General Information

Full Moons

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.

2012		2013
January 9		January 27
February 7		February 25
March 8		March 27
April 6		April 25
May 6		May 25
June 4		June 23
July 3		July 22
August 2 & 31		August 21
September 30		September 19
October 29		October 19
November 28		November 17
December 28		December 17