Shira Route
Lemosho's older sibling, and the one nobody should take by choice. A 4x4 drives you to 3,600 m on the first day, which is the worst possible way to start a climb at altitude.
What the Shira route is
Shira and Lemosho end up in the same place by different means. Both cross the Shira Plateau on the western side of Kilimanjaro, and both join the southern circuit at Shira 2 before Lava Tower, Barranco and the summit from Barafu.
The difference is the first day. Lemosho starts low, at the forest trailhead below Londorossi, and walks up. Shira does not. A 4x4 takes you up a rough track to Shira Gate at about 3,600 metres, and you start walking there.
That one decision changes the route completely. You skip the rainforest, you skip the climb through it, and you sleep your first night higher than most climbers reach on their third.
Shira was the original western approach. Lemosho was opened later and lower, to fix exactly this problem, and almost every operator moved across to it. Shira today is a route with a good middle and a bad beginning.
The route, stage by stage
- The drive to Shira Gate
- Three to four hours from Moshi to Londorossi, then a rough 4x4 track up onto the plateau to about 3,600 m. You have gained 2,700 m since breakfast without walking a step.
- Shira Gate to Shira 1
- About 4 km and an hour or two of easy walking across open moorland to the first camp at around 3,500 m.
- Shira 1 to Shira 2
- About 7 km and four to five hours east across the plateau to 3,850 m, with Kibo ahead of you the whole way.
- Shira 2 to Lava Tower to Barranco
- About 10 km and six to eight hours. Up to 4,630 m for lunch and down to 3,960 m to sleep.
- The Barranco Wall to Karanga
- About 5 km. An hour of scrambling, then a traverse across two valleys to Karanga at 3,995 m.
- Karanga to Barafu
- About 4 km and 680 m across alpine desert to the summit camp at 4,673 m.
- Barafu to Uhuru Peak
- About 5 km and 1,080 m to Stella Point, then 140 m round the rim.
- The descent
- Down the southern side by Mweka.
The walking on Shira is not hard. From Shira Gate onwards it is the Lemosho route, and Lemosho is the gentlest of the popular approaches.
The risk sits in the first twenty-four hours.
Altitude sickness is a matter of how fast you go up and how long you stay. Driving from Moshi at 900 m to Shira Gate at 3,600 m in a morning is the fastest ascent available on this mountain, and your body gets no walking, no gradual gain and no warning.
Most people feel it that first night. Headache, poor sleep, no appetite. Some recover over the following days and go on to summit. Some do not, and come down before the route has properly started.
Operators who run Shira usually add an acclimatisation walk on the plateau to soften it. That helps. It does not undo the drive.
Shira and Lemosho are the same route, walked differently
From Shira 2 camp onwards there is no difference at all. Same plateau crossing, same Lava Tower day, same Barranco Wall, same Karanga traverse, same Barafu, same summit night, same descent by Mweka.
Everything people praise about Lemosho, they are praising about ground that Shira also covers.
Lemosho adds the two days below. The forest walk to Mti Mkubwa at 2,780 m, and the climb from there onto the plateau at about 3,500 m. Two nights spent low, on foot, before the altitude turns serious.
Those two days are why Lemosho has one of the best summit records on Kilimanjaro and Shira does not. Same mountain, same path from the third day, different odds.
What Shira does well
It is quiet. Almost nobody starts here any more, so the plateau in front of you is empty on the first day.
It is short on foot. About 56 kilometres of walking against 70 on Lemosho, because the drive replaces the first stretch.
It suits climbers who are already acclimatised. Somebody coming straight off Mount Meru, or off a week high up somewhere else, does not need the two days Lemosho spends preparing them.
And the plateau itself is the best ground on the western side of the mountain. Wide, high, open moorland with Kibo standing at the end of it, and Shira puts you straight onto it.
The trade-offs
The drive to 3,600 m is the whole problem, and no amount of itinerary design gets around it.
Summit rates on Shira are lower than on Lemosho, and the gap is not small.
You miss the rainforest entirely. On a mountain that passes through five climate zones, this route skips the first one and starts in the third.
The track up to Shira Gate is rough enough to be impassable after heavy rain, and trips get moved to Lemosho at short notice when it is.
And you pay much what Lemosho costs, because park fees are charged per day and the two routes take a similar number of them.
We do not publish a Shira climb
Our published Kilimanjaro climbs go up Lemosho, Machame, Marangu, Rongai and the Northern Circuit. There is no Shira itinerary on this site.
We leave it off because of the first day. Altitude turns most people back on this mountain, and driving to 3,600 m before you have walked anywhere is the least sensible way to begin.
If you want the Shira Plateau, our eight-day Lemosho crosses the whole of it and walks up to it instead of driving.
If you are already acclimatised and Shira is genuinely the right start for you, say so when you enquire. We will tell you honestly whether we can arrange it for your dates.
Who it suits
Shira suits climbers who arrive already acclimatised, and almost nobody else.
That means people coming straight down from Mount Meru, or off another high trek, or living at altitude at home.
It suits anyone who has climbed Kilimanjaro before, knows how their body handles a fast gain, and wants a shorter walk this time.
It does not suit a first climb. Not on any schedule and not at any price.
And it does not suit anyone whose first aim is the summit. Lemosho is the same route with better odds, and it costs about the same.
January to March and June to October, like every route on the mountain.
The track to Shira Gate matters more here than the weather on the trail. It is a rough 4x4 climb and heavy rain closes it, so April, May and November are a poor idea on this route in particular.
June to October is the driest window and the safest for the drive. January to March is warmer and works.
If your dates are fixed and land in the rain, take Lemosho, which starts from a trailhead the vehicles can always reach.
Climbing the Shira with us
We do not publish an itinerary on this route
Our published climbs go up Machame, Lemosho, Marangu, Rongai and the Northern Circuit. If the Shira is the route you want, say so when you enquire and we will tell you honestly whether we can arrange it for your dates.