Mindy - Kiliwarriors
 

Hi MIndy

I know you are desperately wanting to spruik Kiliwarriors but the best way would be to write a through trip report outlining how you came to use Kiliwarriors, your itinerary and your experiences on the trip - what were the highlights? not just about the operator but how you found the people, the food, accommodations, the trip there etc.
As Kiliwarriors has never been recommended on this forum before, we need a little more convincing than a glowing testimonial.

hello sarvowinner,
we found kiliwarriors by chance on the internet and began researching; they were a bit more high end in price, but they totally justified their prices with excellent explanations on their website; they use nothting but the best as that defines them; they are an african based company with a contact here in the states that answered each and every question for me as quickley as i asked them; they are listed with all the proper agencies for safety/business reports; and above all, we felt comfortable choosing them based on our research, even though it was costing us much more; the care and experience they provided along with food/accomodations was more than worth it and they far exceeded our expectations. yes, i am wanting to spruik kiliwarriors as i am one to share the wealth of such a wonderful outfitter. every time we reached the next camp--our 35 porters would greet us singing our praises and we danced for joy--it was like coming home to the family and sharing in their culture was an added plus. kiliwarriors takes great pride in taking good care of their porters; they give to charities in africa also and offer us ways to help their people. they also carry aed devices/chambers for oxygen on their treks and all the guides are well trained in using the equipment; our guides ate every meal with us--checked our oxygen levels 3-4 times daily--watched us and basically, got us to the summit--ALL OF US....we did western breach in 8 days. afterwards, safaris were planned for each of us and the camps/ accomodations were outstanding(kikoti camp and sopa lodge) we couldn't have asked for anything more. let me know if you need more info. thanks, mindy

And Mindy in one of your other posts you mentioned toilets. Their website indicates that they carry out human waste. It really is a fabulous website--indicating a genuine concern for the safety not only of their customers but also the porters. Sarvo, check it out http://go-kili.com/gohome.htm

Also, I believe that climhighsleeplow has a business relationship with them--perhaps U.S. rep? I have noticed that he has been careful when he has given advice about the various routes not to promote this company--but I see no reason why I cannot mention it. Some readers might find that a plus for the company.

dear bat,
i also forgot to mention how they woke us up each morning with hot coffee/tea served at our tents along with bowls of hot water/soap for cleaning up;
showers were also provided for us in conjunction with weather; before each meal, they provided water/bleach so we could properly clean our hands before eating--talk about cleanliness!!! they really thought of everything. a wonderful brunch was waiting for us at the end where we signed out and got our certificates....class act all the way!!!

Yes, I am the owner of the Kiliwarriors together with my Maasai friend Wilbert Mollel who appears often in my Africa pictures! He is the actual Kiliwarrior thanks to his Maasai heritage.

As many of you know, I am South African but live near Washington DC with my American wife Carol. I take care of sales and marketing and Wilbert and his family take care of things in Arusha.

I climb Kilimanjaro about 2 or 3 times a year and we see the good, the bad and the ugly on the mountain and on safari on a weekly basis.

We focus on Kilimanjaro and arrange safaris only for our climbing clients.

Until recently we've outsourced our safaris to some of the companies often mentioned here as well as excellent companies/contractors never mentioned at all! We have no formal relationship with any one outfitter but certainly have some local favorites.

The feedback from our clients put me in a unique position as I have a fair idea of how the different outfitters compare. Since we sent clients on safari every 2 weeks I also have a good idea of where the wildlife is and the feedback about the lodges/camps, although I don't like to talk about a lodge unless I've visited it myself!

I have hopefully remained neutral in most of my postings - and since there are very few Kilimanjaro questions here (obvious conflict of interests), I happily join in the safari discussions since safaris are not our focus!

Many of the regulars here know all of this already and since there are only a few "Eben"'s in the world it was easy to Google me anyway ;)

I hope to continue with contributions on this board which is truly the most informative collection of Africa travel information and very educational.

With that said, I am trying to restrict my postings to park details, lodge/camp information, wildlife patterns, itineries; and to steer clear of outfitter comparisons and so on.

And if we eventually expand our safari business to compete with the outfitters often mentioned here, I will resign from posting but I will continue to read and learn!

Eben

Why, climbhigh, we hardly knew ye!

I went to junior high school with an Eben, but it was in SF, so I doubt you're the same person.

I for one appreciate your "insider's perspective," and to find out you have a company: you could have knocked me over with a feather. So I guess that indicates you're pretty darn neutral.

Awesome, class act, please don't leave us!!

Eben:
Your response has me a little concerned lest my comments seemed in any way critical of you. IMO you have never tried to promote the company in any of your posts. You have ben very generous in passing on advice based on your first hand experience.

You refer to "googling" and I would also like to make it clear that is not how I found the connection. You do indeed have a memorable name, you have made it known on these posts (and through your photos), your name appears throughout the Kiliwarriors website. So anyone doing research on this forum and on the internet that included researching climbing Kili would make the connection. So nothing surreptitious on your part--nor mine.

Hi Mindy & ClimbHighSleepLow

You certainly answered all the questions. You had a wonderful trip and congratulations to Eben for running a highly ethical operation and experience.

Sarvo

Hi Bat

Oh no! Don't even think about it! I did not see it that way at all!

It's something I felt I had to do for a while now and this thread offered an opportunity to do so!

climghighsleeplow:

Glad to hear it. BTW it is my partner's dream to climb Kili and he wants me to do it with him. When I started researching it I did not see how I could/would want to do it. It sounded crowded, miserable, dangerous and with a high probablility of failure. Then I found the Kiliwarriors website and realized I could do it--plus we really approved of (and are willing to pay more for) the environmental and human safety concerns (including the well-being of the porters)embodied in the company's business philosophy. Unfortunately we cannot include the Kili portion this time because my partner will still be recovering from an injury--but we, particularly I, now see it as something we will be able to do in the future.

Eben,
Even if you do start your own safari outfit, please don't stop posting. Your contributions are invaluable!

BTW I googled your name a while back so knew about the Kiliwarriors connection. :)

ttt
In case anyone was like me wondering if poster climbhighsleeplow had gone "undercover" because he is now operating safaris (see his post above for more than a clue).

Sorry if this has previously been discussed and I missed the post, but this thread is worthy of a "ttt' for the appearance of the verb "to spruik" in any case.
(Until I looked up my dictionary my best guess was that Mindy had previously expressed a desire either to neuter or enter into a passionate embrace with Eben) ;-)

I thought Eben was in Africa this month?

Yup, he should be in Africa!

Eben really is a great asset to this little community of African Fodorites. His Google Earth work re East Africa sites with linked websites and his videos. His video of Little Governor's Camp is the main reason we are staying there. The following is the link to the Google Earth Maps:

http://www.go-safari.com/

I believe Eben said that he was going to be at the Karibu trade fair in Arusha earlier this month. I'd like to know if he visited and got GPS readings of the new Maramoi camp near Tarangire, as he stated he might do in another post. I've gotten some photos of Maramboi from Kibo Safaris and it looks like an interesting camp and location (next to Lake Manyara's east side.)

ShayTay

Yes he is in Africa isn't he? But I had the impression that he would normally check in from the road with the news regardless, and so when I found this post looking for information on something else I thought I'd ask.....

:-?

..... hmmmm, I better call and cancel the "We love you Eben, please come back" banner flyover of Washington for now, then.
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