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The Shira Plateau and Lemosho Routes (6-8 days)
Introduction to the Shira Plateau and Lemosho Routes
Both the Shira Plateau and Lemosho trails involve a crossing of the expansive Shira Plateau which stretches out for around 13km to the west of Kibo. This plateau is actually a caldera, a collapsed volcanic crater: when you are walking on the plateau, you are walking on the remains of the first of Kilimanjaro’s three volcanoes to expire, around 500,000 years ago; it was then filled by the lava and debris from the later Kibo eruption.
The plateau has a reputation for its fauna, largely thanks to its proximity to Amboseli
National Park in Kenya from where herds of elephant, eland, buffalo, and big cats
such as the lion have been known to wander. Indeed, not so many years ago (and occasionally
still today) trekkers on these routes had to be accompanied by an armed ranger (for
which they had to pay) to protect them against encounters with predators. That said,
the rule is seldom enforced these days and, to be honest, you will be very, very
lucky to see any evidence of wildlife existing on the plateau, save for the odd hoofprint
or two and the occasional sun-
So while the proximity of Africa’s finest wild beasts adds a certain frisson of excitement to the walk, don’t choose either of these trails purely on the strength of their reputation for spotting game: it’s an awful long way to come just to see some dessicated elephant shit.
Click on the map icon above to see a map of the Shira and Lemosho routes
Shira or Lemosho: which route I am on?
The first thing to know about these two routes is that it is common for the relatively new Lemosho Route to be referred to as the Shira Plateau Route, particularly by foreign agencies keen to promote the fact that you’ll be walking across the Shira Plateau.
This, of course, is confusing so you should ask your agency to indicate exactly which
of the two paths you’ll be taking.
Another way to check is to see where your first night’s accommodation will be; if it’s the Big Tree Campsite – or Mti Mkubwa in the local language – where you’ll be staying, then it’s actually the Lemosho Route that you’ll be following, regardless of what your trekking agency calls it.)
The Shira Plateau Route
The Shira Plateau Route is the original plateau trail, though it is seldom used these
days, for much of it is a 4WD track and walkers embarking on this trail often begin
their trek above the forest in the moorland zone. With the long-
The Lemosho Route
The Lemosho Route is a new route across the Shira Plateau has quickly gained in popularity, to a point where it is now the third most popular route on the mountain The Lemosho is a new trail that improves on the Shira Plateau Route by starting below the Shira Ridge, thus providing trekkers with both a walk in the pristine forest of west Kilimanjaro at the start of the trek and more time to acclimatize.
The Lemosho Route also includes a crossing of the Shira Plateau which precedes an assault on the summit (assuming the tricky Western Breach Route is still closed) via Barranco, Karanga Valley and Barafu to Stella Point on the Barafu Route. The usual descent route is the Mweka trail. Overall, allow seven nights if stops at Shira 1, Shira Huts and in the Karanga Valley are taken.
What are the advantages with the Lemosho Trail?
It is the first day or so, when you are walking through the forests on Kilimanjaro’s western slopes, that is the main reason why this trail has overtaken the old Shira Pateau Route as the main path attacking Kilimanjaro from the west. With the latter you usually take a car all the way up to the plateau, thereby missing out not only on some fine forest, which you experience only through a car window, but also on some useful acclimatisation.
And although the walk up to the plateau on the Lemosho Route is an exhausting one,
the benefits of trekking rather than driving up will manifest themselves later on
as you saunter up Kibo with scarcely a headache, while littering the trail around
you are the weeping, retching bodies of the AMS-
What’s more, because Lemosho is a more southerly route, so it allows side trips to the minor peaks of Kilimanjaro’s third summit, the Shira Ridge. In particular, the Shira Cathedral, on the southern side of the plateau, has become a very popular excursion on the third day of the trek. Again, such a side trip is useful for acclimatization purposes and no extra days need to be taken to do this either.
Other side trips that do require an extra day include a trek to the Moir Huts, on
the north-
And the disadvantages of the Lemosho Trail?
Though it’s a great route, Lemosho is not without its drawbacks. For one thing, we reckon it to be the wettest route; though meteorology doesn’t back us up, it always seems to rain on this side of the mountain more than anywhere else. Unfortunately, the rise in Lemosho’s popularity has also led to problems. For one thing, the amount of rubbish on the trail and especially at the campsites is little short of distressing (though to be fair, a couple of correspondents have recently written in to say the situation is much improved.
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