6 Day Mt. Kilimanjaro climb, 4 Day wildlife safari
Combine climbing Kilimanjaro Mountain with a wildlife safari and see some of the best animal Tanzania has to offer. Departs any day with a minimum of 2 persons. Camping or lodge accommodation.
DAY 1: Arrival day - Pick up from Kilimanjaro International Airport and transfer to Arusha town for dinner and overnight.
DAY 2: Mandara Hut 1700m to 2740m 5500ft to 9000ft 7 km, 4-5 hours Montane Forest
After breakfast and briefing, drive to the Kilimanjaro National Park Gate (45 minutes), register and commence the climb. Walk through the rainforest to the Mandara encampment located at 9000 ft / 2740 m. A side trip to Maundi Crater is a good way to see the surroundings including Northern Tanzania and Kenya. In the rainforest, look for towering Eucalyptus trees, bird life, and Colubus monkeys
DAY 3 To Horombo Camp 2700m to 3700m 9000ft to 12,100ft 11 km, 6-8 hours Heathland
After about 1 hour, you will leave the glades of the rainforest and follow an ascending path on the open moorlands to the Horombo encampment. Views of Mawenzi and the summit of Kibo are amazing. Look for giant lobelias and grounsels. You will start to feel the affects of the altitude. If you wish to extend you trek, here you can spend an extra day resting at Horombo or climbing the small peak of Mawenzi.
DAY 4 To Kibo Camp 3700m to 4700m 12,100ft to 15,400ft 10 km, 6-8 hours Alpine Desert Ascending, we now pass the last watering point, walking onto the saddle of Kilimanjaro between the peaks of Kibo and Mawenzi. Vegetation begins with upper heathland but then disappears into \"moonscape\". Dinner, rest, and prepare for summit climb
DAY 5 To Summit and Horombo 4700m to 5895m (and down to 3700m) 15,400ft to 19,300ft (and down to 12,100ft) 4 km up / 14 km down 10-15 hours Alpine Desert
Very early in the morning (midnight to 2am), commence the climb to the summit on steep and heavy scree or snow up to Gilman\'s point located on the crater rim at 18640 ft / 5861 m (4-7 hours). Continuing, we now ascend to Uhuru Peak, which is the highest point in Africa: 19340 ft / 5895 m (1-2 hours). Unbelievable views at every turn. Get your picture taken at the summit to show your friends. From here, we now descend, stopping for lunch and a rest at Kibo before continuing on to the Horombo encampment for dinner and a tired but happy overnight (1-2 hours).
This beginning of this climb is done in the dark and requires headlamps or flashlights. It will be very cold until you start descending, so you will need all of your warm layers. This is, by far, the most difficult part of the trek with many switchbacks. \"Pole pole\" and an optimistic attitude will get you there!
DAY 6 To Arusha 3700m to 1700m 12,100ft to 5500ft 18km, 5-7 hours
After breakfast, A steady descent takes us down through moorland to Mandara Hut (2,700m.), the first stopping place at the Marangu route. Continue descending through lovely lush forest on a good path to the National Park gate at Marangu (1,830 m.). At lower elevations, it can be wet and muddy. Gaiters and trekking poles will help. Shorts and t-shirts will probably be plenty to wear (keep rain gear and warmer clothing handy).
A vehicle will meet you at Marangu village to drive you back to the Impala Hotel in Arusha. Don\'t forget to tip your guides and porters it is time for celebration!
Day 7: Arusha Natuional Park In the morning drive to Arusha National park for game viewing, lunch, dinner and overnight Momela, Arusha
Day 8: Lake Manyara National Park After breakfast drive to Lake Manyara national park lunch, dinner and overnight Manyara.
Day 9: Ngorongoro Crater After breakfast transfer to Ngorongoro with packed lunch descent into the crater for a day game viewing. Dinner and overnight Ngorongoro.
Day 10: Olduvai Gorge After breakfast drive to the Olduvai gorge, an archaeological site, lunch at Ngorongoro. After lunch drive back to Arusha via Mto wa mbu social market.
Price Includes: - Transport to and from mountain gates. - All parks entry fees. - All camping fees. - Rescue fees. - Guide and porters fees. - Guide and porters salaries. - All accommodations on the mountain based on three meals a day. - Cook and all kitchen utensils.
Price Above Excludes: - International flights - Accommodation on the first night upon your arrival before climb and on the last day after climb book with us for US$42 per person at Impala hotel, bed and breakfast. - Airport transfers book with us for US$60 per vehicle per transfer. - Tips, drinks and all items of personal nature - Hard and soft drinks and tips - Sleeping bags but we can provide for hire on request. - All Mountain Gears (we can arrange hire of this)
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This trip: 6 Day Mt. Kilimanjaro climb, 4 Day wildlife safari
Rating:
rating 9/10
Comment:
From picking us up at a different airport to getting our lost baggage up to us after we had already started climbing, the tour operator really saved the day.
The customer service was incredible throughout the trip and we were able to create a very customized itinerary for our limited timeframe.
As someone who only goes on one vacation per year, I can promise that you won't regret choosing them
2
Client:
Fiona Kiltie - from United Kingdom
Trip:
This trip: 6 Day Mt. Kilimanjaro climb, 4 Day wildlife safari
Rating:
rating 10/10
Comment:
I would be delighted to offer a short review of our holiday experience.
From meeting us at the airport to our departure a fortnight later, Penel, from the tour company, Anton, our safari guide,and Meckson, ourKilimanjaro guide ,were kindness itself.
Nothing was too much trouble and everything ran like clockwork, even when we altered our plans!
The holiday was well organised, from planning our journey up Mt Kilimanjaro, through to which safari parks to visit and which hotels to stay at- all within our price range, I may add.
The whole holiday was a total delight, with of course the friendliness of the Tanzanian people & the beauty of the country all adding to the experience.
I can't recommend this operator highly enough & will certainly return to them when we plan our next holiday ( funds permitting).
Hope this brief paragraph conveys how much we enjoyed the whole experence,
3
Client:
Gerry - from Ireland
Trip:
This trip: 6 Day Mt. Kilimanjaro climb, 4 Day wildlife safari
Rating:
rating 8/10
Comment:
It's nice to know someone actually is following up on how tourist are treated. First of all, we had a great time and the tour provided was very good. Everything went off without any real problems. The guide was very good and the porters were incredile. Overall I would say I am very satisfied by the service provided.
The one thing I would say I was unhappy with was that when it came to the last day of our trek and time to tip "gift" the porters, the number suddenly went from the 8 we had every night in our camp to 12!! This left us with a bad after taste as we felt we were being tricked. I think to overcome this the company organising should tell you exactly how many porters\guides are accompanying the client and how much is expected at the end.
I would recommend this operator to friends overall though, and we found the girl we dealt mainly with, Neema, to be very helpful and friendly to deal with.
Tour Operators Reply:
With great concern we have looked in the matter that you stated of being tricked by our head guide increasing the numbers of porters.
We would like to say that we are sorry if there were any inconveniences caused. It seems that it was confusion with the tour planner. Machame route is usually climbed by 8 porters if it is two pax climbing, but this is not always the case. The number of porters varies depending on the weight of each bag, as one porter is allowed to carry up to 15kg only.
In your case, we have spoken with the head guide and the conclusion was each one of you (since you were 3 travelers) had 3 porters, 1 head guide, 1 assistant guide and 1 cook. This meant you had twelve people who climbed.
Since the tour planner told you there would only be 8 people climbing with you, we would like to apologize for the mistake made which brought this confusion.
4
Client:
Eric Gulbis - from United States
Trip:
This trip: 6 Day Mt. Kilimanjaro climb, 4 Day wildlife safari
Rating:
rating 10/10
Comment:
The operator was thoroughly professional and helpful in every way with our pre-trip planning and the tour experience itself.
Mwanaid was very easy to work with, and showed a great facility with kids once we were in Tanzania.
Huruma and Anton (our drivers and safari guides) were also great with the kids, and we felt very safe in the vehicles with them. Our guides during the mountain climb were patient, jovial, and clearly interested in our welfare. We had a small hitch with one part of our plan, but given that we were a group of 11 (including school-age kids) and that we had to change our schedule a month before the trip, it was impressive that everything else was flawless.
Indeed, each time we needed to clarify something, the staff were quick to address the issue, even coming to the hotel in order to sort things out. We are grateful to the entire staff for their assistance and expertise in coordinating our trip, and we can recommend them to anyone else who would like to arrange a holiday to Tanzania.
5
Client:
B & J Tippets - from United States
Trip:
This trip: 6 Day Mt. Kilimanjaro climb, 4 Day wildlife safari
Rating:
rating 10/10
Comment:
Our safari was all that we could have hoped for and more, and the operator fulfilled everything they promised for our tour according to the trip plan we had devised with them through email communications ahead. We felt very well taken care of the entire 10 days we were out on safari, and their careful planning was evident in how smoothly and (for us) effortlessly the safari unfolded.
And as for our guide, we feel incredibly fortunate to have had Huruma as our guide. He made sure that each day’s game drive was planned to give us the most time to see the animals and landscapes at their best; he also took time to discuss what options we had so that some “spontaneity” could be included if that was our preference (like early starts to the day’s activities, seeing parts of southern Serengeti where most drives weren’t going even though the area was beautiful and had lots of animals, and staying out a bit late to see evening animal activities). Not only is he extremely experienced and knowledgeable about the wildlife and the park habitats, but he has keen eyes for spotting animals, as well as a keen sense of the subtle behavioral cues that indicate impending activity on the plains of the various types that safari tourists find so fascinating.
Should we be fortunate enough to visit Tanzania again, we would happily use them again, and we highly recommend this company to others.
6
Client:
Goran Lihv - from Sweden
Trip:
This trip: 6 Day Mt. Kilimanjaro climb, 4 Day wildlife safari
Rating:
rating 10/10
Comment:
We had a wonderfoul trip to Tanzania, first we climbed Kilimanjaro and then we vent for a safari
This operator really arrange everything to the very best, we are very pleased and dont have anything to complain about
I really recomend this agency
7
Client:
Jerzy Macek - from Poland
Trip:
This trip: 6 Day Mt. Kilimanjaro climb, 4 Day wildlife safari
Rating:
rating 10/10
Comment:
I made a lot of enquires into Tanzanian tour agencies and found this operator, amongst others travel offices. They were suitable and patient approach to my asks, doubts and demands, so I've chosen them.
And now, after having ended my wonderful safari/mountain treks, my opinion about their professionalism has been confirmed.
8
Client:
Wenche and Terje - from Norway
Trip:
This trip: 6 Day Mt. Kilimanjaro climb, 4 Day wildlife safari
Rating:
rating 10/10
Comment:
As you know, we desided to organize our journey to Africa via your travel center with this operator. We did the order via Internet, and becaouse this was the first time travelling ti Africa we ahere a little bit curious.
We started with som questions to the company and during the planning we exchanged a lot of e-mail. During this e-mail exchange we identified that the company was serious, they had a lot of knowledge and not to forget they had a good price for the journey. They gave us relevant information whatever we asked about.
We experienced that the company had very good guides, this guides had knowledge of human nature and they where professional in there guiding and well-informed.
We feel that the Kilmanjaro trip and the Safari both where good organized. Everything was planned to our best.
We where especially impressed over the food during the Kilmajaro trip, considering the conditions the guide and his staff had to work in. None of us became ill.
We have no problem recommending this tour operator to other people.
9
Client:
Jared Sexty - from United States
Trip:
This trip: 6 Day Mt. Kilimanjaro climb, 4 Day wildlife safari
Rating:
rating 10/10
Comment:
This operator made our trip to Africa simply wonderful.
They made all the arrangements and we always felt like we were in good hands. The mountain guides and porters were diligent and knowledgeable. The cooks prepared delicious food.
And the lodge we stayed at was clean, safe, and entertaining. For what we paid, we had an incredible experience. I would recommend them to all my friends.
-Jared Sexty
10
Client:
Matti Karvanen - from Finland
Trip:
This trip: 6 Day Mt. Kilimanjaro climb, 4 Day wildlife safari
Rating:
rating 9/10
Comment:
We had a well organized journey to Mt Kilimanjaro with this company. Before the trip they gave us all the information we needed to prepare for a succesful climb. They also arranged a shuttle from Nairobi Airport to Arusha where the jorney beginned (Thought the shuttle was full of people with bloody hot circumstances).
Next morning after arriving to Arusha we started the climb to the mountain. We took six days to climb to the Uhuru Peak and to descend back to the gate and for my opinion it was good to have this one extra day for acclimatization. There were five person in our group and we all made it to the top, thought we did have some problems with the altitude. The guide was ok, he wasn`t exactly a guy with many words but he was polite and did answer if you wanted to know something. Also food was good, of course it wasn`t that gourmet but can you even expect to have lobster and white wine during the climb...
After the climb we made a four day safari through this company and I could consider it as a very nice experience. We visited Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara, Tarangire and Arusha National Parks and viewed the whole big nine except the leopard. Also the guide had a pretty good knowledge about the animals and the chef cooked excellent meals.
The Lodge owned by the company near Arusha was very comfortable place to stay overnight and the staff in the Lodge were kind and nice.
Only thing that disappointed us a little during the 10 days climb and safari was that the company charged a reasonably big amount of money for arranging the tickets to flight to Zanzibar, where we continued our trip after the safari.
After all we had a very nice journey with this company and I can recommend it as a good choice. (And I even did as one of my friend is climbing to Kili at the moment).
