Altitude: 3,100 m – 3,840 m
Hiking distance: 5 km
Hiking time: 4–5 hours
You rise early at Machame camp and after breakfast, you climb an hour or so to the top of the forest where you will be met with a gentler gradient through the moorland zone, where you will walk for another 2 hours. After a short lunch and rest, you continue up a rocky ridge onto the Shira plateau. By now you will be able to see in an easterly direction, the Western Breach with its stunning glaciers. You are now due west of Kibo and after a short hike, you will reach the Shira camp at 3,840m. The porters will boil drinking and washing water, before serving you dinner. The night at this exposed camp will even be even colder than the previous night, with temperatures dropping to well below freezing.