Rongai Route

The only route that climbs Kilimanjaro from the north, starting near the Kenyan border after a three-to-four-hour drive around the mountain from Marangu Gate, where you register. It sees a fraction of the traffic of Machame or Marangu and crosses the driest flank of the mountain, which makes it the sensible answer during the long rains (March–May) and the November short rains, when the southern rainforest is a mudslide. The tradeoff is the profile: like Marangu it climbs steadily with no built-in descent, so success sits around 65% at six days and 75–80% at seven. The line mapped here is the Kikelewa Caves variant, which swings east under Mawenzi to camp at the Mawenzi Tarn before crossing the Saddle to Kibo Huts; the alternative sold as the 7-day version goes via Third Cave and School Hut instead. Both finish at Gilman's Point on the eastern rim.