Umbwe Route

The Umbwe route is the least popular of the seven Kilimanjaro routes because it’s the most difficult route up the mountain. It’s therefore not very busy.

The Umbwe route is less scenic than the other Kilimanjaro routes because of how steeply and quickly it ascends the mountain. That said, the scenery it does have is beautiful, and includes rainforest, moorland and high-altitude desert.

The short answer is that the temperatures on Mount Kilimanjaro range from hot to bitter cold. Climbing Kilimanjaro is unique for many reasons, and one of these is that from origin to summit, climbers find themselves weaving through several distinct climate zones. It is said that the journey from the gate to the peak is like traveling from the equator to Antarctica in a matter of days! Mount Kilimanjaro has five major ecological zones, each approximately 3,280 feet (1,000 m) in altitude. Each zone is subject to a corresponding decrease in rainfall, temperature and flora/fauna as the altitude increases.

The Umbwe route is one of the shortest, most direct Kilimanjaro routes, which lowers the quality of its acclimatisation profile. Summit success is low. Whilst there are no official statistics, the average success rate across all Kilimanjaro operators for the five-day Umbwe route is just 50%.