Climbing the Western Breach on Mt. Kilimanjaro: My Experience with Kiliwarriors
Of all Seven Summits across the world, Mt. Kilimanjaro stands alone for being the most popular, which generally comes down to one reason: it’s the easiest!
That being said, Mt. Kilimanjaro is not for all people or even all hikers, of all abilities.
I say this because most people attempting to climb Kilimanjaro have never come close to this elevation before, meaning that you simply don’t know how your body is going to react. That being said, there are also some ridiculous stories of people who thought that because it’s the easiest summit, they simply don’t need any outdoor experience prior to the climb.
Be that as it may, Mt. Kilimanjaro is a very accessible summit for most hikers, so long as you come prepared. By this, I mean that climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro will be easiest for those with Class 2 & 3 hiking experience, as well as those who have experience with backcountry camping for five or more days. Apparently, not being able to shower is more of a mental barrier on Mt. Kilimanjaro than some people think.
In any case, Mount Kilimanjaro can be climbed through a variety of companies, but in this article, I’m going to share my experiences with Kiliwarriors and use my experience to give you an idea about what to expect when trying to decide between different routes with different companies.
All said, if you read all the way through, I hope it becomes apparent how much Kiliwarriors cares for each and every client, so much so that climbing with Kiliwarriors is truly as luxurious as a trip can be on Mount Kilimanjaro!
How to Choose a Guiding Company on Mt. Kilimanjaro?
When you start to look into it, deciding between companies on Mt. Kilimanjaro is not as straightforward as it should be.
This is because there are countless different companies that all vary in price and offer a variety of routes, with varying days on the mountain for each. However, there is no doubt that the longer that any one person spends on the mountain acclimatizing, the higher the summit success rate.
With that in mind, Kiliwarriors offers a 9-day climb from the Lemosho Gate up the Western Breach, which typically holds a very high summit success rate because of all the time spent on the mountain.
Therefore, if you are a first-time climber who is not accustomed to higher altitudes or don’t know your ability on a trek like this, then I’d say there should really be no question. Choose the 9-day route with Kiliwarriors!
Imagine spending a few thousand dollars on a budget company, then spending money on flights, a hotel, taking time off of work, and then you don’t make it to the summit because the budget company was rushing you up to the summit before you could properly acclimatize. This is more common than you may think.
For this reason, if climbing a high-altitude peak is not something that you’re accustomed to, I say there should be no question on what company to choose.
My Print - Mt. Kilimanjaro Sunset (Mt. Meru)
What is the Best Time of Year to Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro?
There are two seasons that almost all companies offer their climbs, which is mostly to avoid the rainy season.
Therefore, the best months to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro are in the summer from June to October, ideally August. However, there are also winter climbs from January to March as a second-best option.
The way Kiliwarriors works is that you inquire with the owners about dates that work best with your schedule. Then, one of the owners will likely make a few recommendations if, perhaps, you are inquiring about dates during the rainy season, or to see if they can pair you up with other climbers, which may make for a better climbing experience.
Keep in mind that you will be on the mountain for 9 days with a lot of downtime. Therefore, I highly recommend going with other people if you aren’t set on climbing alone.
During my climb, I got paired up with 10 other random people that I had never met before the climb, and I can honestly say that if it wasn’t for them, the whole 9 days would have been a lot more monotonous.
The owner told me beforehand that the people you climb with may be some of your best friends, and while I took it lightly at the time, he was right! The other people I climbed with are truly friends for life, and they all made the 9-day climb insurmountably more enjoyable than if I had been on the mountain with the porters and guides alone.
Flying to Mt. Kilimanjaro (Tanzania)
When making travel arrangements to Tanzania, it’s best to fly into the Kilimanjaro International Airport (Arusha) at least two days before the start of your climb for two reasons.
The first is so you can get adjusted to the time difference and altitude at roughly 3,937 ft. (1,200 m) in Arusha. While this may not seem like much, these two days can make a difference for those living at sea level.
The second reason is that on the day before your climb, you will have a gear check with the guides to ensure you are properly prepared for the expected weather throughout the climb.
Book Here: Kilimanjaro International Airport
Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro
Day 1: Leaving Arusha
On the first day of the climb, you will leave Arusha at around 9 a.m. from your hotel.
At this time, you will lock up your luggage with the hotel, with everything that you don’t need for the next 9 days in the hotel’s storage room. Personally, I was worried about a few of my valuables, but yes, everything was there when we returned!
If it wasn’t a safe place to leave your belongings, Kiliwarriors and other companies wouldn’t do business with them.
From Arusha, it will take between 3-4 hours, including the drive and time spent checking in at the first gate before driving another 20 minutes, and ultimately arriving at the Lemosho Gate to begin the climb.
If there are a lot of other companies in front of you, the check-in process can take a while. The Lemosho Gate is also where the porters check and weigh their bags because, as per Tanzanian law, they are not allowed to carry more than a certain weight.
After the check-in process, Kiliwarriors took us over to the Lemosho Gate, where we ate lunch before starting the trek to Big Tree Camp.
Again, the porters weigh their bags one more time to make sure any last-second things weren’t added.
Lemosho Gate to Big Tree Camp
When you begin hiking through the lower elevations on the mountain, the trek begins in a tropical rainforest.
This is one reason why they have convertible hiking pants on the packing list, as you never know how the temperature is going to vary on the lower mountain.
That aside, you may be wondering what is the distance and time between each camp, but trust me when I say, it doesn’t matter. The times they tell you from camp to camp are very arbitrary because it depends mostly on the shape of the group.
That being said, you will hear the term "Pole Pole" again and again, which means slowly, slowly when translated from Swahili. If you don’t fully understand what this means, you will learn quickly!
The pace they set in the beginning is the slowest of slow, and I’m talking about an 80-year-old’s average walking pace kind of slow. They do this because they are gauging how well everyone is prepared for the climb, but over the days it really won’t change much.
I consider myself to be a fairly in-shape hiker, and our head guide Hosea said our entire group was the fastest that he has ever guided up the mountain. At first, I didn’t believe him, but after getting to know him, he explained how unprepared some people show up to Mt. Kilimanjaro, expecting it to be a walk in the park.
However, even after he knew that we were an in-shape group, the guides still proceeded very slowly because their whole idea is that it isn’t a race. It’s better to conserve energy because no matter how slow you go, eventually, they will get you there.
Nevertheless, do yourself a favor, and arrive in shape. Personally, I really wanted to know how fast I could have gone up the mountain, but after a few days, I started to understand their reasoning.
On our 7th day, I saw other clients from different companies looking their absolute worst because other companies tried to have them hike from Barafu Camp to the summit in one stretch, at a much faster pace. That’s a roughly 4,000 ft. (1,219 m) summit push beginning above 15,000 ft. (4,600 m), which is exactly why not all people can successfully summit with other companies.
Additionally, keep in mind that climbing from Barafu Camp is the way that 95% of all companies take their clients, which I will talk about in more detail later.
All said, hiking to Big Tree camp from Lemosho Gate will be a very easy and fast day, which is why you’re able to begin after lunch.
Day 2: Big Tree Camp to Shira Camp 1
From Big Tree Camp, you will get an early morning start to Shira Camp 1.
The first few days up the Lemosho Route involve longer distances, with mild elevation gains, but as the days progress, the distances will shorten significantly as the elevation gain becomes progressively steeper. This pattern is consistent across all companies.
Starting from the tropical rainforest, you will transition slowly into the Heather Zone, where the tree cover diminishes as you ascend.
By the time you reach the spot to eat lunch, the tree cover will be completely gone, which is one reason why good sunscreen is crucial at these elevations.
From the lunch spot, the trail climbs a fairly steep ridge to Shira Camp 1, but don’t worry; at their pace, you likely won’t even break a sweat.
Shira Camp 1
Once you make it to Shira 1, it should be sometime in the afternoon.
Aside from hanging out and killing time, you will soon realize that the porters literally do everything for you!
When we arrived, they offered a hot shower from a solar shower and hot water in a bowl with soap to clean up!
If you are really trying to get clean, you might want to take advantage of the shower at these lower elevations because it will likely get too cold for comfort as you move higher.
On a clear day, Shira 1 is the first place where you can get views of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and this is where I had my first real opportunity to take photos when it cleared up in the late afternoon.
Finally, Shira Camp 1 is where I recommend sleeping with your electronics in your sleeping bag, which can be crucial so that the battery isn’t killed by the overnight cold.
Day 3: Shira Camp 1 to Moir Camp
On day 3, you will get another early morning start to move from Shira 1 to Moir Camp in what’s known as the moorland. This is the habitat where even the bushes begin to disappear.
The hike from Shira 1 to Moir Camp gains a little over 2,000 ft. (610 m), but this is another day where the elevation is spread out over a greater distance, meaning that it will likely be unnoticeable for most fit people. In my experience, our entire group was in great spirits and didn’t seem affected by the elevation gain at all.
On another note, you will pass by Scott Fischer Camp and his memorial just before you reach the spot to have lunch.
In summary, Scott Fischer is the one who pioneered the Western Breach, where Kiliwarriors will eventually take you up on day 7. Scott Fischer also has a very personal connection with some of the guides who knew him, and the 2015 movie Everest and the book Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer is a true story based on one of his expeditions where he, Rob Hall, and many of their clients lost their lives in a tragic storm on May 11, 1996. If you haven’t read Jon’s book, I highly recommend buying it as a way to kill some time on the mountain.
Following this and the spot where you will eat lunch, you are not very far from Moir Camp, which sits roughly at 13,680 ft. (4,170 m). Therefore, if you didn’t feel the cold the night before, Moir Camp is likely where you will notice the nights getting a lot colder!
To add to this, Moir Camp actually has a worse view of the mountain because you are so close to some of the lower ridges. This inherently means the following morning will likely be considerably colder because the mountain blocks the morning sun, prolonging the time you remain in the shadows until you get up and over the Western Breach.
I believe it wasn’t until about 9:00 - 9:30 every morning that we felt the sun hit. Even so, Moir Camp is where we got our first real view of the sunset, which only gets better and better the higher you get!
To further the point about how I said the porters do everything for you: if you didn’t wake up on your own, you will be woken by the porters with morning coffee or tea in your tent, which you will come to greatly appreciate as the mornings get colder!
Personally, I always found myself up for the sunrise, so I always went into the mess tent with maybe one other person at the time to try to get warm. Or, if the chef isn’t busy, the best place to get warm is inside the kitchen tent!
Day 4: Moir Camp to Lava Tower
On day 4, we started hiking around 9:30 a.m. to Lava Tower, and this is where I believe the last of the longer distance days is until you begin descending.
Even at that, the trek is still a pretty short day, and our group of 11 was at Lava Tower by lunch.
That being said Lava Tower is where you will have the most downtime because you spend the rest of day four and five at Lava Tower to properly acclimatize.
For this reason, Lava Tower is where bringing a deck of cards or, my favorite, Pocket Farkel, really comes in handy to pass the time. Between the porters and clients, we had a lot of fun playing spoons and Last Card throughout the trip.
In my experience, Lava Tower is also the first place where we were noticeably above the clouds at roughly 15,092 ft. (4,200 m). In my opinion, this is where the sunsets really started to get beautiful!
However, the second the sun dips below the clouds, the temperature drops fast!
Day 5: Lava Tower
Even though Day 4 and Day 5 are very much the same because you spend both nights at Lava Tower, on the morning of Day 5, you will hike up to Arrow Glacier at roughly 16,086 ft. (4,903 m) and then hike back down to eat lunch at Lava Tower.
This is to acclimatize, and it was nice to get moving for a little while instead of spending all day at Lava Tower just passing time.
However, aside from hanging out and playing cards, Lava Tower is a really nice place to walk around and explore. The best views of sunset from Lava Tower are around it on the right side, but among the guides, climbing Lava Tower is a touchy situation. They are responsible for your safety, and being the case, they were pretty upset when they found out I took a few people up the tower. It was kind of a whole ordeal.
Basically, I went up the tower by myself without telling anyone, which sounds bad and irresponsible, but really it is nothing more than a basic scramble.
When I got down, I told one of the head guides that I went up, and he looked at me and said, "Congratulations!" A few moments later, a few others in the group found out that I went up, so they wanted to as well. After I showed them the way I took to the top, the guides became aware of it, and they were very upset. Not angry, just very disappointed, which seems worse when it’s someone you don’t want to upset.
I was under the impression that it was all okay after I went up the first time alone, so I didn’t think twice about taking others, but that’s when it got bad and started some fighting among family members at camp.
I guess I’m not saying don’t do it, but know your ability and perhaps don’t make it well-known. Also, you could potentially ask a guide to take you.
Day 6: Lava Tower to Arrow Glacier
On day 6 with Kiliwarriors, we repeated the same short acclimatization hike from the day earlier.
Personally, I didn’t notice it from the acclimatization hike, but Arrow Glacier is a lot less sheltered from the wind than Lava Tower, which is exactly why Kiliwarriors chooses to spend two nights at Lava Tower, rather than Arrow Glacier.
At this point, I think most people will be done with any showers if they have been taking them at all, especially if you’re at Arrow Glacier when it’s windy!
Fortunately for my climb in August, the weather was very beautiful for all 9 days, with absolutely no rain.
At the end of the day, you will have an early dinner, which for us was around 5 p.m., before going to bed early to prepare for a middle-of-the-night wake-up to start your climb up the Western Breach!
Day 7: Arrow Glacier to Uhuru Peak (Summit Day)
In my experience, the Western Breach is the part of the climb that most hikers seem to dread. Personally, I didn’t find the Western Breach to be an issue at all, as it was actually the part of the climb I enjoyed the most!
Be that as it may, others seemingly 'drop like flies' on the way up, or so I was told.
Therefore, to properly prepare yourself, I highly recommend gaining experience on other high-elevation summits around the world. In the U.S., this could be Mt. Whitney or another Colorado 14er, but experience of any kind where you climb in the early morning hours will only serve you well!
Western Breach
On another note, rockslides are not uncommon on the Western Breach, which is exactly why you will wake up around 3 a.m., or even earlier, if you need the extra time to climb the breach while it is still frozen.
Unfortunately, in our case, we heard four rockslides on the Western Breach during the night, and we were later told that this many rockslides are very uncommon before the sun hits.
Being the case, the guides weren’t taking any chances on the Western Breach to try and minimize risk. By this, I mean that you pass through a danger zone where signs warn you not to take breaks and keep moving.
In my experience, I climbed the Western Breach with only one other guide, so that I could make it up the breach in time for sunrise.
Therefore, I wasn’t with the rest of the group, but I heard stories of people in our group seemingly 'dropping like flies' and wanting to take breaks, so the guides started pulling them up saying, 'NO, WE NEED TO MOVE!' because they knew it was a very dangerous time to be hanging out there.
I realize I just made the Western Breach sound very dangerous, but overall, and without trying to be biased toward Kiliwarriors, I wouldn’t have wanted to climb any other way!
I say this because only 5% of climbers summit Kilimanjaro via the Western Breach, making it that much more special. Look at the map in the photo below to get an idea about how all the other routes converge at one point, essentially creating a traffic jam to the summit.
However, the same cannot be said about the Western Breach.
Crater Camp
When you finally cross over the Western Breach, the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro will be mostly flat from there to the glaciers and Crater Camp, at roughly 18,500 ft. (5,639 m).
If you heard the guides saying, 'We will make the decision when we get there,' what they are referring to is whether to stay the night at Crater Camp or summit and descend all the way to Barafu Camp for a better night’s sleep.
If given the option, and most people are feeling okay, they choose to summit followed by Barafu Camp.
Keep in mind that just because you summit a day early, doesn’t mean you are getting off the mountain a day early too. Essentially, you are just cutting out a lot of distance that would otherwise have to be covered on day eight, had you chosen to spend the night at Crater Camp.
That being said, if you choose to spend the night at Crater Camp, then you will summit Uhuru Peak for sunrise. This initially sounded ideal to me, until I got over the breach and saw how crowded the summit was during sunrise. Therefore, it made me much happier that we summited on day seven, as we had a significantly less-crowded experience on the top!
Crater Camp to Uhuru Peak
From Crater Camp to the summit of Africa, the hike is only another 800-900 ft. (244-274 m) of additional climbing.
This was also one of the few times the guides let me go ahead of the group, which is exactly how I got this photo.
Uhuru Peak ('The Roof of Africa')
Standing tall at 19,341 ft. (5,895 m), Mt. Kilimanjaro is the fourth-highest of the world’s seven summits, and it’s also known as the tallest freestanding mountain in the world!
Furthermore, it’s worth noting that all 11 Kiliwarrior clients summited, which hopefully speaks to why they’re such a great company to climb with!
Uhuru Peak to Barafu Camp
If your group chooses to spend the night at Crater Camp, then you will descend from the summit to Mweka Camp on day eight.
I can only imagine that this would be a very long and exhausting descent after what was likely a terrible night’s sleep at Crater Camp.
Nevertheless, when you go down Stella Point, you’ll see that the trail is like sliding down a volcanic sand dune. This is another reason why I recommend the Western Breach over any other route to the top. If you’ve never hiked on a sand dune before, just know that it’s exhausting! Every step you take up is basically cut in half as you step up and slide back down.
Then, aside from the entire ascent being very tedious, factor in every other company crowding the route to Stella Point, all trying to make sunrise at the same time.
Picture hundreds and hundreds of people all starting between 10-11 p.m. the night before to spend 7-8 hours going up on a sand dune of a trail, only to reach an overcrowded summit at sunrise.
Being the case, you may struggle to get your photo in front of the sign, as everyone else will be trying to do the same.
Again, not to sound biased toward Kiliwarriors, but I hope that this puts it into perspective about why I believe the Western Breach is the best route to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro!
Additionally, this doesn’t even mention that the clouds are extremely unpredictable on the summit, so chances are not unlikely that you won’t even see the sunrise.
Day 8: Barafu Camp to Mweka Camp
Regardless of whether you camped at Crater Camp or Barafu, on day eight, Kiliwarriors will descend to Mweka Camp, which is roughly 5,000 ft. (1,524 m) below Barafu Camp at roughly 10,170 ft. (3,100 m) in elevation.
After breakfast at Barafu Camp, if your group moves fairly quickly, you might be at Mweka Camp by lunchtime or early afternoon.
At Mweka Camp, this is where your group decides when to wake up to finish the hike the following day. In our case, we wanted to start hiking by 7 a.m., which I have to imagine is fairly common among most groups after this many days on the mountain.
Day 9: Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate
There is not much to be said about the last few miles off of Mt. Kilimanjaro, but expect the hike out to be deceptively longer than it may seem. At one point, the guides just let us go to finish the last stretch at our own pace.
Then, once at the Mweka Gate, you will sign the registry one last time, receive your signed certificates, and have an amazingly well-deserved cold beer!
All said, the ride from the gate back to the hotel in Arusha will take about 2-3 hours.
5 Things to Know About Kilimanjaro
1. Kiliwarriors Guides & Porters
It feels hard to put into words how much the porters and guides look out for your well-being throughout the entire climb, but to name a few things, it really comes down to the food, your safety, and ensuring that you have the best time on the mountain!
Kiliwarriors will cook meals for you that you would have never believed was possible at these elevations, and I mean fresh food all the way to the summit because they constantly make trips up and down the mountain for you, bringing up fresh food while exchanging it with trash to take back down.
Therefore, when I said that the guides were upset about myself and a few others climbing Lava Tower, it’s because they really care about your safety. Everything they do, from checking your heart rate and blood oxygen levels twice a day to just the simple things like hanging out and playing cards, really shows the amount of effort where you don’t just feel like another client to them.
This is all without me saying how grateful I am to have had one of the lead guides, Ephata, take me up the Western Breach separately and alone, so I could get sunrise photos all while he didn’t eat breakfast beforehand! I felt so bad that I gave him the candy bar they gave me just before we started climbing, so at least he had something as we made the big ascent.
To this point, the chef randomly handed out candy bars to everyone throughout the climb, which is truly an over-the-top luxury for a climb like Kilimanjaro. However, I felt way too spoiled every time, so I always ended up giving it to my porter.
2. Personal Porters with Kiliwarriors
Every client in the all-inclusive package is assigned a personal porter to carry your gear up and down the mountain, which includes everything that’s not included in your day pack.
However, aside from carrying your gear, every time you arrive at camp, your tent with your bag and sleeping stuff will be laid out for you!
At many of the camps, they even cleaned our shoes, which personally made me feel super bad, as if we were the entitled clients. But, at the end of the day, try to remember that you’re the one on vacation, and it’s their job that they’re happy to do.
3. Kiliwarriors Security
When Kiliwarriors camps next to other companies, they have someone staying awake through the night to watch your personal belongings.
Right away, you will see how honest and trustworthy the crew is with Kiliwarriors. But to have security watch our tents when I was keeping thousands of dollars of camera equipment inside really made me feel safe!
4. Kilimanjaro Porter Background/ Kiliwarrior Expedition Cost
Working on Mt. Kilimanjaro as a porter is very hard work, but in Tanzania, it’s considered honorable work. Some people are lazy and don’t work at all, but those who are working on Kilimanjaro really find pride in the work because they can then bring descent money home to their families.
Therefore, climbing with Kiliwarriors costs more than other companies because they pay their workers better, and they’re given nicer clothes when possible.
This alone makes the workers more motivated to try hard and give you the best experience possible. I could even see how much the owner, Tom, cared about his employees by hooking them up with the small things on the spot whenever they needed.
5. Budget Guides
A few years after my climb with Kiliwarriors, I had two friends go to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.
The major difference was that they chose a budget guide for about a third of the cost that Kiliwarriors charges.
They were following a friend’s advice, who had done the same thing, but the major difference was that the friend was coming off the summit of Denali, while these two were coming from sea level!
In any case, they were absolutely overqualified in terms of experience, mental toughness, and exposure to challenging climbs, but they live in Hawaiʻi, so there isn’t a lot of great places to get used to the elevation outside of the Big Island.
Their climb was a four-day up and one-day down expedition, which they said became miserable from Lava Tower and on.
Regardless, they did summit, but I mean barely! I saw their videos after returning, and they weren’t happy on the summit, as they were so delusional that they couldn’t even enjoy the moment. They also didn’t come away with a lot of great photos, and one of them couldn’t stop throwing up after getting to Lava Tower, which continued for the rest of the climb.
Overall, I hope this is enough to show you why you should stay away from short ascents, as slow acclimatization is always key on big summits.
5 Must-Have Things for Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro
Aside from what’s on the Kiliwarriors gear list, there were a few personal items that I wish I would have had or was happy I did have on my climb.
Games - Deck of cards, Farkel, etc.
Headphones (Not AirPods) - You don’t want to bring something that requires additional charging.
Battery Bank/ Solar Charger - While Kiliwarriors provides their own for the group to use, it’s more reliable to bring your own because theirs may not be dependable, especially when others in your team are also trying to use it at the same time.
Phone Charging Cord
Universal Travel Adapter - This is for using in Tanzania before and after the climb.
Summary
All in all, this post was intended to be strictly informational regarding my experience with Kiliwarriors and to give you the best idea of what to expect when comparing different companies for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
My whole stance was not meant to be biased toward Kiliwarriors, but after everything I just mentioned, I am absolutely sure that the cost is justified over any other company, for all the reasons I listed throughout this post.
Therefore, if you have read all the way through, I hope I made it clear why there’s really no comparison when it comes to the standards that Kiliwarriors sets.
Safety
Most importantly, listen to the guides!
I would never say "do" or "do not" climb Lava Tower, but I will say, use your best judgment.
Furthermore, the packing list should give you the best idea about what to bring, but don’t take it lightly. The last thing you want is to get no sleep during the nights because you didn’t pack warm enough.
Finally, do yourself and your guides a favor and arrive in shape! It can only help you to have the best and safest experience on the mountain.
As always, find the most up-to-date information and conditions on the official Kiliwarriors website.
