Kilimanjaro National Park Travel Forum

Does anyone have any experience of this firm based in Moshi?

My only experience was seeing their group on the mountain at the same time as ours. Seemed quite well organised and quite professional, but beyond that I cant say much.

They are probabably the biggest budget tour operator in Moshi. I don't think they are anything special, but more or less can get the job done, at a very cheap price.

From reliable source I heard very bad things about Zara Tours. They don't pay their porters and guides ANYTHING! They have to live on tips only, Zara travel takes all the money for themselves and invests it in their hotel in Moshi. Don't go with them, they don't treat their people right, you will never get the service you booked. If you book a hotel for 50 $ they will put you in one for 20 $ and take all the rest themselves! Every year some of their porters die on the Kili because of lack of equipment, they don't have any accomodation or food either, sleep outside and freeze in the cold. Please avoid booking anything with Zara Travel! Go for responsible tourism!

I know this isn't really an answer to the question posted, but we highly recommend MEM Tours, also based in Moshi. We did both our Kilimanjaro climb and our safari with them and couldn't have been more pleased. They were very quick to respond to our queries and especially happy to accommodate some special requests.

As if that wasn't enough, our Kili guide was incredible. His English was great and he knew so much about the area. Plus, with years of experience he was able to make simple changes to our route, which allowed our whole group to make it to the summit despite a day of illness.

So, while I can't say anything about Zara, I would suggest you definitely consider MEM Tours: http://www.memtours.com/

I have seen zara travel groups too and they seemed fine. I did a safari trip with Northern Circuit Safaris (www.ncsafaris.com) and they were really good and I know that they also provide trekking trips up Kilimanjaro. In addition to MEM tours, I suggest you also try northern circuit safaris.

Good luck in your search.