5-Day Marangu RouteTrusted

Mount Kilimanjaro offers six established routes for climbers: Marangu, Machame, Lemosho, Shira, Rongai, and Umbwe. Among these, the Marangu, Machame, and Umbwe approach from the south, while the Lemosho and Shira routes approach from the west. The Rongai route, on the other hand, approaches from the north, near Kenya. All routes, except Marangu and Rongai, descend via Mweka.

The Marangu Route, commonly known as the Coca-Cola route, is more popular because it can be done in fewer days and has permanent sleeping huts at the campsites.

Summit night from Kibo Hut is steep and passes Gilman’s Point to Uhuru Peak. It is a shorter route with a steeper incline and less time for acclimatization; it tends to have a lower summit success rate. This is the only route where the ascent and descent routes are shared, thus creating more traffic.