Routes & Numbers By Peter Dignan

The Kilimanjaro National Park Authorities (KINAPA) are renowned for not releasing information about the logistics of how many people climb Kilimanjaro each year but some figures do exist and show that Kilimanjaro is becoming busier and busier with each passing year.

In 1939 a total of 58 people visited Kilimanjaro for the purpose of climbing or trekking. In 1965 the number of visitors had increased to just over 1000. The 2003/2004 season on Kilimanjaro saw a total of 28,417 people and for the 2006/2007 season this number had increased to 40, 701 people.
As mountaineering becomes a global past time with the masses, Kilimanjaro is at the forefront of those wanting to experience high altitude trekking. The KINAPA figures give a breakdown of which nationalities are climbing Kilimanjaro. For the 2003/2004 season the Americans & Canadians had a total of 5073 people attempt to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro. In second place were those from the British Isles with a total of 4965 visitors and in third place were the French with a total of 2050 visitors. By the 2006/2007 season the visitor pattern had changed slightly. The Americans & Canadians were still in first place with a total of 9961, this accounted for just fewer than 25% of the total visitors, the British were in second place again with 5427 and the Germans jumped into third place with 4217 visitors.

Information relating to the routes used on Kilimanjaro was also made available by KINAPA for the 2006/2007 season. The most popular route on the mountain was the Machame Route with 15,879 visitors. The second busiest was the Marangu Route with 15,334 visitors. The Rongai Route had 5073 visitors, Shira/Lemosho had 3970 visitors and the Umbwe Route had a grand total of 156 visitors, me being one of them.
The figures are not that surprising and anyone who has trekked on the Machame route during peak season will agree that the route is overcrowded. During the rainy season there seems to be a shift from the Machame route to the Marangu route. The main reason for this is that accommodation is in huts on the Marangu route instead of tents on the other routes. Anyone who has been caught in a Kilimanjaro rain storm will appreciate a solid roof instead of canvas over their head.

Kilimanjaro is getting busier and one can only guess that the numbers attempting the mountain in the 2010/2011 season was well over 40,000. For those wishing to stay away from the crowds there are a few options. Attempting one of the camping routes during rainy season is one way to stay away from the crowds but it’s a 50/50 chance of getting wet. The lesser used trekking routes on Kilimanjaro seem to be the Rongai and Umbwe routes and both of these are routes of outstanding beauty. For those with a bit of technical ability an option for escaping the crowds is to attempt one of Kilimajaro’s technical routes. These include the Western Breach, Heim Glacier and Credner Glacier and all offer views of the mountain seldom seen by others and never by the masses.