hi! i'm going to climb mt. kilimanjaro beginning of august.
do you all have any suggestions on a tour group to go with and which route to take that would be least touristy and most fun/difficult???
i fly into nairobi...any suggestions on whether i should start the trekk from kenya or jsut fly to kilimanjaro airport? (as it seems nairobi is a bit unstable at the moment.)
I climbed Kili in January. Flew into Nairoi, went to Mt. Kenya and then took a bus to Moshi.
I did the Machame route to the Arrow glacier camp, then the Western Breach route to the summit. We spent a night at Crater Camp which was the most enjoyable part of the climb. Walked over to the crater itself and down throught the outer rim and around. Crater camp is quite high, 5700m, 18700ft, so it's only a short stroll to the summit, an hour if you dawdle.
I used a small company in Moshi and my solo climb was about $1000ai plus tips. I had a 3 porters a cook and a guide. Decent food and a lot of it. I brought my own tent and personal equipment. I'm a budget traveller so this was all low end.
And about the crowds. Arrow camp and Crater camp were the only places that weren't crowded. Otherwise, people everywhere. 200 or so at the summit with a line waiting for a photo in front of the summit sign.
I highly recommend the Western Breach.
Kilimanjaro is getting to be a very popular mountain and there are many popular routes. The highest mountain in Africa this volcano rises above the jungle plains and actually has a very good vertical ascent. Kilimanjaro is unique in that during the ascent you will climb through all climatalogical zones. Starting in tropical rain forest through moss and desert to the snow on the summit. now days it seems the Machame route is becoming much more popular due to the fact that a higher percentage of climbers make the summit on this route. The Marangu route is still the quickest and cheapest... but it also has the least chance of actually making the summit ( approximately 30%)
I suggest booking with an operator based in Tanzania rather than the U.S because you can generally do the climb cheaper than tours organized in the U.S/Europe, Most Americans agencies simply pass on your booking to a local operator and take their cut, so booking with a Tanzanian company saves a lot of money.
my brother and i climbed kili last year in November with a budget operator based in moshi tanzania named mar tours & safaris(www.martoursandsafaris.com), We settled on mar tours & safaris after researching prices and because one of my friends had used them a few years earlier. The price included picking us up at the airport, all accommodation in Tanzania, meals on the mountain and safari, and return to the airport at the end of the trip. In addition we had to budget for tips. Expenses we still had to cover included some restaurant meals in between tours along with additional drinks and snacks.
Meals:
On the mountain we were served by Joseph, who would also be one of the assistant guide on summit day. This first night was one of the nicest meals with zucchini soup, potatoes, stew, fish, cabbage, bananas, bread. There was always hot water to make tea, coffee or hot chocolate. The lunch on the trail included an egg burger and fried chicken. The next few nights the cook got on a curry kick. There was always plenty to eat, but on the third night of curry I poured hot water in a Mountain House meal instead. Fortunately he got over the curry thing for the rest of the trip. On the last night we were served a “traditional Chagga stew”. It was basically beef stew and was good. Breakfast always came with eggs, sausage, porridge, toasted bread and fruit. Actually I stopped noticing if there was porridge since I only ate it the first couple times.
Our drinking water was boiled. Generally breakfast and dinner time were the opportunities to fill our containers. I recommend having at least one extra container to work with in addition to the ones you pack each day.
We were very well pleased with the service they provided and i strongly recommend them.
Thank you all for your advice I really appreciate it!
I also wanted to know if any of you have used Precision Air? They want me to pay for the flights through bank transfer and I just didn't know if that is normal.
We are probably going do the Machame route with www.climbingkilimanjaro.com have any of you heard of this company? It was recommended to us.
Thank you all for your advice I really appreciate it!
I also wanted to know if any of you have used Precision Air? They want me to pay for the flights through bank transfer and I just didn't know if that is normal.
We are probably going do the Machame route with www.climbingkilimanjaro.com have any of you heard of this company? It was recommended to us.
If you're booking through that link, you're most likely climbing with Zara, which is one of the largest tour operators for Kili. They operate from the Springlands Hotel (which was referenced in that site).
I used them when climbing last August, and I thought the service was excellent.
Zara does have some criticisms, most of which has to do with compensation for guides and porters. Just make sure to tip well, and offer them any leftover equipment you don't need.
We were a party of 3 (a friend of ours, my wife and myself) on the Machame route with Zara. We booked through ewp.net in Feb '07. Think EWP insists on certain guarantees for their clients.
Would have loved to do the Western Breach and spend a night in the crator - this was closed around our climb because of a then recent landslide.
I was fairly slow on summit day and got to the summit sign quite late. Wasn't too crowded as a result. Most people summit around dawn.
Also, We did use Precision Air to fly from EBB-JRO. I booked that flight through American Express and of course they take credit!
Remember to take pictures periodically during your climb (esp summit day) as your lens can fog up if you open it afte ryou get to the top.
Overall, definitely one of my most memorable vacations.
I just returned from a trip with Thomson Treks on the "western approach", which combines a few routes starting at Lemosho Gate. The only camp that was very busy was Forest Camp (Big Tree). Otherwise the camps weren't crowded (just 1 or 2 other groups) and we saw few folks on the trail until above Barafu, seeing them coming down.
advice on climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro please!!
