infantino

My husband and I want to climb Mt. Kili next June (2008) and take a short safari. I have been overwhelmed with the number of trekking companies. I bought the Kilimanjaro book by Stedman and found this helpful - but I still don't know which trekking company to choose. Tusker looks good, however, there are other companies that look like they will work - and are a bit cheaper. I want to avoid Marangu Route and am looking for a trek that is about 7-8 days. Any advice will be helpful - we are in the very early stages of planning. Thank you!



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Yooper1

We went with Tusker and were really happy with them. You can read my trip report by searching under my screen id name.

I've also heard Thompson, Kiliwarriors, and Good Earth were good. I have to say Tusker was the largest and seemed to have the best safety program on the mountain. One of our climbers (young guy and in shape) had such low oxygen (62 percent) that he wouldn't have made it up without o's. There was a girl climbing with another company who had no o's and she did not summit and was so sick over 1 1/2 days that she couldn't make it down to the gate by herself.

Good luck- you will have a blast!

colbert

The Eriksen Adventure could be another option though they are based in Kenya. Have climbed Kilimanjaro and Mt.Kenya with them.

climbhighsleeplow

Providing oxygen to climbers to help them succeed on Kilimanjaro is a marketing trend with dangerous potential.

While it is true that AMS symptoms resolve very rapidly on moderate-flow oxygen, there may be rebound symptoms if the duration of therapy is inadequate - several hours of treatment may be needed (requiring a rather big tank of oxygen).

A climber may feel better after an oxygen burst, and proceed to climb only to feel worse at the next camp which requires even more oxygen and so the cycle repeats itself. At some point, the team will simply run out of oxygen and then those with lingering AMS symptoms with be in deep, deep trouble.

In high altitude enviroments such as Kilimanjaro and with large numbers of people, oxygen is a precious commodity, and as such should be reserved for more serious cases of HACE, HAPE and cardiac arrest.

The only proven safety system is careful monitoring and immediate descend when needed.

npederse

I've gone with Good Earth in Sept of 2006. I was pleased with my guides and the tents/gear that we had. The downside of their service (and others of similar price ranges) is lack of medical training for emergencies and for oxygen deprivation. This is not to say that they are ignorant about the subject, but that they do not have specific training or equipment. This was less of a concern for us because of our background and knowing what to look for. I can say that our guides were very good and handled our situation correctly. My wife was suffering from altitude sickness at the Barafu camp -- when we told our guide the symptoms, he recommended that she descend to a lower camp that night. They did not stop until they reached Mweka camp, descending in the dark. The head guide and a couple of porters went with and took good care of her. I felt comfortable the entire time with them.

I would not go with any company at a lower price-point than Good Earth -- we saw a couple companies with "experience" that treated their clients and porters pretty poorly.

Kiliwarriors or Tusker will provide more training and medical equipment, which may be something you're willing to pay for. Beyond that, I'm can't speak to the additional services, etc that they provide. I would check out the Kiliwarriors site: http://www.kiliwarriors.com/ They have a lot of good information on their site and contribute to Africa discussions.

raykingsay

From most of the readers here who have trekked I have also heard of Tropical Trails based in arusha just type the name on search in fodors and u will get what am saying.

alwaystomorrow

I climbed Kili in February of this year. After about a 9 month period of searching for "the perfect trekking company" we decided that Tusker was just that. (we hoped!). I can now say that our homework paid off and Tusker was every bit the professionals that they claim to be. We had a great climb and all 10 in our group made it to the top. 9 people in our group made it to Gillman's Point at about 2 PM and it was decided to push on to the summit One person summited the following morning because Tusker was willing to see that her dream came true even though she was much slower than the rest. You won't be sorry you chose them. The ages in our group ranged from a robust 70 year old to early 20's. The Lemosho route will give you the best chance at aclimatizing to altitude and your summit will be in the daytime.(another criteria we had in choosing who to climb with) We met several people in town that did not make it to the top using other companies. It was an awesome trip.

cmlong

We are doing the trek in September with Good Earth Tours. They will provide oxygen at an extra charge, and even with that charge, their fees are reasonable. My fiance and I made the decision, however, NOT to pay extra to take along oxygen tank(s), and decided that if we get AMS the best thing to do is descend. I feel we have a good chance of summiting, but even if we don't reach the final summit, the experience will be awesome anyway, and would prefer to descend rather than risk further medical problems.

UltimateKilimanjaro

"One of our climbers (young guy and in shape) had such low oxygen (62 percent) that he wouldn't have made it up without o's. There was a girl climbing with another company who had no o's and she did not summit and was so sick over 1 1/2 days that she couldn't make it down to the gate by herself."

This is certainly NOT a pro for using Tusker. Giving oxygen to someone for the purpose of climbing on is potentially fatal. Oxygen should only be used for rescue purposes, meaning the only time it is administered, the recipient should be on his or her way DOWN.

The girl with "another company who had no o's" should have descended sooner. Had that company "had o's" and used it to allow her to climb higher could have been a disaster.

As a climber, you should NEVER take oxygen and continue climbing, even if your guide recommends it.