You go to bed early at a high camp, then start the summit walk around midnight. The walk is slow, cold, and several hours long, in the dark, with a headlamp. You reach the crater rim around dawn and continue to Uhuru Peak if your guide says you should. After the summit you descend a long way the same day. It is the hardest night of the trek, and it is normal to feel tired and nauseous.
How Kilita plans it
Your guide sets the pace and the turnaround. Reaching the peak is not guaranteed by the price you paid. Kilita's crews are there to get you down safely if the signs are wrong. Eat and drink at the high camp even if you do not feel like it, and put the warm layers on before you step out of the tent, not halfway up.
What to do next
- Sleep early. The start is around midnight.
- Wear every warm layer from the first step.
- The guide can turn the group around.
- The descent continues the same day.
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