Kilimanjaro Packing List by Month: What to Pack for the Machame Route

Published November 6, 2026

The Kilimanjaro packing list changes with the month: the sleeping bag, the sleeping pad, the rain jacket, the rain pants, the pack rain cover and the gloves. Your operator provides the tents and the camp, so they stay out of your bag. For a July climb on the Machame Route, the products Bardy has found so far cost $2,414 for a man and $2,282 for a woman and put at least 17.7 lb on your back; 2 lines still have no US product (named in the table below), so the full pack costs and weighs more.

What the operator provides

You cannot climb alone. The park’s visitor guide says: “All climbs must be guided by a licensed operator; solo trekking is not permitted.” On the routes other than Marangu, it adds: “Other routes are serviced by designated tented camps run by licensed operators.” So the tent is your operator’s, and it is not in your bag. No official text lists the rest of what an operator supplies: ask yours for its list in writing, and remove from the pack what it provides.

The list, month by month

The park’s own gear line is short: “Carry proper cold-weather and rain gear, headlamp, and personal meds.” The month decides how much cold-weather gear that means. Bardy computes the pack on 10 years of weather at the altitude of the route, for the Machame Route in 7 days. These are the lines that change from one month of the season to the next, for a man; every other line stays the same. An “advised” line is recommended by Bardy, not required.

Month	Sleeping bag	Sleeping pad	Rain jacket	Rain pants	Rain cover	Gloves
June	Sleeping bag comfort 23°F	Sleeping pad R 3	Rain jacket 10,000 mm	Rain pants (advised)	Pack cover (advised)	Warm gloves
July	Sleeping bag comfort 21°F	Sleeping pad R 4.5	Rain jacket 10,000 mm	Rain pants (advised)	—	Warm gloves
August	Sleeping bag comfort 23°F	Sleeping pad R 3	Rain jacket 10,000 mm	Rain pants (advised)	Pack cover (advised)	Warm gloves
September	Sleeping bag comfort 23°F	Sleeping pad R 3	Rain jacket 10,000 mm	Rain pants (advised)	Pack cover (advised)	Warm gloves
October	Sleeping bag comfort 25°F	Sleeping pad R 3	Rain jacket 20,000 mm	Rain pants	Pack cover (advised)	Gloves (advised)

The weather and the whole pack, month by month:

Month	Cold night at Barafu Camp	Rain days	Snow at Uhuru Peak	Pack, man	Pack, woman	On your back (man)	No product yet
June	23°F	26%	possible	$2,414	$2,282	at least 17.7 lb	Pack cover, DEET or IR3535 repellent, Gaiters
July	21°F	11%	possible	$2,414	$2,282	at least 17.7 lb	DEET or IR3535 repellent, Gaiters
August	23°F	21%	possible	$2,414	$2,282	at least 17.7 lb	Pack cover, DEET or IR3535 repellent, Gaiters
September	23°F	37%	possible	$2,414	$2,282	at least 17.7 lb	Pack cover, DEET or IR3535 repellent, Gaiters
October	25°F	51%	possible	$2,414	$2,282	at least 17.7 lb	Pack cover, DEET or IR3535 repellent, Gaiters

At Barafu Camp, the last camp at 4,673 m (15,331 ft), cold nights stay below freezing all season, from 25°F in October to 21°F in July. The driest month of the season is July, with rain on 11% of days. Rain is hard to model on a lone peak: Bardy rescales it with WorldClim, and does not estimate the wind gusts at the summit, so leave a margin on both.

Prices are for everything bought new, the cheapest product that meets each line, read from US stores; where a store could not be read, the price is to check. “On your back” is the published weight of the gear you carry plus the water, without food, shoes and poles (“at least” when some items publish no weight). “Rain days” counts days with at least 1.5 mm (0.06 in) of rain at the wettest of three points of the route; a “cold night” is the temperature one night in ten falls below, at Barafu Camp. For your own dates, days and sleeping arrangement, and to remove what you already own: the Kilimanjaro (Machame Route) pack for your dates.

Your duffel is not the only bag

Porters carry the camp, and a rule caps what each one carries. The park brochure says: “Porters are allowed to carry a maximum of 25kgs (including their belongings) during the climb”. That is 25 kg (55 lb). The Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project, a nonprofit program and not a law, asks its partner companies to “Provide the appropriate number of porters per climb so that each porter carries only 20kg of company kit.” That is 20 kg (44 lb) of the company’s kit, not the porter’s own belongings. Your share is set by your operator: ask for its limit before you pack.

Tipping is part of the climb, and no official text sets an amount. The project asks companies to “Implement a transparent tipping procedure to ensure that the porters receive the full amount of tip intended for them”. Ask your operator for its recommendations and for how the tips reach the crew.

The rules that change your pack

Plastic bags. A Tanzanian government notice says that “all plastic carrier bags, regardless of their thickness will be prohibited from being imported, exported, manufactured, sold, stored, supplied and used in Mainland Tanzania.” Ziploc bags used to carry toiletries are permitted. The page reads 2016 and its attached file 2019, so check the current rule with your operator.
Drones and fires. “Drones require prior authorization; off-trail travel and open fires are restricted.” The brochure also asks you to “Hike and camp at the designated trail and campsites only”.

Health, for US travelers

The CDC says: “CDC recommends that travelers going to certain areas of Tanzania take prescription medicine to prevent malaria.” The area it names is “All areas below 1,800 m (5,900 ft) elevation”, and the Machame Gate is at 1,800 m (5,906 ft): talk to your doctor about your route. On yellow fever: “Vaccine is generally not recommended for travel to Tanzania”, and it is required only if you arrive from a country with risk of transmission, layovers of more than 12 hours included. On altitude: “The high altitude may lead to altitude sickness. Talk to your doctor about ways to prevent and treat altitude sickness.”

See the pack for your own dates on the Kilimanjaro page.

FAQ

Do I need a guide to climb Kilimanjaro?

Yes. The park’s visitor guide says: “All climbs must be guided by a licensed operator; solo trekking is not permitted.”

How much should I tip the porters?

No official text we read sets an amount. The Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project asks companies for a transparent tipping procedure and for tipping recommendations to climbers, so ask your operator for both.

Can I bring plastic bags to Tanzania?

A Tanzanian government notice prohibits plastic carrier bags. Ziploc bags used to carry toiletries are permitted. The notice is dated 2016 on its page and 2019 in its attached file, so check that it is still in force.

Do I need malaria pills for Kilimanjaro?

The CDC recommends malaria prevention in “All areas below 1,800 m (5,900 ft) elevation”. The Machame Gate is at 1,800 m (5,906 ft), and the CDC page does not describe the mountain, so ask your doctor about your route.

Do I need a yellow fever vaccine?

Not when you fly directly from the United States, says the CDC. It is required if you arrive from a country with risk of yellow fever transmission, including airport transits or layovers of more than 12 hours there.