The heart and soul of an East African Adventure - sunrise over Kilimanjaro
Specializing in adventure holidays to Tanzania and Kenya

General Information

Full Moons

Summit day on Mt Meru as the sun rises beyond Kilimanjaro The summit days on Kilimanjaro, Mt Kenya and Mt Meru usually start between midnight and 3am so that the top is reached around sunrise, this of course means that the majority of the ascent is in the dark.  Whatever the cycle of the moon, head torches are a necessity for walking at night, but if it is a clear night the moon can light the mountain up quite considerably.  This not only helps you to see better and measure your progress, but it increases the amount you can see as opposed to the small pool of light provided by a head torch.  It will also give you superb moonlit views of the mountain to enjoy, which help if you are finding it hard-going!  Before the summit night you will already have been camping for at least 4 nights, and the benefit of the light from a full moon does make camping easier and open up views of the mountain at night, enhancing the whole trip as well as the summit attempt.

Many people prefer a full moon to walk by, but it should not necessarily dictate the trip dates you choose - because with a full moon or not, if there is high cloud it will not provide much extra light!

For your information, we detail below the Kilimanjaro full moon dates, which apply for all of East Africa, but for a week either side it will provide sufficient light to make quite a difference.  We also detail in Trips under each specific trip whether or not it coincides with a full moon.

2010
2011
January 30
January 19
February 28
February 18
March 30
March 19
April 28
April 18
May 27
May 17
June 26
June 15
July 26
July 15
August 24
August 13
September 23
September 12
October 23
October 12
November 21
November 10
December 21
December 10