Following my Kilimanjaro climb starting Feb. 14, 2026 — I’ll be travelling for a couple of weeks in Tanzania.
It looks spectacular.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Climbing Kilimanjaro February 2026
It’s official.
- Feb 14–22, 2026
- 9 days, 8 nights Machame Route
- Zara Tours
- 5,895 meters (19,341 feet)
- $3495 USD
Expensive — but I finally signed on to the single best trekking peak in the world.
I’d long been a fan of hiking vlogger Eric Hanson. When he announced a personally guided adventure — I signed on instantly.
Machame Route (Whiskey Route) for me should be relatively easy. BUT many have to turn back due to altitude sickness symptoms.
My plan is to spend some weeks in Ecuador above 3000m and — hopefully — have some acclimatization ➙ then fly directly to Kilimanjaro airport. Altitude sickness is near impossible to predict. (I’ve never had any despite hiking higher than 6000m many times.)
I’ll stay on in East Africa following Kili. My first visit.
This is the 2nd time I’d signed up for Kilimanjaro. The first was in 2020 — cancelled by Covid.
Mt. Qixing Mountain, Taiwan
Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles
Qixing Mountain (also Cising) stands as the highest and most central peak in Yangmingshan National Park.
All trails are well-maintained with stone steps and converge at the windswept main peak.
The summit is the ultimate reward, offering a magnificent 360-degree panorama of the entire national park, the Taipei cityscape, and the northern coast on clear days.
The national park is known for its cherry blossoms, hot springs, sulfur deposits, fumaroles, venomous snakes, and hiking trails, including Taiwan’s tallest dormant volcano, Qixing (Seven Star) Mountain rising to 1,120 m (3,675 ft).
There are several Visitors Centres, each very helpful in helping you decide on hikes ➙ starting and finishing. Public transportation is super crowded here.
As you can see, clouds covered the peak when I was there. Not unusual.
Stone steps keep you out of the mud in most cases. But they are irregular shapes and sizes.
The summit is often crowded. I didn’t linger long.
Actually, I enjoyed the clouds blowing in and out, sometimes revealing the vista below.
It can get windy up here, of course
Volcanic sediments in this pond give it a milky appearance.
I finished near Lengshuikeng Hot Springs and would love to have finished with a soak. But these Springs have unusual opening hours. Locked when I was there. AND I was worried about getting back to Taipei on the busy tourist buses.
So I simply soaked my feet in the outdoor pothole.
All-in-all, it’s well worth getting out to Yangmingshan National Park if you are ever in Taipei.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Top 10 Hiking Destinations ➙ Southwest USA
South West USA
Capitol Reef, Zion, Bryce, the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Glen Canyon, White Sands National Monument, Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. This part of the world is awesome.
We hike the SW USA every year and have yet to be disappointed.
Fascinating, diverse and mind-boggling. The best WOW geological zone we’ve seen anywhere.
The high desert plateau intersection of the four U.S. states of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona.
The Grand Canyon of the Colorado Plateau is not the deepest nor largest, but it’s by far the most stunningly beautiful on Earth.
Most of the best slot canyons and natural stone arches in the world are here. A desert, your views are unobstructed. The light is perfect for photography.
The best weather is Oct-Nov, Mar-May. Summers are too hot for most hikers.
Most of the hikes in the Four Corners are short due to lack of water and the real risk of getting lost. People die in this wilderness every year.
Our favourite hike in the Four Corners region is Paria Canyon on the border of Arizona and Utah. You enjoy many days beneath huge walls in a slot canyon.
more from our Paria photo set
If you hike Paria you’ll certainly try to add on a nearby day hike called The Wave.
more Wave photos
More information on on dozens more great adventures on our new SW USA information page.
3 Days Hiking Mt. RInjani, Indonesia
At 3,726 meters, Mount Rinjani is Indonesia’s second-highest volcano and one of the most popular treks in Southeast Asia.
The classic 3-day / 2-night Rinjani trek is famous for its epic summit views, turquoise crater lake (Segara Anak), and hidden hot springs.
But this hike is also notorious for steep cliffs, loose volcanic ash, unpredictable weather, and long, exhausting days – factors that have led to many accidents and even fatalities.
In this video, I take you along on the full Mount Rinjani trek in Lombok, Indonesia – from the crowded trailhead at Sembalun, to the 2am summit push, to descending into the massive caldera.
Hiking Rinjani was both beautiful and brutal, with ash slopes that made every step slide back, camp life above the clouds, and endless hours of climbing and descending.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Cinematic Iceland
Anytime a hiking vlogger gets a new drone, they head for Iceland to test it out. 😀
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Climbing Rinjani, Indonesia – day 0
Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles
Three days, two nights in the tent.
Cost is USD $220 to $330/ person.
I’ve long wanted to climb astonishing Mount Rinjani not far from Bali, Indonesia.
I took the local boat from Gili Trawangan to Lombok island for the start of our guided climb of Rinjani. I could see it in the distance.
Our group met up at a local restaurant close to Bangsal Port ➙ then we were efficiently (if dangerously) driven up to Senaru village at 400m.
We had a typical Indonesian lunch based on rice or noodles.
We dropped bags in our surprisingly interesting rooms.
Then set off to see two local waterfalls.
Plenty of macaques await ready to grab at your purse, backpack, or any kind of plastic bag.
Here’s the 1st waterfall.
MOST interesting here is a fun tire tube ride underground through the irrigation channel. I’d be too chicken, myself. 😀
Here’s the 2nd even more impressive falls.
Back at the guesthouse we did our introductory briefing on the volcano climb. We had hoped two more would join us. One was in hospital for some reason. The other cancelled last minute.
Rinjani is 3,726 metres (12,224 ft), making it the second-highest volcano in Indonesia.
We had signed up for the longer 3 days, 2 nights in the tent option.
That turned out to be the right decision. Our itinerary the BEST HIKE.
Click PLAY or watch a preview on YouTube.
Climbing Rinjani, Indonesia – day 1
Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles
MOST groups on our itinerary camp on the 1st volcano ridge day 1. Our guide offered us the chance to descend 3 hours to camp at the lake, instead. Super tough 1st day — but we were all glad we did it.
We were up for the dawn. I added milk powder to my brutal black instant coffee.
Banana pancakes excellent, as always.
Driving up to the start at 600m we stopped for a blessing. An important tradition with the local Sasak people as well as Hindus.
Still clean and keen at the start.
They’ve had a lot of deaths on this mountain, the most recent June 2025.
Another died May 2025. Both from falls.
We each had to register with photo ID. The Gunung Rinjani National Park, established 1997, is trying to make this adventure safer — but they have a long way to go. It’s dangerous.
Our goal was the 1st crater rim — only 6.9km. Sounds easy until you calculate you need gain 2km in elevation over that short distance!
We started on the far right of this map.
The start through jungle was relatively easy. THEN it got steep and challenging.
Wherever hikers might stop to eat, long-tailed macaques will be waiting.
These wild cousins are more worrisome than the ‘tame’, well-fed ones in the Monkey Forest, Ubud.
Breakfast !
We hiked into and out of clouds.
Crater rim beckons.
This — really — is the best vista on the hike. Crater lake Sagara Anak is huge, the colour unforgettable. The volcano’s eruption in 1257 is considered one of the most powerful global volcanic events of the last 2,000 years.
We were scheduled to set up our camp on the ridge here at 2,600m.
But we opted, instead, to hike down to the lake at 2000m, saving us 3-4 hours on day 2.
We all agreed to go for it.
OUCH …
That decent is awful and dangerous. I took no photos. We had to concentrate on every technical step.
It was a relief to finally get to the lake. This one of my toughest hiking days of all time.
We arrived just before dusk.
Alpenglow time.
Each group has their own toilet tent.
The alternative at major camps are these good looking public toilets. This one was filthy! But some are quite new. Fairly clean.
Major camps have emergency shelters. I don’t doubt they are used frequently. The trek is risky.
Our guide sent us to the hotsprings with one of the porters. Fantastic. A highlight of the entire trip.
Tim (tim_de_bruijn on Instagram) was a full-time social media manager for a major Dutch soccer team. He showed us fantastic photography tips on his iPhone, including these two. It was pitch dark at the hotsprings!
Pitch dark at camp, as well.
Most amazing of all was his capture of the night stars. Very few of these were visible to the human eye. This from an iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Climbing Rinjani, Indonesia – day 2
Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles
SUMMIT DAY
Awoke at the lake before dawn. Went straight to the hotsprings on my own. Had the hot bath to myself.
We packed up camp quickly.
Said goodbye to the lake.
There are only a few bridges on this adventure. More often you scramble down — and back up. It must be miserable in the rain.
Rarely are there stone steps. This ain’t Nepal.
We had about 600m to gain back climbing up to the 2nd crater rim from the lake.
It was tough.
When I say tough, in addition to being technical, we increasingly had to deal with slippery ash.
Once on the ridge, we set-up our tents. Had lunch. Then a short lie down until 2pm.
One of these pests actually went inside Mason’s tent while he was there! Cheeky.
We’d decided as a group to go for sunset today rather than sunrise the following morning. This turned out to be our best decision.
That means we’d climb another 1100m trying to get to the top before the sunset. A deadline.
It looked doable to me.
BUT it got increasingly slippery and dusty as we ascended.
Once above the clouds, we were motivated by the amazing vista.
Gorgeous views — though it was dusty plodding in sections.
Very, very slippery — we all used systems to keep scrambling slippery scree. I did bouts of 20 steps.
Made it! And well before sunset.
Only 1 other group tried our itinerary. Perhaps half their group finished, just about sunset.
In fact, I left the top even before sunset as I wanted some visibility on the scree section at the top before it got dark.
Descent turned out to be fairly easy. Mostly screeing through the loose dust and rock (scree).
Views on the way down were even better than on the ascent.
Eventually we had to turn on our headlamps. I held mine in one hand, finding it easier to direct the beam.
Exhausted, we had dinner in our tents. And went to sleep early.
Climbing Rinjani, Indonesia – day 3
Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles
Tim posted the BEST 20 photos from our trip in an Instagram story. Scroll through.
7am UP on our final day.
I actually carried my own tent on this adventure. Air mattresses in the provided tents were not good. 😀
The crater rim vistas really are superb.
The biggest takeaway from this trip for everyone is being impressed with the porters. Rather than use the more efficient tump system, they balance these loads on one shoulder while doing big step-ups and step-downs.
They all wear flipflops. Until they break.
We were headed down, back to civilization.
Somewhat slippery — but overall fairly easy.
We had lunch in a shady forest, monkeys and cows standing by to gobble down what leftovers they could get.
It was a shock to get to the trailhead. Noisy motor cycles.
Perhaps 120 people readying to start.
Those who sign up for 2 days, 1 night begin and end here close to Sembalun village. They miss the lake and hotsprings.
It took about an hour to drive back from Sembalun to our start at Senaru village. We returned rented gear and recovered our luggage left in storage.
TIPS
- BEST HIKE is our itinerary (3 days, 2 nights in tent) with an afternoon ascent rather than the crowded, dusty line-up for dawn. Day 1 is long and hard, however.
- WAIT for a good weather forecast, if you can
- Green Rinjani looked one of the most professional companies at camp, to me. Modern tents. Tables and chairs.
- Grippy and comfortable shoes are the most important piece of gear. Wear a size larger than normal so your toes aren’t crushed on the descent.
- Protection from sun and wind is important. Sun screen. I brought a sun hoodie.
- Porters provide as much water as you can drink.
- I fell about 8 times over the 3 days. No injuries as I almost always landed on my backpack.
- I didn’t bring trekking poles. And that was a mistake. Our guide gave me one pole for long down climbs.
- It’s badly littered.
- Sanitation standards are low. No water for washing up. Not even the expected containers of alcohol gel that I’ve had on similar trips around the developing world.
I completely enjoyed Rinjani. It could hardly have gone any better for our group with the afternoon ascent.
BUT ➙ Bottom line ➙ I can’t recommend this hike. It’s simply too dangerous.
During the July 2018 Lombok earthquake, multiple climbers and guides were killed by landslides triggered on Rinjani’s slopes.
March 2007, seven people died of exposure after illegally scaling the volcano during a ban.
Be sure to have evacuation insurance, just in case.
You’ve been warned.
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