windows either side of the long rains, as for any Kilimanjaro trek.
What it involves
Get a real taste of Mount Kilimanjaro if you don't have time for the whole thing. If you're only in Tanzania for a short while, or aren't quite ready to tackle the summit of Africa's highest mountain, we can arrange the first day of the hike.
After reaching the gates at Marangu you hike for roughly three to four hours to the first huts, at around 2,700 metres.
The walk goes through rainforest for its whole length — dense, green, often dripping, and completely unlike the alpine landscape higher up that the mountain is famous for. It is also the section most day visitors never see, because trekkers pass through it on the first morning while still fresh and in a hurry.
Park entry is charged for a day hike as it's for a full climb, which is worth knowing when you compare this with the other day trips.
Booking this trip
Day trips are quoted individually, because the cost depends on how many of you there are and where you are starting from. Transport, a guide and entry fees where they apply are arranged for you — tell us your dates and we will come back with a price and what it covers.
Most of these work well on an arrival or departure day, or as a rest day either side of a Kilimanjaro climb.
Nearby: Mount Kilimanjaro National Park
The day
Setting foot on the mountain without climbing it
This is the trip for people who want to walk on Kilimanjaro without committing a week and several thousand dollars to it. It's a genuinely good day, not a consolation prize.
The usual route starts at the Marangu gate at 1,860 metres and follows the standard Marangu trail up through montane rainforest toward Mandara Hut at 2,700 metres. Most day hikes turn back before the hut or reach it and return, which makes three to four hours of walking in total.
You come for the forest. It is dense, dripping and closed overhead, with buttressed trees, moss on every surface, and colobus monkeys in the canopy. The bird list is long and largely different from anything on the plains. It is also the section of the mountain that full climbers walk through on day one when they're still fresh and rarely stop to look at.
The gradient is gentle by Kilimanjaro standards but it's sustained, and the altitude is noticeable by the top for anyone who has come straight from sea level.
A park entry fee applies and a licensed guide is required. Both are arranged in advance, not at the gate.
Who it suits
When a day hike is the right choice
It works for several kinds of traveller, and one of them isn't obvious.
For anyone curious about the mountain but not climbing it, this is the only way to walk on it legally, and the forest zone is arguably the most beautiful part of the whole route.
For families and mixed groups where one person is climbing and others aren't, it gives everybody a day on Kilimanjaro, instead of one person's week and everyone else's hotel.
For climbers themselves, as a shakedown. Walking the first section with your boots, your daypack and your layers a day or two before the climb tells you what doesn't work while you can still fix it.
And as an acclimatisation and fitness gauge. Be clear that a day at 2,700 metres tells you very little about how you'll respond at 5,000. It is a useful walk, not a predictor.
It isn't a summit attempt and it isn't a substitute for one. Nobody reaches the crater rim and comes back the same day.
Practical
Fees, kit and timing
A TANAPA park entry fee applies for the day and a licensed guide is compulsory. Both must be arranged in advance. You can't simply arrive at the gate and walk in.
Walking boots or sturdy shoes with grip. The forest path is muddy in every season and genuinely slippery in the wet months.
A waterproof jacket, regardless of the forecast. The rainforest zone is called that for a reason.
Water, at least two litres, and something to eat. There is nothing to buy on the mountain.
A daypack, and a warm layer for the top of the walk. At 2,700 metres it is noticeably cooler than the gate.
Allow six to seven hours in total from Moshi, including around an hour of driving each way, gate formalities, and three to four hours of walking.
Register at the gate and sign out on the way down. This is a park requirement, not a formality.
The Marangu trail's first section passes through montane rainforest. It's the zone that full climbers walk fastest through and remember least, which makes it the best argument for a day hike.
The forest is dense, wet and closed overhead, with buttressed trees, epiphytes on every branch and moss on everything. It receives some of the highest rainfall on the mountain, which keeps it alive, and it's green in every month of the year.
Black-and-white colobus monkeys are the animal most people see, moving through the canopy in troops, along with blue monkeys lower down. Both are far easier to hear than to spot.
The birds are the real richness: turacos, forest hornbills, sunbirds and a long list of species restricted to this altitude band on the mountain. A guide who knows them turns the walk into something quite different from a march uphill.
The forest also holds the mountain's larger wildlife, buffalo, bushbuck and occasionally elephant lower down. Sightings on the trail itself are uncommon.
Alternatives
Other ways to walk on Kilimanjaro without climbing it
Marangu is the standard day hike, but it is not the only option, and the alternatives suit different people.
You can walk the Machame gate trail as a day out in the same way. The forest is slightly different, on the southern flank of the mountain, and there are fewer day visitors than at Marangu.
You can reach the Shira Plateau by vehicle on a rough road from the western side and walk at about 3,500 metres. It is a completely different landscape, open high moorland with Kibo ahead of you, and it is far more serious altitude. It needs a full day and proper arrangement.
Mount Meru, in Arusha National Park, offers day walks on its lower slopes with an armed ranger, through forest holding colobus, giraffe and buffalo. For wildlife it is the best walking day in the region.
And the cultural fringe of the mountain gives you a different kind of day altogether: the Chagga villages, caves and coffee farms on the southern slopes, with no park fee.
All of these need arranging in advance. You cannot decide on the morning.
Practical
A short summary
Three to four hours of walking from the Marangu gate at 1,860 metres up through montane rainforest toward Mandara Hut at 2,700 metres, and back. A TANAPA park fee applies and a licensed guide is compulsory. Both are arranged in advance, not at the gate.
Bring boots or sturdy shoes with grip, a waterproof regardless of the forecast, two litres of water, food and a warm layer for the top.
Allow six to seven hours in total from Moshi. It is the only legal way to walk on Kilimanjaro without committing to a climb, and the forest zone is arguably the most beautiful part of the whole mountain.
Three to four hours through rainforest from the Marangu gate toward Mandara Hut, with a park fee and a compulsory licensed guide arranged in advance. The only legal way to walk on Kilimanjaro without committing to a climb.
Questions
About this day trip
Do you need a permit for a Kilimanjaro day hike?
Yes. A TANAPA park entry fee applies for the day and a licensed guide is compulsory. Both are arranged in advance, not at the gate.
How high do you go on a day hike?
The usual route climbs from the Marangu gate at 1,860 metres towards Mandara Hut at 2,700 metres. That is three to four hours of walking in total.
Is a day hike good acclimatisation for a climb?
It is a useful shakedown for boots, pack and layers, but a day at 2,700 metres tells you very little about how you'll respond at 5,000. Treat it as a walk, not a test.
Can you reach the summit in a day?
No. Nobody reaches the crater rim and returns the same day. The day hike covers the forest zone only.
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Arrange it
Add this to your trip
Tell us your dates and where you are staying, and we will price it and sort the transport.