Marangu

The Marangu or main route is by far the most popular way up Kilimanjaro. The forest is very beautiful and Maundi Crater is worth a visit just for the flowers and scenery. There are wonderful views of Kibo and Mawenzi. It generally takes five days for the round trip:
Day 1: Marangu to Mandara HutDay 2: Mandara to Horombo HutDay 3: Horombo Hut to Kibo HutDay 4: Kibo Hut to Summit to Horombo HutDay 5: Horombo Hut to Marangu
The schedule, trails and accommodation are designed to allow visitors to acclimate. An extra day at Horombo, Mawenzi or Kibo Huts is recommended to allow even more time to get used to the altitude.

Mandara Hut - 2700 m. This is a group of comfortable, wooden A-frame huts. The largest cabin has a downstairs dining area and an upstairs dormitory with bunk beds and mattresses; smaller huts sleep 8 each. The total capacity is 60. Water is piped into site from springs above and flush toilets are behind the main cabin.
Horombo Hut - 3720 m. The buildings are similar to Mandara, but total capacity is 120. Water is piped from the stream behind the huts. Do not use this stream or its valley as a waste disposal area. There are platform toilets south-east of main hut, about 80 m down the slope and new flush toilets have been built within the complex of small huts.
Kibo Hut - 4700 m. This stone built block house with a small dining-room and a number of 1dormitory rooms leading off a main corridor has bunk beds and mattresses for 60 people. Water: None, so bring an adequate supply from the 'Last Water' stream above Horombo Hut. Platform toilets are behind the hut (to the southwest).

Learning to climb

Learning to climb is very much like learning to ride a bike or ski down a snowy slope. You'll never forget the basic moves, but will need years of practise to perfect them.
Climbing styles come in many flavors. The basic games include: bouldering, indoor climbing, free rock climbing, trad rock climbing, solo climbing aid climbing, ice climbing and alpine climbing.
Bouldering addicts climb short jumbles of rock, often only a couple of feet high. The key here is linking the moves: because of their short height bouldering problems tend to be fairly intense and technical. It's hundreds of feet of difficulty compressed into 5-10 moves. Unless you're climbing so-called highball problems you'll climb unroped and close enought to the ground to be safe to jump off from. During the nineties there's been a renewal of interest for this game. Thousands of bouldering areas have cropped up worldwide.
During the late eighties and early nineties climbing on plastic, aka indoor climbing became of fashion. Most competitions are on plastic nowadays. Indoor gyms are excellent places to learn rope handling techniques and to work on the basic moves. However, most of the diehard climbers agree that there's nothing like natural rock.
Free Climbing is the art of climbing a rock without using your equipment for upward motion. You can only use your arms, hands and other essential body parts to climb. The gear is used for protection only. This is where ethics come into play. A climb is said to be onsighted when a climber leads the climb for the first time without having watched other climbers do it and reaching the end without falling or pulling on gear. If you don't meet these criteria, you have to start over from the ground up to complete the climb.

Climbing is about ...

Climbing is not all about strength anyway. Many a strong man has been humbled by the feminine graciousness and apparent ease of a woman moving over rock. Climbing is all about balance, knowing your body and being able to reposition it in space. It's about creativity, learning to adapt to what the rock has to offer. It's a whole-body exercise and though your upper body gets a fair share of grunt work, your legs and feet are your most important instrument for upward motion. It's about concentration and overcoming your fears for the void.
You don't need to be young or extremely fit to pick up climbing. Many people start later on in their life, and there are excellent climbers of all ages. I personally know some climbers well over fifty that still can compete with the young sharks.
For me personally it's all about discovering the natural world around and within you. Climbing will bring you to lots of lovely places and will definitely give you a unique perspective on the world below you. You'll learn a couple of things about yourself and the people you climb with.
Climbing is both an individualistic and social sport: when you're on the rock you can only count on your skills to get to the top. If you do fall however, you'll have to trust your climbing partner with your life. Beyond question. No mistakes allowed. This often makes for very strong bonds and relationships.