Many have already climbed to the top of Kilimanjaro, but only a few people have gone around it. There are thousands of pictures showing happy tourists at the Uhuru Peak, posing in front of the blue wooden sign saying „Congratulations- you are now at Africa’s highest point!“, but there are almost no photographies which show tourists on the northern side of the highest free standing mountain in the world with its snowy top peeping through the clouds, although this side is easy to reach and the road has few steep ascension. To get there, the way leads through the territory of two indigenous people of Tanzania- the Massai and Chagga people. The dirt road winding like a red snake through a country that has been hardly touched by civilization.

If you want to forget about everyday life come to Kilimanjaro and go around the mountain in five days. This will not only be a physical challenge but a fundamental new experience. Have you ever looked into the mysterious eyes of a Massai? Or seen the savanne in the morning sun?

You almost feel like Columbus, being the event of the month for the inhabitants of the few small villages you will encounter as a participant of the bike tour around Kilimanjaro.

The standard tour of 176 miles starts and ends in Moshi going also to Africa’s deepest lake and the Ndarakwai Ranch of Margot and Peter Jones. At the way the diversity of African wild life will amaze you, the tour guide being especially well trained to point out the unusual. Wild animals (elephants, antelopes, zebras, buffalos) can be seen with luck on the Ndarakwai Ranch. We take care that an armed ranger is waiting for the bike group outside the area to make the way to Ndarakwai range safe for elephants and bikers.

The landscape we are going trough is as various as you can imagine: the small town Moshi, Chagga farmland, African savanna, rain forest, Massai villages on the slopes of Kilimanjaro. Over the whole tour the main impressive peaks Kibo, Mawenzi or Mt. Meru dominate the landscape. The maximum high of the tour is 6692 feet, the minimum high 2756 feet. We pass mostly very rough roads with many stones and dusty parts. Some sections are very steep and the heat and burning sun is an additional challenge. Only the fist, in the middle and last day of the tour we will take a few kilometers on paved roads.

The camps differ from each other in look and style: from basic camps in a Chagga village and on Lake Chale to nice huts in Rongai and the luxury tents of the Ndarakwai ranche.

With the experiences of two years route execution we have modified the standard route- we have shortened it for those who are very advanced (4 days, same distance) and extended it for the ones how like to relish in nature (9 days, 540km). The extension really give the route a most wonderful character- it goes along to the Mt.Meru by Massailand and ends in the Momella Lodge or the Hatari Lodge in combination with two days without biking, which can be used to go on a safaris or take a trip on the Mt.Meru. Please call or write us for the detailed planning and the prices of the deviating routes.

Current situation: Since September 2007 due to several outbreaks of the volcano it is not anymore simple to climb the mountain. We hold you up to date.

Please have a look into the detailed description of the tour

 

Chagga Tours provides the tents and cooking equipment. Sleeping bags and mattresses the participants are asked to bring. You can use your own bike or you can lent bikes from us.
A fundamental fixing equipment is in our possession.
Every employee speaks English and Kiswahili. Most of the tour the mobile phone has reception, just one day is without communication connection. In an emergency the escort vehicle can reach Moshi or Arusha in about 5 hours, where professional help is stationed.

Chagga tours requests the affirmation of a health insurance of every participant.
Information about the needed inoculation you might receive here www.travelmed.de.
 

Second day
Preparation for the tour, getting to know each other and adjusting the bikes and loading the jeep with your luggage. We will have the chance to get to know each other a bit better, to adjust to the climate and talk about the details of the tour at the pool of the hotel.

The destination of the day is the camping site from Chagga Tours in Useri (toilets and tents to wash yourself are available). We have an agreement with the village and contribute 10 $ for every biker to the village school. We cook „local food“ and everybody who wants to join in the shopping for fresh vegetables is welcome. The head of Useri and also the other inhabitants are always keen to get to know the “wazungu” (meaning the white people), and are therefore sometimes sitting with the guest at the campfire chatting away. You will have the opportunity to get in touch with them, being very welcome to relate your questions concerning their traditions and way of life.

Fifth day (30 km, summarized high 2165 feet)
From this day on, we come in close contact with the Kilimanjaro. We take a steep ascension to the main pass, which leads around the Kilimanjaro. The route goes through small villages, where you are met with open hospitality.
After 16 miles of colorful impressions the group spends the night at the Snow Cap Cottage, where you will find hot showers, comfortable beds, an open fireplace and a cold drink. Everybody who takes an interest has the possibility to explore the beginning of the Rangai Route that leads to the Uhuru Peak or can take an private ride in the afternoon.

Sixth day (85 km, summarized high 2405 feet)
The route again goes reasonably uphill and crosses a distant northern mountain range of Kilimanjaro. It goes partly up and down and we will reach the northern part of the Kilimanjaro. To the right we will again have a wide view on Kenia, where the Ambolseli National Park is situated. We will go through Massai territory, passing the typical round huts and big flogs of cows and goats.

At last, the route on the seventh day goes downhill in southern direction, again leading trough Massai territory. The Massai, which still live very traditionally are shyer than the Chagga people, but not less friendly. At this side of the Kilimanjaro less rain falls and the dry land becomes more and more African savannah. The road to the Ndarakwai Ranch is therefore quite dusty but still enables the view on passing elephants.

At the day’s destination, the ranch of Margot & Peter Jones you can observe elephants, since the surrounding land offers best conditions for them. Besides Africa’s biggest animal there can be found many more interesting creatures. Peter and Margot’ concept is to find economic as also ecological rational solutions to the problems of modern tourism in Africa. Their main aim is to protect nature and the local animal diversity ensuring at the same time, that workers from the neighboring African communities profit from tourism. 20 $ of every lodging goes to the Kilimanjaro Conservancy Fond (www.kiliconservancy.org). At the evening while sitting at the fireplace you are able to listen the nightly voice of the savanna. You will sleep in a comfortable tent, where two firm beds, a shower and a toilet are set up (www.ndarakwai.com).

Seventh day (day off)
You will have a whole day to relax and enjoy nature at the Ndarakwai Ranch. You will have the possibility to take part in a four-hour walking-safari with an armed ranger. Peter is an archaeologist and has taken part in the excavations in the Oldowai canyon and the Laetoli footprints, which are said to have come from an Australopiticus couple 3,5 million years ago. Everybody interested in more detailed information can always find an open ear and a great narrator in Peter.
Everybody is invited to watch animals from the tree-hut (zebras, antelopes, buffalo, even lions have been seen) or you can observe, how a goat is slaughtered and cooked for supper in the evening (a Massai dish). We celebrate the success of the tour till then with a Tanzanian dance and drum group.