Kilimanjaro National Park Travel Forum

Hi there,

I did get some replies on my last post about tour companies in tanzania, unfortunately my vt email account has decided to delete them so can you all please give me some reccomendations for tour groups?

I would prefer it if they:

- cover the machame route
- are based in moishi
- are fully licensed
- take good care of their porters, and give them the right equipment / fair wages

Thanks for your help.

Graham

We did the Machame route with the
http://www.maranguhotel.com
and we found recommed them highly.

They have been guiding Kili for 30+ years and claim a success rate of 80% versus the typical 30%. The first think they do is inspect your gear and then offer to replance anything they do not think is up to snuff with gear from their extensive warehouse. Their treatment of porters is top notch.

Have a great trip!

hi ya graham....
i just came back from kili,Im in zanzibar now....
did machame route,with this guy..other vt members recomended him,and im telling you man,we had the best possible climb...they really looked after us well...
its a small company,based in moshi...other big companies dont care bout you,they just wanna take the money of you....these guys were really good,and they want you to reach the summit...we saw other people who climbed,werent getting the same service....
owner of the company is Elias,and he works as a guide,as well...
they were much cheaper than anybody else,820 usD for machame,and they organised everything,for us,all the buses,from nairobi and zanzibar,with no extra charge...
his email and phone numb:
uhuru_exp@yahoo.com
00255 746229308

im a croatian lad living in dublin,can ya give you loads of advice bout tanzania....great place.....
enjoy ur holiday

The trip back to Tanzania is booked....and now we're just 'price shopping' for the company to use for the Kili climb, so this posting helps a lot.

I agree with Graham in wanting to go with the company that treats their porters well......

It sounds like Marangu Hotel is a good one to go with, but any preference on the route? I know in Machame you're camped in tents (Does the tour company provide this equipment?), as opposed to Marangu where you're put up in Guest Houses. If you guys went up Kili again, would you do Machame once more or try a different route?

Graham, I've bookmarked a great website to help prepare for the Kili climb, which you might find useful as well:

http://www.africatravelresource.com/africa/E/tanzania/accommodation/N/T65-kilimanjaro/00a.htm

Thanks,

G_G

Cheers for the link G_G

Good luck with your trip

Graham

The Machame was a beautiful route and I would be happy to do it again.

The Hotel Marangu provides nice tents for both you AND the porters. The porters always beat you to the camp sites, so when you arrive the tents are all set up and a hot cup of tea is ready for you.

My sister is considering Kili in January 2007 with this trip
http://www.geoex.com/trip.asp?tripID=4380
I think they add an extra day to the Machame to give you the best chance to make the true summit.

Ciao,

Dave

BTW: To show you how differently folks in other countries deal with climbing high peaks, consider the trip I planning to go on next month:
http://www.volcanoclimbing.com/pages/3_summits.htm

These folks climb a 6km high volcano like Kili in 7 hours instead of 7 days. Of course there is a road part way up, while kili has to be climbed almost from sea level.

i would do machame 4 def,much more scenic....(on the way down we used marangu)
over all tents are better,those huts are not great,anyway.....i loved the tents...
the porters dont get proper wages anyway,most of ur money that you pay goes 4 the kili nat park entry fee ... 582$ per person...crazy....
and for the whole trip you pay 820$....if you leave them 30-40 $ tip they will be happy!
I went with elias 00255746229308 ,he used to be porter,and hes organising tours himself now.....everything was more than good,highly recomended!
00353863928536 thats my irish mob,if ya want to know more....
cheers

Cheers bbbico (hope you don't get any crank calls) and cheers everyone.

I've been in touch with Elias, he quoted exactly that ($820). although I won't be making any bookings until the end of the year / start of the next.



anyone else out there who can reccomend guide companies is more than welcome.


I will be in touch - thanks.

Graham

no worries....you will enjoy it.....
cheers

Oh wow....great link Dave! Climbing the volcano in 7 hours???? Can't wait to see your pics of that trip!

Thanks for the advice on the Machame route as well. I'm going to forward all this info over to my trekking crew and let them know how the accomodations and scenery compare to Marangu.

Hey, thanks for sharing the mobile digits bbbico!! It could come in handy! If you get a phone call and hear heavy breathing on the other end......it's probably ME lost somewhere along the Machame route calling out for
Rescue! ;-)))

BEST OF LUCK to you on Kili as well Graham!

*Two Big Thumbs Up* back at 'cha!!

G_G

We highly recommend MEM Tours (http://www.memtours.com/), 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 - of course it helped that we went with a rather large group.

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

The company makes a big deal out of treating the porters well. Although that doesn't necessarily mean large pay (as another poster mentioned), it does mean a place to sleep and fair share of the tips.

As for huts versus tents, I would definitely pick tent. While we didn't actually stay in any huts, I understand they can be pretty awful - crowded, loud, smelly. The tour operator will provide the tent and the porters will carry it, so why not!

Hi Sarah and Gareth,

You guys have some great info your Kili pages as well! :-)

You mentioned the Lemosho route, and highly recommend it. I heard it was a very scenic route to the summit, but I also read somewhere that guides that take the group up the mountain are armed due to the potential encounter of dangerous wildlife. Is this true?
What was the total amount of days you guys took to complete the trek?

Also, what type of pack did you all carry while trekking? A light daypack? We will have a group of about 10-12 ppl, so how many porters would be allocated for a group that size?

Thanks for all the great info!

G_G

Okay, let me try to answer all your questions:

*When we did the Lemosho route, rangers with guns did not accompany us. I believe there are certain times of the year when dangerous wildlife can be a problem, however July (when we went) was apparently not one of those times.
*Our trip lasted seven days (six nights), which I believe is typical for the Lemosho route. We ended up ascending to the summit via the Western Breach (not the main route), which could have been done in five nights, however, we were glad for the additional night given our struggles with the altitude.
*We carried daypacks with extra clothes, lunch food, and water. The porters carried everything else and made it look easy!
*I don't know exactly how many porters your group would require, but I'd say roughly one porter per climber plus one for each guide (and I'd guess your group would have two guides) just to carry your stuff. One top of that, there might be an additional five to ten for food, cookware, and tents.

A tour company could better answer all of your questions, but hopefully I've given you a rough idea of what their answers might be.

Have fun!
Sarah

Thanks Sarah! This is EXCELLENT feedback.

We have a friend helping us gather some info back in Tanzania, but he has never done the climb himself (lived there all his life), so it's great to hear opinions on the different routes from the people who actually experienced it.

Once we finalize the trekking company, I'm sure they'll be able fill us in on all the details. As we're going through our weekend 'practice hikes' we just weren't sure how much weight we'd be carrying on our backs during this climb.

Your input helps a lot!

Take care,

G_G

Hey Graham,

How's the Kili planning going? I thought I'd pass this along to you and the rest of the folks here as it helped us TREMENDOUSLY in our planning for the climb.

A fellow VTer sent this link to me that he put together on an external site. It's a very very extensive commentary on his experience up the Machame route. Soooooo very helpful!

http://gardkarlsen.com/kilimanjaro_index.htm

Hope it helps you as much as it helped us!

Good luck!

G_G

Hey G_G

The planning is going alright, thanks for asking.

Cheers for the website, I've had a look through it and it looks like an excellent resource.

I hope your trip goes well if you've not already done it, please let me know how you get on.

Graham

Almost there Graham!! ;-))

I shall report back on the trip adventures. I just wanna make it to the summit!! If I do, I'll leave a little VT Souvenir for you! ;-)))

G_G

Hi G_G

I made it to the summit of Cotapaxi a couple of weeks ago!
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/4d225/8c7/

I know you can do Kili!

Ciao,

Dave

Wow, you did it Dave !!! Just read your Cotopaxi page.....VERY COOL !!! You're my hero! ;-)

Great that all 4 of you made it to the summit!

I'm learning more and more how it's "mind over matter" so hopefully that will get me through to the summit. I actually started taking up Rock Climbing myself (to get over the Fear of Heights!) and I must say how I'm thoroughly enjoying it, got belay certified, and have pushed myself to get higher and higher on the ropes. So maybe I'll hit you up sometime for your Cotopaxi tips next, Dave! ;-)

BTW, Sarah and Gareth....I just got word from my contact back in Tanzania that he booked us with Mem Tours for Kili ! He got us a great package deal, so it looks like they'll be taking us up the mountain. Thanks for your feedback on them!!

G_G

G_G

That's very exciting news about your trip. I hope you enjoy MEM tours as much as we did!

Sarah

Hi Sarah (and Gareth)...and everyone!

Yes, I have returned from the amazing journey up Kili and I reached the summit! The views on the mountain were quite spectacular. Thanks again so much for all of your help!

The Mem Tours crew were absolutely wonderful and took great care of us. Jamaica, was our guide, and I found out later that he's actually a world-class climber and quite well-known amongst the mountaineers around the world. His father was the first African guide to cross the Barranco Wall. He was fantastic but we had to let him go mid-way through the hike so he could escort one of our friends down the mountain when she fell sick due to the altitude at 15,000 ft. It was his assistant guide, Joaquin, who guided us the rest of the way to Uhuru Peak.

The porters were incredible and cooked us some really great meals.

Graham - you are going to have an amazing time, that's for sure. When you make it to the summit, I left an autographed VT Sticker at the top! Be sure to sign it yourself! ;-)

Good luck to you and I'll be updating my Kili pages soon with the story of my trip.

Take care,

G_G

G_G,

I am so glad to hear that Jamaica and Joaquin were your guides on your Kili hike! They were are guides too and we absolutely loved them - what a small world! Jamaica was very knowledgable and really good with one member of our group who had a problem with heights - in fact on summit day Jamaica traded headlamps with our friend so that he wouldn't be able to see how high up we were!

Congratulations on making it to the summit!

Sarah

Hi Sarah and Gareth,

Wow!! What a small world indeed!! I actually have a photograph of Jamaica and Joaquin on my Homepage. We drank champagne with them to celebrate!! ;-)

Joaquin was the best....he took good care of me as I made my way to the summit. Out of our group, I was the only female to make it to the sumnmit. Joaquin was such a gentleman and looked after me during that last long haul. As soon as I reached the top of Stella Point, I was already exhausted and knew I had some minutes to go before reaching Uhuru Peak. Like the gentleman that he is, Joaquin took my arm and escorted me arm-in-arm all the way to the summit. We have it all on film. I felt like a Kilimanjaro Debutante! ;-))

I have so many great stories from my Kilimanjaro adventure, I need to really make time to sit down and post my pics and stories.

The biggest laugh we had on the mountain was when I was trying to relate to the locals and practice my broken Swahili with them. All of our porters were great and humored me with my Swahili. At the end of each day I'd greet them and say "Tutaoana Kesho!!" I must have said it to a dozen of those porters (EVERYDAY!). They all had the biggest smile each time I would say that. I kept thinking, "These Tanzanian folks are so warm and friendly!"

All this time I thought my words were saying "See you tomorrow!"

I didn't find out til the last day of the climb.....when one of the Porters who spoke the best English heard me and asked, "What did you just say?" So I repeated, "Tutaoana Kesho!" Which means, "See you Tomorrow." The porter then starts busting out in laughter and said, "Nooooooo!! TutaoNANA Kesho is see you tomorrow!" "Tutaoana Kesho means I WILL MARRY YOU TOMORROW!!"

OMG! No wonder those porters were so friendly!!!! ;-)))

Don't make that same mistake Graham !!!

Kwaheri!

G_G

Hi everyone,

Sorry I haven't been in touch for a while. I wanted to thank you for your help and congratulate you all on your climb. I can't wait to do it myself.

We are set for a september climb provided we can settle a few sticking points amongst the team (I've posted another question on the forum - I know it seems like I only reply when I want something :0) ) Having read all your experiences and especially G_G's travel log I absolutely cannot wait.

Cheers

G

We went with www.kilimountainsafariguide.weebly.com
One thing that made our trek more memorable was the crew! Our guide, Godfrey Mbuya, with his own porters. So they know each other well. Which makes them a stronger crew. You know, other agencies hire him! (=higher price for same quality) I liked knowing my money goes to the right people, the people that deserve it. Godfrey showed being an experienced professional, served good equipment/transport, speaks good english and was nice company during the day (that is good chats/laughs now and then but giving us private time when we wanted silence). He really saw it as his goal to keep us happy ánd bring us to Uhuru peak. And most important: after a pre-talk he worked us up to the summit in the night with a very constant pace! I saw other very questionable guides around me in the night, I can assure you a good guide is half of the work. The porters were treated very well, enthousiastic hard workers, polite, they take care of purifying your water, each time they managed to find the best tent-location in the next camp. They really did their best to make our holiday of high quality. The food also good, no sickness, deversified and tasteful. A bit to much pepper in the soup but we were free to mention this and they were happy to get feedback.

I know this is an old thread, but I was hoping to get some current recommendations about tour operators. Just so many to choose from is making my head hurt!

Also, I see such a big difference in the cost. Like if I got to REI the price is 4,000 USD, but MEM is like 1400 USD. Is this just paying for the brand name or is the high price actually worth it?

THnks!

Hi Don,

Congratulations on choosing to climb Kilimanjaro. It is well worth it.

I also found that prices varied wildly, we ended up doing the climb with ‘the Africa walking company’ who are affiliated with Africa travel resources. Their service was good although some of the equipment was a little shabby, not that it was awful you understand, it was things like zips sticking on our tents, running out of powdered milk and battered sleeping mats that get annoying after a while. I would recommend them although I am not 100% that you could do better.
In terms of pricing, some companies do ludicrous things like provide oxygen tents and solar showers. Not only are these luxuries virtually useless on the mountain they also require additional porters to carry them (and in the case of the shower, fetch litres of water possibly over long distances) at additional costs to you.
Then there is the tricky business of porter’s tips. It can be incredibly difficult to glean any information regarding tips from these companies beforehand. They all have the information and some will hand you a sheet of tip recommendations the night before the climb. Some places claim to pay their porters well whilst I am not so sure. In terms of tips for porters this is what we paid out:
Ordinary porters: 10,000 TSH (x 14)
Experienced porters: US$ 10 (x2)
Chef: $30 (x1)
Assistant guides: $40 (x2)
Head guide: $70 (x1)

This should be a consideration when choosing your company.

In short check what you are getting for your money. I was put off MEM tours and tropical trails by a Kilimanjaro veteran, although both companies seemed to be getting people to the summit adequately whilst we were there and we had a wonderful safari with tropical trails.
An excellent source of information is http://www.climbmountkilimanjaro.com/
They also run tours with a locally based tour operator, the site is maintained by the author of ‘kilimanjaro – a guide to africas highest mountain’, who is the veteran I mentioned above and a very nice chap to boot.

You can find my summit picture here:

http://www.climbmountkilimanjaro.com/the-kilimanjaro-hall-of-fame/graham-openshaw-and-debbie-woods/index.html

I hope all of this helps, apologies if it is garbled but I am supposed to be working(!). I know from experience it is a bit of a minefield and if there is anything else I can do to help you out then please give me a shout.

Graham

Congrats on reaching the summit Graham! Glad it all worked out for you!

Don, Graham has some really good info there. (Fortunately, I didn't come across any oxygen tents and solar showers at the campsites!! Oh goodness!)

Our group actually went with MEM tours and we were fine with it----but it does get tricky with the porter tips because nobody was able to tell us up front how much we should allot for them, and afterwards we wished we could have paid the porters their tips directly instead of settling it with their administrative offices. (we gave a very generous amount because our porters took excellent care of all of us, but we weren't sure how much of that amount they would actually see).

One of the guys who climbed with us actually used to work for REI and in comparison, he knew they were way overpriced compared to some of the local Operators. Same deal with the Patagonia trip we're planning right now----REI is offering a package that's about 2-3 times more than some of the average packages we found elsewhere. It's best to work outside of those big brand companies.

Good luck with the planning and good luck on the climb!

G_G