The only approach from the north, and the driest side of the mountain. It is the quietest route we run, and it camps at Mawenzi Tarn on the way.
Rongai is the only path up Kilimanjaro from the north. It starts near the Kenyan border at Nalemoru, four to five hours by road from Moshi, right round the far side of the mountain.
The northern slopes are drier than the south. Weather comes in from the south-east and drops most of its rain before it reaches this side, so the forest is thinner, the ground is more open, and Kibo is in front of you for almost the whole climb.
The route works its way up to Mawenzi Tarn at 4,330 m, a small lake under the shattered western face of Mawenzi. It is one of the best places to sleep on the mountain. From there you cross the saddle to School Hut at 4,750 m and summit by Gilman's Point.
You come down the Marangu path on the southern side, so one trip takes you up one face of Kilimanjaro and down another.
Rongai is a gentle route to walk. The gradients on the way up are steady, most days are three to five hours, and there is no scrambling anywhere on it.
Two things make it harder than it looks.
The saddle crossing is exposed. Nine kilometres of bare gravel between Mawenzi and Kibo at around 4,400 m, with nothing to break the wind. It is a long, cold, featureless walk, and people find it more tiring than the height alone explains.
And summit night comes up by Gilman's Point. From School Hut that is 931 m of climbing to the rim, and Gilman's sits further from Uhuru than Stella Point does. The rim walk at the end adds about ninety minutes above 5,680 m.
The acclimatisation profile is good. Seven days, a rest day at Mawenzi Tarn, and a steady climb with no long drops in the middle of it.
It is the driest way up the mountain. The northern side sits in the rain shadow, and in the wet months that beats any other advantage a route can offer.
It is the quietest route we run. Far fewer groups start from the north, and there are days before the saddle when you have the path to yourselves.
Mawenzi Tarn is the best campsite on any of our routes. A small lake in a bowl under a broken volcanic face, at 4,330 m, with Kibo across the saddle behind you.
You see two sides of Kilimanjaro. Up the north, down the south, and the country changes completely between them.
And the first day has a real chance of wildlife. The lower slopes here are farmland and forest edge, and colobus monkeys are common in the trees above the path.
The drive is long. Four to five hours to the trailhead before you take a step, and it uses up most of the first morning.
The scenery on the way up is more uniform than Machame or Lemosho. Open, dry ground for several days, with Kibo always ahead and less change underfoot than the southern routes give you.
Summit night from School Hut is longer than from Barafu, and Gilman's Point leaves you further from Uhuru than Stella Point does.
Every night on the way up is under canvas.
And the saddle is cold and windy in a way people do not expect from a route with a reputation for being gentle. Nights at Mawenzi Tarn drop well below freezing in June and July.
Rongai suits anyone climbing in April, May or November, when the southern routes are wet and this side is not.
It suits people who want the mountain quiet. If the thought of Barafu with a couple of hundred tents on it puts you off, this is the answer to it.
It suits walkers who would prefer steady moderate days to a hard first day and an hour of scrambling.
It does not suit anyone short of time, because the drive costs the best part of a day at each end.
And it does not suit anyone who wants the most varied scenery on the mountain. Machame and Lemosho change more, and they change more often.
You start from School Hut at 4,750 m around midnight, a little later than the Kibo Hut climbers on Marangu, because you begin higher than they do.
The path is scree and rock, climbing in switchbacks, with the head torches of the Marangu groups strung out across the slope to your right.
Gilman's Point on the crater rim is 5,681 m, five to seven hours above camp. From there the rim walk to Uhuru gains 214 m over about ninety minutes, past the crater and the glaciers.
The descent from the summit goes down the Marangu path to Horombo, which is a long way after a long night. Most people are on their feet for fifteen or sixteen hours on summit day. Poles take real load off the knees on that drop.
Rongai is the one route on Kilimanjaro that works well outside the two dry windows.
June to October is dry and cold, and the mountain is at its busiest. Even then Rongai is quiet.
January to March is warm and clear and good, with a better chance of snow on the summit.
April, May and November are the wet months, and this is the route to take in them. The rain shadow does not make the north dry. It makes it drier than anywhere else on Kilimanjaro, and on a wet trip that difference decides how much you enjoy the week.
Whatever the month, take a warmer sleeping bag than the season suggests. Mawenzi Tarn and the saddle are colder than the numbers imply.
Places Kilimanjaro
The Rongai route is the only route that approaches Kilimanjaro from the north, close to the Kenyan…
