Elevation profile

Dots = where you sleep. Blue marker = you. Profile from the terrain model (±30 m).

Compare all itineraries

Success rates are operator-reported ranges, not independent data. Longer itineraries succeed more often because they give your body more days to acclimatize.

Why not just the fastest?

The fastest standard itinerary is Marangu 5 days (or Umbwe). They save days by cutting acclimatization, which is why operators report roughly 27–42% summit rates on 5-day Marangu versus 85–90%+ on 8-day Lemosho. Medical guidance (Wilderness Medical Society) is: above 3,000 m, don't raise your sleeping altitude more than 500 m a day, and rest every 3–4 days. No Kilimanjaro route fully meets that; the longer ones come closest. Days that break the rule are marked +500 m below.

Recommended: Lemosho 8 days. Fewest days that still acclimatize: Machame 7 days.

Your guide's route file

If your operator gives you a GPX file, import it. It shows on the map, and if you check the box it becomes the line used for off-route alerts.

Download this itinerary as GPX

Backup plan: import that GPX into OsmAnd (free, open source) or your Garmin before you go. They keep recording with the screen off; a web app can't.

Danger signs: check any that apply

Daily check: Lake Louise score

Do this every evening and every morning. 2018 Lake Louise AMS Score (Roach et al., High Alt Med Biol 2018).

Log

Summit night

Agree the turnaround time with your lead guide before you leave camp. When it arrives, you turn around wherever you are.

A web page can't ring while the phone is locked. Also set the same time on your phone's Clock app.

What to say

1. Your name, and that you're climbing Kilimanjaro on the route with your operator.
2. Your position: read the decimal coordinates above, and the nearest camp.
3. What happened, how many people, and how they are (awake? breathing? walking?).
4. Your phone number and battery level. Stay where you are unless you're descending with your guide.

Numbers

Tanzanian short codes from the TCRA numbering plan (via Wikipedia). Helicopter numbers taken from each company's own website on 23 Oct 2026. Confirm all of them with your operator before you go; mobile signal is patchy on the mountain. Your guide's radio to the park rangers is usually the fastest route to rescue.

My contacts

Track

Recording only runs while this app is open on screen. Turn on "Keep screen awake" below while walking, or run OsmAnd alongside it.

Settings

Offline check

Checking…

Before the trip: add this app to your Home Screen, open it once, wait for "all saved", then test it in airplane mode. On iPhone, data for sites not on the Home Screen can be deleted after 7 days without use.

Before you go

1. Add to Home Screen. Open it. Wait for the offline check to say everything is saved.
2. Airplane mode test: walk a loop outside with recording on, then export the track.
3. Set your trip start date and itinerary on the Route tab.
4. Enter your guide, operator and insurance numbers on the Emergency tab.
5. Load the GPX into OsmAnd or your GPS watch as a backup.
6. Carry a power bank. Keep the phone inside your jacket at night: cold kills batteries fast.

Important

Tanzanian law requires a licensed guide on Kilimanjaro. Your guide decides. This app is a second pair of eyes, not a replacement for them, and not a medical device. GPS can be wrong by tens of metres under trees or near cliffs. Never leave a marked trail because a screen told you to.

Sources and licences

Map library: Leaflet 1.9.4 (BSD-2). Trails and camps © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Terrain: AWS Terrain Tiles (SRTM and other public-domain elevation data). Altitude-sickness guidance: 2018 Lake Louise Score (Roach et al.); WMS altitude illness guidelines (Luks et al., 2019).