The Route: A 16- to 21-day journey culminating in a rigorous, weeklong ascent of the 19,340-foot summit of Africa's highest mountain — via routes far less mobbed than the Marangu tourist trail. Includes a post- or pre-climb minisafari.

When to go: Year-round

Difficulty: Difficult

Travel advisory: Begin cardiovascular training four months in advance, and pick guides who can recognize early signs of pulmonary or cerebral edema; a dozen people died on Kilimanjaro in 1998, most of them from acute mountain sickness.

High/low points:

• Reaching Uhuru Peak at sunrise to see the fleeting phenomenon of the mountain's huge shadow stretching to the horizon.
• After the giddy triumph of reaching the crater's rim, realizing you still have at least an hour or two of walking to reach the summit.