Usually, around Christmas time is one of the best times to go for the weather. The hot dry season is supposed to be December to March and the cool dry season is June through September or October.
It doesn't always work out that way though. Back during Christmas 1997, it actually snowed on us on Mt Elgon (which is highly unusual) which has the same dry seasons as Kili. Down on the Serengetti there was flooding and temperatures in the 40's F. Kili was covered in snow down to around 15,000 feet.
Although typically in reference to the Pacific Ocean, similar conditions to El Niño and La Niña cycles occasionally wreak havoc with the normal wet and dry seasons in East Africa, similar to how they do in other regions affected by the intertropical converence zone.
I reported some rain the first few days on the Machame Route Feb 8 - 14, 2009
http://www.summitpost.org/kilimanjaro-machame-route-7-day-utm/493811
We were always able to dry out afterwards and we left the rain behind as we traveled from the west to the east side of the mountain. I was happy to have a plastic poncho!
"However, if you climb Kilimanjaro in a week of constant rain and snow you will be fighting both altitude sickness, cold and seemingly endless rainy misery, something everyone strangely fails to mention when they talk about climbing the mountain."
Sounds like you had a pretty terrible time! I think we've all been wet and cold in the mountains, and all had a crappy enough vacation that we just wanted to get home, so I can sympathize with your misery.
That being said...
Our team planned to climb Kili during the dry season, we all live at altitude (from 5,200 - 9,200+ feet) and recreate regularly above 4,000 meters. We also took the "slow route" (Lemosho) up the mountain for extra acclimatization. Yeah, we had days of rain and the peak got snowed on the day we hiked down. But we were drinking Scotch above 13,000 feet, dancing above 15,000 ft. and felt like a million bucks. From Stella Point to the summit, yeah, I was dizzy or whatever, but I felt like I could have jogged if I needed to.
So, I guess a lot of us don't mention rain and altitude sickness when talking about this volcano because we climbed in the dry season and were acclimatized for the thin air. Those two factors, alone, can apparently make or break this trip. Even in the relatively dry weather we enjoyed, we saw several very sick people on the mountain, many from sea level or close (London, Paris, etc.) My heart (pumping sludge-thick, oxygen-rich blood from living and recreating year after year at elevation) ached for them - they had to be miserable!
May you enjoy better circumstances on your next outing!
I think it’s fairly common for people on Kili to not have fully realized what they’re getting into. I mentioned to a European couple that we added an extra day for acclimation to our Machame route itinerary, and that extra day meant instead of a hard day before summit day, we had two easy days. They replied “our tour guide didn’t tell about that.” He made it to the summit and felt like crap, his wife stayed at high camp feeling like crap. Like Sarah we live where we can play above 4000m. That allows us to anticipate and practice a lot of what we will encounter on higher peaks.
Living at 1500 feet we added 2 days to the trip to make it 9 days. We spent the first 2 days on Mt Meru between 7,000 and 10,000 feet. I think this made a huge difference as I felt great the entire trip with only a minor headache the afternoon we camped in the crater(18,800 feet). We had snow and rain as well but not as bad as described in this trip report.
MountainHikerCO - Jan 6, 2013 5:49 pm - Voted 10/10
Wet Season!Nice description of the ordeal. It shows the importance of researching the best time to go for the weather. Thanks for sharing.
Scott - Jan 6, 2013 9:42 pm - Voted 10/10
Re: Wet Season!Usually, around Christmas time is one of the best times to go for the weather. The hot dry season is supposed to be December to March and the cool dry season is June through September or October.
It doesn't always work out that way though. Back during Christmas 1997, it actually snowed on us on Mt Elgon (which is highly unusual) which has the same dry seasons as Kili. Down on the Serengetti there was flooding and temperatures in the 40's F. Kili was covered in snow down to around 15,000 feet.
Although typically in reference to the Pacific Ocean, similar conditions to El Niño and La Niña cycles occasionally wreak havoc with the normal wet and dry seasons in East Africa, similar to how they do in other regions affected by the intertropical converence zone.
MountainHikerCO - Jan 7, 2013 10:57 pm - Voted 10/10
Re: Wet Season!I reported some rain the first few days on the Machame Route Feb 8 - 14, 2009
http://www.summitpost.org/kilimanjaro-machame-route-7-day-utm/493811
We were always able to dry out afterwards and we left the rain behind as we traveled from the west to the east side of the mountain. I was happy to have a plastic poncho!
Sarah Simon - Jan 6, 2013 9:08 pm - Hasn't voted
Oooof"However, if you climb Kilimanjaro in a week of constant rain and snow you will be fighting both altitude sickness, cold and seemingly endless rainy misery, something everyone strangely fails to mention when they talk about climbing the mountain."
Sounds like you had a pretty terrible time! I think we've all been wet and cold in the mountains, and all had a crappy enough vacation that we just wanted to get home, so I can sympathize with your misery.
That being said...
Our team planned to climb Kili during the dry season, we all live at altitude (from 5,200 - 9,200+ feet) and recreate regularly above 4,000 meters. We also took the "slow route" (Lemosho) up the mountain for extra acclimatization. Yeah, we had days of rain and the peak got snowed on the day we hiked down. But we were drinking Scotch above 13,000 feet, dancing above 15,000 ft. and felt like a million bucks. From Stella Point to the summit, yeah, I was dizzy or whatever, but I felt like I could have jogged if I needed to.
So, I guess a lot of us don't mention rain and altitude sickness when talking about this volcano because we climbed in the dry season and were acclimatized for the thin air. Those two factors, alone, can apparently make or break this trip. Even in the relatively dry weather we enjoyed, we saw several very sick people on the mountain, many from sea level or close (London, Paris, etc.) My heart (pumping sludge-thick, oxygen-rich blood from living and recreating year after year at elevation) ached for them - they had to be miserable!
May you enjoy better circumstances on your next outing!
Sarah
MountainHikerCO - Jan 6, 2013 9:37 pm - Voted 10/10
Re: OooofI think it’s fairly common for people on Kili to not have fully realized what they’re getting into. I mentioned to a European couple that we added an extra day for acclimation to our Machame route itinerary, and that extra day meant instead of a hard day before summit day, we had two easy days. They replied “our tour guide didn’t tell about that.” He made it to the summit and felt like crap, his wife stayed at high camp feeling like crap. Like Sarah we live where we can play above 4000m. That allows us to anticipate and practice a lot of what we will encounter on higher peaks.
Enkidu - Jan 6, 2013 11:27 pm - Voted 10/10
Re: OooofLiving at 1500 feet we added 2 days to the trip to make it 9 days. We spent the first 2 days on Mt Meru between 7,000 and 10,000 feet. I think this made a huge difference as I felt great the entire trip with only a minor headache the afternoon we camped in the crater(18,800 feet). We had snow and rain as well but not as bad as described in this trip report.
philadendron - Sep 16, 2014 12:37 pm - Voted 9/10
NiceGood on ya for getting some photos even though the conditions weren't optimal.