It has been a goal of mine to climb Kili and though I am quite capable of succeeding I would enjoy hearing of others experiences.

Please, share away!

I did it in 96 and 99.

Basically, it's just a long, slow walk....there's no real climbing involved on the major tourist routes up the mountain. If you have trouble with high altitudes, you'll have a rough time close to the top. I remember several people turning away before the summit due to feeling ill.

On the shortest route, it's a 5-6 day trek (up and back down). You summit in the early morning just before sunrise. Seeing the sunrise over the Serengeti is quite amazing.

You can't climb it without using a guide and porters...it's against the law. So, you're looking at a minimum cost of about $600 if you use a local company, all the way up to several thousand if you use a US based tour operator(who will just book you with the local company and pocket the difference).

Instead of paying for a US based company to plan the trip, I suggest using the services of a Nairobi-based tour operatior...or even a guide company directly in Arusha. Pick up a copy of the Lonley Planet guide to trekking in East Africa. They list several reputable tour operators in Africa who provide the trip.

Overall, Kili was one of my most memorable climbing experiences (that's why I went twice http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif. It's a relaxing journey, rather than a challenging, technical climb. Don't get me wrong, it can be taxing if you're not used to hard physical stress, but it's nothing like climbing Denali or Aconcagua...

Best of luck, and tip the porters well...they earn every penny http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

What sum did the climb of aconcogua set you back? This is another climb that I have on a list of goals.

Cost has been the hurdle for me accomplishing some of the more exotic climbs. Having extra money in college for such trips was not something I could conjur up.

I just came back from a Kili trek a couple of weeks ago. It's a great trip, and I can recommend a good local tour operator if you like. There are several routes to choose from, too, depending on how much time you have and how technical you'd like to make the tip. If you have any specific questions, feel free to email me or post here again.

-Zombie-

Not to dig up an old thread, but I have Kilimanjaro on the radar for 2007. Where will I need to fly into - OneWorld preference? Uganda and Kenya airports look like they might be closer than Dar es Salaam. What about transportation from airport to park?

Any visa requirements?

I'm just starting to plan and have not even considered dates, but it will be 2nd half of 2007 most likely.

Anyone want to go? :)

Sam

Hey Sam - DFW

you can actually fly right into Kilimanjaro (the airport...not the mountain) from Nairobi (NBO) on Kenya Airways (KQ) or Rwanda Air Express (WB). My suggestion would be to try to book two separate tickets - one to NBO and then from there to Kili. OR, depending on fares, fly to Entebbe, Uganda (EBB) and fly from there to Kili using, again, KQ or WB...they are actually codeshare in those parts.

BA flies to both NBO and EBB.

This is a suggestion if the price of one round trip, USA to Kili, is too much...

I've never climbed the mountain myself - but it certainly does look beautiful from the air...

Visas - you will need one. These are available here in the US before departure or you can purchase a tourist visa upon arrival in Entebbe or Nairobi (I think this is true in NBO). I got off the plane in Tanzania once and could purchase one on arrival there too. I think it's probably best to go through the consulates here or a passport/visa expediter (i use www.passportvisaexpress.com) if you have time.

st

Hey Sam - DFW

you can actually fly right into Kilimanjaro (the airport...not the mountain) from Nairobi (NBO) on Kenya Airways (KQ) or Rwanda Air Express (WB). My suggestion would be to try to book two separate tickets - one to NBO and then from there to Kili. OR, depending on fares, fly to Entebbe, Uganda (EBB) and fly from there to Kili using, again, KQ or WB...they are actually codeshare in those parts.


If going with oneworld is not a requirement, you could also skip Entebbe and Nairobi altogether by flying to Kilimanjaro airport nonstop from Amsterdam on KLM.

re: Flights

There is also an airport in Arusha that I think is mostly domestic flights, so if you fly into Dar Es Salaam, you can catch a local flight from Dar to Arusha (probably cost around $US 100 - $US 150 per flight - that's about what it cost me to fly back and forth from Arusha to Zanzibar).

From Nairobi, you can get a van or bus to Arusha as well, which takes around 7 hours I believe.

I flew into Kilimanjaro on KLM from Amsterdam.

Re: Visa
You can get on arrival or get in advance. There isn't really much difference as far as I can tell. The negative of getting in advance, of course, is that unless there is a Tanzanian embassy where you are, you'll have to live without your passport for a couple weeks while they process the application. Make sure that you have at least 6 months left on your Visa, and you'll need 2 blank pages (I believe).

Re: Climbing the Mountain

I can't say that I made it to the top of the mountain. I almost made it to the top of the mountain, though. We were camped at 14,000 ft., but I didn't get any sleep. As soon as I lay down I started to cough, and it wouldn't let up at all for the entire night. Somewhere in the middle of the night, I started to hear a crackling from my lungs. 6:30am came way too soon.

The next morning, the guide listened to my chest, and decided that I should go down, as I was showing signs of having HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema). It was quite a trip down, taking from 8:30 in the morning until almost 11:00 pm at night to get me down, both by me walking, being carried and even on the stretcher! No more high altitude for me.

More details of my mountain adventure can be found on my blog, if anyone is interested: GregWTravels to Kilimanjaro, and gets really sick... (http://gregwtravels.travellerspoint.com/66/)

Greg, thanks for posting your pictures and log. I really enjoyed reading it.

Thanks for the insight. I appreciate the guidance. As I get closer to making this a reality, I will certainly have many more questions.

Sam

I've had my passport returned in about 1 week when sent to the Tanzanian UN Mission in New York. The cost this year was $50. You can download the rudimentary form from their webpage.

Some of this stuff was covered in previous posts, but I'll give you my experience.

I did the Marangu (a/k/a Coca-Cola) route all the way to the Summit back in late June, 2006. The last day was a very strong kick in the *ss, as the lack of oxygen really made me tired.

The hike was part of a larger vacation which included a 10-day Safari -- I used Roy's Safari for both parts and thought they were excellent. We flew into NBO (DFW-JFK-LHR-NBO) and the spent the night in NBO as most arrivals are too late to catch any other flight. We should have flown into Arusha, but took the shuttle from NBO -- that was 5+ hours of fun :td:

I had both a Kenya and Tanzania visa that I obtained from their Embassies in Washington DC. The Kenya was a transit visa (a little cheaper), the Tanzania was a standard tourist visa

It has been a goal of mine to climb Kili and though I am quite capable of succeeding I would enjoy hearing of others experiences.

Please, share away!

The hike was an amazing experience -- I hope I never forget just how much of the night sky is viisible at that altitude, especially when you begin the summit hike on the Marangu Route. We began at 11:20pm and reached the summit at 6:32am - the sky was very clear and not too cold and you could see what appeared to be the entire Milky Way.