For most Kenya outdoor enthusiasts, the ultimate is to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro. Many people considering trekking Kilimanjaro ask what the best route is. “Best” can mean anything. But perhaps most people asking this question mean which route guarantees success.

Marangu route should be the easiest route to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. But it has the worst success rate because climbers are least prepared. The Marangu route takes you at a gentle pace through rain forests, moorlands and the alpine desert at the saddle between Kibo and Mawenzi.

To ensure success summiting Kilimanjaro, one needs to anticipate the difficulties and make plans to surmount them.
These are:
1. General fitness
2. Endurances fitness.
3. Altitude

1. General fitness: Establish that the body is fit enough to withstand sub-zero temperatures and other vagaries of outdoor living for five to six days. It is also important to note the bod’s ability to adabt to abrupt change of diet. Hand in hand to this is the mental attitude and willingness to go through it.

2. Endurance fitness: In general the body should be able to withstand four contiguous days of uphill walking for five to six hours daily while carrying about six Kilograms of gear. This calls for strict regimes of exercises that can be done in the house, field or gym, such as cardio, squats, jogging, treadmill or skipping rope.

3. Altitude: Hiking and trekking at least once every two months preferably in altitudes over of 2500 metres e.g. Ngong hills, Longonot, Oldonyo sabuk, Kinari forest, Elephant hill, Kipipiri, mount Kenya (preferably to Leanna point) will give the body the much needed acclimatisation.
It is important to deliberately choose at least one wet season hike in order to test rain gear.

Below is a list of items that one needs to collect and test in advance in order to make the climb as friendly as possible.
I have used the key below to rate the items

Key
**** Crucial to have
*** Important to have
** Good to have
* luxury