Our guests Rich, Sam, James and Adam all arrived safely on the 12th June and were met by one of our team at Kilimanjaro International and transferred back to the always beautiful Ngare Sero Mountain lodge. This is such a stunning place to stay pre-climb. Nestled at the foothills of Mt Meru and offering stunning views across the countryside it offers the perfect place to relax before any adventure starts.

After our briefing, and showering away the days traveling, the team was still eager to explore their surroundings so we arranged transport in the form of our vintage Landrover and drove down to another local bar for Sundowners before getting back for some well earned and much needed rest.

The next morning over breakfast the team was introduced to their lead guide for the duration of their trip, the always enthusiastic Bairiki, who gave them their mountain briefing and final kit check to ensure everyone had all the correct equipment. After recharging with some more breakfast, final kit check and packing the lunches that our team had pre-prepared we jumped into one of our safari vehicles and headed out for our acclimatisation hike to Mt Meru.

This is a great way to see more of the beautiful Tanzanian countryside as you drive through Arusha National Park on the way, sneaking a short game drive in on the way to the gate. We stopped many times on the way as Colobus Monkeys, giraffes, warthogs and baboons were spotted along journey.

The hike to the crater of Mt Meru winds its way through some simply magical afromontaine forests, giving our team the change to stretch their legs before the real hike started. If people do have the time, this is such a great way to get over any stiff travel legs before the start of your climb and to see some of the best views around.

After tracking for a few hours, through the beautiful forest, we arrived in the crater of the old volcano where we stopped under a tree to rest and tuck into the fully stocked packed lunch. As lunch spots go, this one gives a pretty amazing backdrop.

On our arrival back at the lodge, after our hike and some incredible food, our lead guide delivered the final briefing and kit check over supper before everyone got some well earned rest. After breakfast the next morning, our adventure to the roof of Africa would begin.

Starting at the gate where the team met the rest of the guides, assistant guides and porters who would be with them for the rest of the trip the team relaxed and enjoyed some coffee and snacks whiles they were signed in, a great time to take a starting photo.

As you can see from the photo, the weather was a bit grey, but needless to say, when we got above the clouds, all this would change. As the Shira 7 route starts at over 3000m there can be a few initial altitude symptoms such as tingling in the fingers, and headaches just starting to creep in and this trip was no exception but good comms and some breathing exercises and people were ready to go.

The first day went really well, it's only a couple of miles to Shira 1 camp and the team was met by singing from their guides and porters as a welcome to camp, popcorn and hot-chocolate before a three course supper, a quick camp safety briefing and an early night, not before clouds parted and we were treated to a stunning evening view of the mountain and our target for the trip.

From this point on we followed the Lemosho route, Shira 2, Barranco Camp via Lava tower where we stopped for lunch, Karranga and our final camp before then summit, Kosovo. We prefer summiting from ths camp as it's usually less busy and is nearly two hours closer to the summit, making your bid for the top ever so slightly easier.

As with all trips we run, the team were treated to a number of little treats along the way, breakfast from the top of Barancco Wall, hot chocolate sundowners at 4200m to watch the sun go down from a quiet spot. We try and make each trip as unique and special as possible.

If you want to see the full trip in images and video please watch the video below.

After successfully summiting at around 8am on summit day the team headed back down to Mweka camp where they stayed overnight before heading out for the final walk through the forest and down to the final gate where our team met them with some bubbly refreshment to enjoy while we arranged for their certificates.

‍

One last treat was waiting forfor our guests, the final accomodation... the beautiful Gran Melia where the team enjoyed warm showers before joining a few of the Three Degrees South team on the roof terrance to enjoy sundowners and take in what an incredible journey they had been on.

Lodges:

Ngera Sero Mountain Lodge: http://ngare-sero-lodge.co.tz

Gran Melia Arusha: https://www.melia.com/en/hotels/tanzania/arusha/gran-melia-arusha