Reviews

Most Inspirational Moment

Obviously the summit for those who reach it, otherwise the imposing Barranco Wall.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Abraham from the Africa Walking Company is a gifted and strong leader, managing as he does 57 guides and porters not to mention 14 walkers. The sheer logistics of getting all of us up the mountain at the same time with no hitches would make me dizzy! The guides were watching us all the time and checking our condition, giving advice and generally keeping us going. We were also extremely well fed and lacked nothing to eat or drink, the chef and porters were all fantastic.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take Exodus` notes seriously and be well prepared. The whole point of this trip is to get you up Kilimanjaro in pretty extreme conditions. It is not for beginners and is a hard climb even for experienced walkers. The camping, though well organised, is fairly basic. Once wet, stuff can`t really be dried, you will be cold and uncomfortable a lot of the time. You will need to be determined and resourceful. The walking itself is ok until summit day but gets harder as the oxygen levels drop. This trip gives you an extra day to acclimatise and no one in our group had serious altitude sickness beyond breathing difficulties. You just have to do everything very slowly indeed, even standing up!

Most Inspirational Moment

Getting to Uhuru peak after a 7.5 hour slog up the scree with hilariously low oxygen saturations. Going a bit mental on the top and having fabulous 'runner's high' type thing going on on the way back to Stella. Wish I could have bottled that. Hypoxia can be fun! Relaxing on Zanzibar afterwards wasn't too shabby.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Abraham was a great guy and ably assisted by his team of guides. Mama Lucy helped me the most but Stratton, Hans, Angela, Innocent and Tosha were all brilliant too as were the cook and porters. I left some old equipment with them. I was lucky to be part of a great group who really made the trip.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take it very slowly indeed, the speed seems ridiculous at first but quickly becomes a necessity. Leave your type A personality and desire to win at the door, on this trip the tortoises will get there in the best shape. There is no rush, what are you going to do with extra time in camp? We had lots of card games, hypoxia induced silliness and new sport called toss the rock. Camping just annoyed me after a while. I had my own tent and it was well worth it just to have my own space. They are big enough but I'm not convinced that sharing with a random and 2 people's equipment is a good idea when the experience is stressful enough as it is. Snoring gets worse at altitude. Bring ear plugs. Bring LOTS of snacks. Minstrels travels especially well. Ladies, check out a She-wee and Pee-bols for night time. Try to look after each other. Everyone will have a bad day at some point (Lava Tower for me, it can happily be erased from my memory for ever!). If you are lucky enough to be feeling well, try to divert some of your energy into helping those who are not with some daft games or a supporting arm or hug. It is much more satisfying to help others to succeed as well as yourself and to get there as a team. A couple of folk had music on their phones, this was a great boost during hard bits although it was hard to sing along to Africa by Toto on summit night! Try to learn some Swahili from the guides, you've got nothing better to do!

Most Inspirational Moment

The dedication of the guides to helping us all achieve our goal particularly during those moments when the terrain was difficult and during summit night when everyone found the going tough.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Abraham did an amazing job organising a large group of people which encompassed numerous porters, guides and ourselves as clients. Although much of his work was behind the scenes when coordinating the porters he was always observed speaking with them to ensure everything worked smoothly. His manner with both clients and porters was inspirational.

Most Inspirational Moment

The highlight for me was the people that I spent this most amazing experience with and to have all 12 of the group reach the summit.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Abraham was great, he was very informative about the trek and kept a close eye on all the group checking that no-one was suffering from Altitute sickness.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Just be prepared, make sure that you have the right gear to tackle all sorts of weather eventualities, keep fit and most of all have a "postive mental atitude".

Most Inspirational Moment

Strangely, it was not summiting Kili - though this was a terrific moment for me - but the amazing duty of care, love, fun and professionalism extended to me and our trekking group of 12 by the guides, assistants and porters on this amazing pilgrimage. These guys (and gals) from the African Walking Company (Exodus's Tanzanian agents) are wonderful ambassadors for both companies as well as for Tanzania - nothing is too much for them. They are worth their weight in gold! Meke, Naiman, Viviano, Abraham, Tosha, Innocent, Lucie, Angela, and the caring, caring porter/tent attendant Kai - and many more, they are priceless and a credit to any organisation. Wish we could import them all to the UK!

Thoughts on Group Leader

I had two, of course, because I did two trips with Exodus. Both, Meke and Abraham and their deputies, including Naiman, were amazing. Professional, watchful of any signs of Mountain Altitude Sickness and ready and quickly to deal with it. At the same time, we trekkers were able to examine flora and fauna, superb views and the snap the engaging monkey groups in the sub-tropical zones. But the bond that grew between our 12-strong group of trekkers and The African Walking Company guides and porters, with their fun and Can Do attitude, will remain with me for life.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Go for it! At 66, I may be a little old to start trekking adventures - but this is just the start!

Most Inspirational Moment

Reaching the summit and sharing the emotion with my new friends.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Amazing - fun, supportive, knowledgable.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Do it!! Take a poncho - it was invaluable to me in October!

Most Inspirational Moment

Approaching Stella point, exhausted but with the new sunlight of an African dawn flooding hope and energy into our muscles: a sight I will never forget.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Makeke was an experienced management hand on the rudder of the whole trip, coordinating a small army of individuals to maximise our chances of getting to the top.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Train well - its not easy! And don't overpack - guilt in seeing porters struggling your loads up the Baranko wall isn't worth it. But make sure you pack all the essential stuff and make it of good quality to handle the cold.

Most Inspirational Moment

Loved it all - even when we didn't make it, and had to come down early. The assistant guide who came down from the mountain with my grandson and me checked up on us every day, took us to visit his family and took us on unscheduled outings every day, until the rest of the group came down. Had a fantastic time.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Extremely professional and friendly.

Advice for Potential Travellers

A wonderful opportunity for teenagers to do something really exciting.

Most Inspirational Moment

Climbing the Barranco wall on the day 5. This was the highlight of the trip. Barranco camp situated right next to the wall is an amazing camp site. Once is surrounded by stream, clouds with views of Moshi once the clouds lift, at the foothills of Kilimanjaro and surrounded by the eccentric looking plants. The wall next day looks intimidating but is fun to climb and guides help you through out the climb. The views are amazing from the top. This day brought smiles on everyones face and made us mentally stronger to tackle the last climb two days later.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Charles Teete was a perfect group leader who personally use to chat with everyone every morning to make sure we were well. He had hand on everybody's pulse so to speak through out the journey. His leadership skills, especially on the summit night were fantastic and he kept a tab on all of us (we all walked up together from day 1 to last day). Very accommodating especially he made sure that we get a refill of water on the longest day (day 4) where we walked to Lava tower).

Advice for Potential Travellers

July-August is a good time as we had no rain. Windproof jacket must as some days it is too hot with fleece and too cold with T-shirt. Breathable jacket takes care of that well. Food is excellent and hence bring along only nutrition bars and chocolates. Walking poles are useful on descend and are a must. Knee support for those with painful knees especially for last two days of descent. Please get Nalgene bottle with insulation cover (Nalgene Bottle Carrier Insulated for 32 Oz bottles, Gray). I got his for $16 from amazon but was the only bottle which did not freeze).

Most Inspirational Moment

the summit reaching 5895m and watching the sunrise over the Kenyan border around 5am

Thoughts on Group Leader

Florence and his team of guides were amazing. all 9 of my group made it to the summit. Positive motivation, experience, mental attitude, care and pole pole helped us all to the summit.

Advice for Potential Travellers

a hand brush or flannel to help washing time and dust! a shewee is a big help and lots of layers.