I Climbed Mount Kilimanjaro: A Day by Day Account of the Marangu Route

Well, it’s taken me over a month to sit down and write about my Kilimanjaro experience. I’ve thought about it a few times and stared at a blank document, unsure how to put such a  life-changing experience into words.

After six months of anticipation, preparation and training, I can’t believe I reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. The highest peak in Africa, one of the Seven Summits, and the tallest free-standing mountain in the world!

To say I’m proud of every member of the team doesn’t come close to capturing the feeling.

Every one of us pushed ourselves through the most physically demanding challenge of our lives. We faced extreme fatigue, altitude, heightened emotions and injury. We supported one another when the going got tough and kept morale high even when all we wanted to do was stop. So you may be asking…

Why on earth did I do this?

Most importantly, we did it all in support of Reuben’s Retreat.

If you haven’t seen any of my previous blogs or social media posts about the trek, or aren’t familiar with Reuben’s Retreat, let me take a minute to explain why this cause is worthy of every single penny raised in our Kilimanjaro challenge.

Reuben’s Retreat was founded in August 2012, just two days after Reuben Graham tragically passed away at just 23 months old. His mummy Nicola turned her grief into purpose by creating a charity that supports families facing the loss of a child or the challenges of caring for a child with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition. The team at Reuben’s Retreat walks alongside more than 800 families, offering emotional and practical support during the most difficult times.

At the beginning of 2025, my boss James decided that Reuben’s Retreat would be Panache Cruises’ charity partner for the year. He put the feelers out to the team to gauge interest in a charity trek and around 30 people expressed interest. Damn, I thought, there’s only going to be maximum 20 places on any trek. 

I really thought it would be a fight to get a place on the ‘fundraising squad’, but after a bit of research into the height of Kilimanjaro and the effort it takes to raise thousands of pounds for charity in less than six months, just 15 of us remained committed to the challenge.

As a sidenote, shortly after returning from Tanzania I attended the annual ‘Reuball’ hosted by Nicola Graham and the Reuben’s Retreat team and was blown away by the support they receive. Panache Cruises so far have raised more than £60,000 and there are so many other businesses raising awareness too, it’s so wonderful to see communities gather in support.

The journey to Africa…

So, our motley group of trekkers set off for the adventure of a lifetime.

After months of preparation and fundraising, we all met at Manchester Airport, bags packed and spirits high, ready to begin our journey.

After a long day of travel, we arrived in Moshi. There, we met our incredible local guides and expedition leader from The Bucket List Company, all of whom deserve a massive shout-out for organising everything! We spent two days settling in, exploring the markets of Moshi, eating well at Weru Weru Lodge, preparing our gear and mentally bracing ourselves for the climb.

With Reuben’s Retreat in mind, we embarked on a six day hike through jungle, forest, desert and mountain landscapes, covering around 65km and more than 4,000m of elevation gain. We took the Marangu route which provided us with huts rather than tents to sleep in and, on average, climbed around 1,000m per day for four days. Here’s a brief account of each day of the trek…

Day 1 – Marangu Gate to Mandara Hut

Spirits were high as we left Weru Weru Lodge bright and early in the morning, ready for a two hour bus ride to Marangu Gate. Once there, we were each given a lunch box filled with sandwiches, eggs, yoghurts, fruit and chocolate to take for our first day of the trek. The plan was to hike from the gate at 1879m elevation to Mandara Hut, 9km away at 2720m.

Energy levels were high and we were all buzzing with excitement. It was warm and humid as we trekked through thick forest, spotting various monkey species and creepy crawlies on our ascent. We stopped for lunch and a toilet break about half way at a place where concrete picnic tables had been placed and actual toilets were available, which surprised me.

Continuing the jungle portion of the trek, we eventually reached Mandara Hut and were greeted by the rest of our porters who had brought our luggage up and cooked us a delicious meal. The food wasn’t exactly spectacular on this trip, but after a day’s hike, it was just what we needed. Accommodation was small A-frame huts that slept four. They were a tight squeeze with all our luggage too, but having a mattress, pillow and a solid structure around us was great.

Day 2 – Mandara Hut to Horombo Hut

I didn’t previously mention that on the flight over to Tanzania, I developed a bit of a cold. This cold decided to fully manifest itself on day two of the trek and I had a tough day. I hadn’t slept very well, I felt really congested and I was really worried that my body was going to let me down and I wouldn’t make it to the summit. I’ll admit a few tears were shed that day.

However, I followed the advice of our brilliant guide Whitey and tried to just focus on that day, not summit day. Some ginger biscuits and ABBA blasting on the group speaker did me wonders and I powered through the changing terrain of day two. Jungle turned to cacti and scrub-like landscapes, and a heavy mist early on in the day kept us cool. 

Around midday, the sun was shining and we had a clear view of Uhuru Peak in the distance. By the time we reached Horombo Hut at 3720m (13km later), we were shrouded in mist again and temperatures cooled significantly into the evening. Many happy hours were spent playing cards and drinking tea before a more comfortable night’s sleep in a bigger hut.

Day 3 – Acclimatisation hike

Day three was our one and only acclimatisation day of the trek. Blue skies greeted us in the morning and we only had 4km to hike up to Zebra Rock at 4175m. Today was the day where we could start to feel the effects of exercising at altitude, so it was well worth a more restful day.

My favourite part of this day was getting to Zebra Rock and, despite the drizzling rain around us, our guides started to dance and sing. It was beautiful. Such lovely, kind, warm people with the biggest smiles on their faces. It brightened up a rainy day that’s for sure!

Day 4 – Horombo Hut to Kibo Hut

After another good sleep at Horombo Hut, I was starting to feel much better. My cold had almost gone and I didn’t feel any of the effects of altitude. I was ready and raring to go to base camp, Kibo Hut, at 4720m!

Once again, the terrain changed on day four to arid, rocky desert. I think I would say this was my favourite day of the whole Kilimanjaro trek. The weather was beautiful all day and the views were amazing. Mawenzi peak (part of the Kilimanjaro massif) stood proud to one side, its jagged peaks looking both threatening and enticing. I couldn’t help but feel curious about climbing that too!

We basically spent the entire day walking towards Uhuru Peak. As it got closer, it started to dawn on us all that in a matter of hours we would be starting our night time ascent of the tallest mountain in Africa… the tallest free-standing mountain in the world! I had butterflies in my belly just thinking about it. On the one hand, I wanted more time to enjoy the trek as it was. On the other hand, I couldn’t wait to get to the top. There was also a part of me that was starting to get a bit scared of what we would face throughout summit night, and wanted to just get it over with.

Once we arrived at Kibo Hut, a couple of our team members took a turn for the worse. The air was thin and the headaches and feelings of nausea were settling in for pretty much everyone, myself included. It seemed crazy to me that I could be so breathless just squatting down for a wee at the hut toilet. Having to take big gulps of air between mouthfuls of dinner because I was so breathless. It was a strange sensation but I settled into it throughout the evening and a short nap helped.

After a summit briefing and as much food as we could stomach, we tried to get an hour or two’s kip before the summit push…

Day 5 – Kibo Hut to Uhuru Peak!!! (and back down to Horombo Hut)

Summit night started at 11:30pm. We set off into the darkness, hiking slowly but steadily for seven gruelling hours. It was, without question, the hardest part of the journey, both mentally and physically. Unfortunately, one of our teammates had to turn back during the night and the remaining fourteen of us pushed ahead. 

I’ll be honest, I don’t remember all of summit night. Seven hours just became an endless blur of darkness, music got me through most of it but when my playlist ended my fingers were too cold to press play again and I just trudged onwards in the pitch black. Around 5am was what our guides called ‘freezing hour’ and boy was it bloody cold. Everything froze. My hair, the water in my bottles, the outer lining of my gloves.

Our wonderful guides, who carried not only our bags but also flasks of hot tea, were vital in getting us all this far. My guide, Laurence, was an absolute angel and helped me wrap up in more layers, take my gloves off for photos, fed me ginger biscuits and helped me over the more difficult rocky parts of the path. 

At 6:30am, we were rewarded with the most spectacular sunrise I’ve ever seen over the Serengeti. I felt like I had a whole new lease of life, finally able to see the footpath ahead as the feeling returned in my frozen fingers. When we reached Gilman’s Point at 5,756m, we could see the summit. Nearly there!

What would’ve been a 30 minute scramble in the Lake District turned into two more hours of trekking through snow in -15°C temperatures before we finally reached Uhuru Peak, the official summit of Kilimanjaro, at 5,895m above sea level.

I remember looking back at everyone with uncontainable excitement, only to see everyone with heads down, struggling to breathe…no one had the energy or the inclination to take any photos as we reached the summit, so for the final 50 metres or so I got my phone out and captured the moments that everyone made it to the iconic Uhuru Peak sign. I had so much energy and could’ve stayed up there for hours (if it weren’t for the freezing cold). 

There were many tears shed at the summit and so much joy that we had succeeded. I was even able to FaceTime my dad from the summit ridge. He’s the one who has inspired me to do things like this and brought me up loving the mountains, so it was a really special few moments before I lost signal. 

After what felt like a knee-shattering descent back to Kibo Hut down pure scree for two hours, we had a quick bowl of soup in an attempt to re-fuel (not easy when you have zero appetite and a raging headache) before we continued our descent so that we could sleep at a lower elevation at Horombo Hut. Spirits got lower and lower as we trekked past sunset and into the dark. Summit day concluded: 20 ish hours of hiking on an hour’s sleep, half a bowl of soup and a few ginger biscuits. Oof.

Day 6 – Horombo Hut to Marangu Gate

After 5 days of (mostly) beautiful sunshine, we were due a downpour. And that’s exactly what we got. I took a grand total of zero photos on our final day of the trek as we spent five hours getting soaked to the bone on our descent back down to Marangu Gate. 

Half the group (mostly those who were suffering with the altitude, were injured or felt unwell) stayed at Horombo and waited for a Jeep ride down while the other half of us decided to just crack on and complete the hike. Well, almost completed. Five hours and 15km later, we still had 5km to go, but we reached a road and hitched a lift down the final stretch.

We all returned safely by bus to Moshi where we spent a much-needed day recovering. Pizza, Safari beer, relaxation by the pool, music and dancing was very welcome after a grueling six-day trek.

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This was without a doubt the most incredible, challenging, inspirational and life-changing experience for me. I came home with so much more clarity… Who I want to be, what I want to fill my time with, how I want to push my body to overcome epic challenges like this again and again. It filled me with a fire I didn’t know I had, and the knowledge that I can do anything I set my mind to.

We were all so proud of what we had achieved for Reuben’s Retreat; we had put our bodies through something that so many can only dream of, and others are denied the opportunity to do. It is a humbling feeling and one that will remain with us all forever.

I have now personally surpassed the £3,000 mark for my fundraising but would still love to hit my goal of £5,000. If you are impressed by my achievement 😉 or would simply like to support a wonderful charity, Reuben’s Retreat, then I would be incredibly grateful for any donation. You can find the link here.

If you are interested in climbing Kilimanjaro yourself, I highly recommend The Bucket List Company. Their in-country team is incredible and their guides are all well-qualified and made us feel safe throughout.

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PS. If this blog post leaves you with any lingering questions about my Kilimanjaro trek, just pop a message in the comments below!