Kilimanjaro

I'm thinking about climbing Kili in April.
Is that a good time of the year?
And do you have to go through a tour group?
Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated.

Hi Plouw

I have climbed Kili in April before. It is the middle of the rainy season but we had one evening shower and some snow on summit night and that was the sum total of the precipitation! It is still quite warm at that time of the year and makes for more pleasant evenings but the days can be a bit hot. I wore shorts up until summit night.

You don't have to go through an operator but it makes things a whole lot easier for you. You do however have to have a local (Tazanian) guide with you on the mountain. I use ADI (Adventure Dyanamics International)for all my trips. The owner is Sean Disney who is hugely experienced and runs all the logistics for you. It will be more expensive to use an operator but will take some of the stress out of the climb. I have used ADI to climb Kili twice and Elbrus once.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Mike

Gosh I can't believe it is less then 36 hours until I leave for my attempt at summitting Kilimanjaro!

Yes please report on everything including your tour operator and costs if you dont mind.

Good luck and enjoy

Good luck, and enjoy it. Plenty of snacks, and powder mix for drinks.

Enjoy! Which route are you taking?

HI All

My friend and i are looking at climbing Killimanjaro in August this year. We have done some research online and found various companies offering trips.
What i would like to find out if anyone can recommend a company that they have used personally and what was their experience. We are also looking for the most cost effective way of doing it with the dollar be so high at the moment.

We are open to booking our own flights if it more cost effective. The route that we are looking at doing is the Machame.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Personally I haven't done Killi (yet), but my uncle who did it about 10 years ago did it with Malcolm Pearce's company and he says it was really well run.

I did Kili in January 2002 with Tribe Safaris and was very happy with everything. The lead guide, Lance, has a ton of experience, and has taken a lot of blind people to the summit.

Good luck!

If you need any advice or have any questions, feel free to ask.