Mweka Hut

Elevation: 4,161 meters above sea level

Mweka Hut is a campsite on the Mweka Route, used by climbers coming down from the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. It’s a spot to spend the night as you descend, and it’s the last camp for five of the seven Kilimanjaro routes: Northern Circuit, Machame, Shira, Lemosho, and Umbwe. People like it because it’s close to the Mweka Gate, the exit from the park. There’s another option called Millennium Camp higher up, but it’s smaller and farther from the gate, so most skip it unless they’re too tired to keep going.
At Mweka Hut, you need to bring your own tent since there are no cabins or huts to sleep in. The only building is an old Ranger’s hut made of green metal sheets, which has been around since the early climbing days. Recently, they added a wooden cabin next to it for the rangers. The toilets are simple pit latrines with no water.

Location

Mweka Hut sits on the southern slopes of Kilimanjaro, in the rainforest area. Like Mti Mkubwa Camp, it’s a cleared patch surrounded by thick forest, where trees were cut down to make space. The Mweka Gate is just a few hours away—about 3 hours or less. Since it’s so close to the exit, some climbers choose to skip it and finish their descent in one go, especially when they’re only a short walk from the end. Millennium Camp, another choice, is about an hour uphill from Mweka Hut. The ground here stays wet and slippery because it rains a lot in this lush, green zone.
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What It’s Like on the Lemosho Route

On both the 7-day and 8-day Lemosho treks, you reach Mweka Hut after summiting. You start at Barafu Camp, climb to Uhuru Peak, and come down.

The ascent begins in the dark, between midnight and 2 a.m., heading northwest through loose scree between the Rebmann and Ratzel glaciers to Stella Point on the crater rim. It’s a tough climb, testing your strength and willpower. At Stella Point, you take a break and might catch a beautiful sunrise if the weather’s good. From there, it’s an hour to the summit, possibly through snow, reaching the highest point in Africa. Fast walkers see the sunrise from the top.

The descent takes you back through Barafu Camp for lunch, then down to Mweka Hut in the upper forest, where mist or rain might roll in by afternoon. It’s a long day—5 kilometers up and 12 kilometers down, with 7 to 8 hours climbing and 4 to 6 hours descending, shifting from Arctic-like conditions to forest. You enjoy your last mountain dinner and sleep well.

The next day, you finish the trek from Mweka Hut to Moshi. It’s 10 kilometers and takes 3 to 4 hours, dropping through the rainforest to the Mweka Gate at 5,400 feet. The path can be muddy, so trekking poles and gaiters help. At the gate, you get your summit certificate, then walk another hour to Mweka Village, where a car picks you up for the ride back to Moshi.
Mweka Hut is a wet, forested stop near the end—a welcome rest before leaving the mountain behind.

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