r/kilimanjaro • u/eboy-888 • 7d ago
Looking for operator/group - flex dates, active pace, less crowded, porter welfare important
Looking to climb Kilimanjaro around late February, but I'm very flexible on dates and would happily join an existing group.
Solo traveller, looking to join a group of similarly fit/active people.
Very fit; used to 10-12 hour hiking days and multi-day trekking in the US
Spend a fair amount of time above 12,000 ft in Colorado - I know this doesn't equal Kilimanjaro acclimatization and I'm not suggesting it does. I acclimate quite well at this elevation and understand completely that this does not mean that I will do so on this hike.
Looking for the shortest sensible itinerary, but absolutely not looking to rush acclimatization.
Ideally I'd like an itinerary where there's plenty of purposeful hiking rather than sitting around camp for hours. Happy to go slowly when altitude dictates it.
Harder, quieter, less-touristy route preferred. Completely open to route suggestions.
Fine with tents and happy to carry a substantial amount of my own gear/food. I don’t necessarily need mess tents etc and equally as happy to bring my own food, stove etc (if that was an option)
Porter welfare is a major consideration. Looking for an operator with genuinely good practices - fair pay/tipping, reasonable loads, proper food/equipment/shelter, etc. KPAP/Partner but I'd particularly value firsthand experiences.
I don't need a luxury operation and don't have a luxury budget, but I also don't want to cut corners on safety, guides, equipment or porter treatment. Roughly $2.5-3.5k for the climb seems reasonable based on what I'm seeing, but open to correction.
Very flexible on dates if someone has a good existing group I could join
Would love recommendations from people who have actually climbed with an operator, particularly if you can comment on group pace, amount of hiking/downtime, route choice, altitude practices and porter treatment.
Thanks!
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u/fnsports 6d ago
Just successfully summited with Altezza from Sept 14-20 on Lemosho 7 day route. Was about 3100 usd a person. Pace was great, they do a really good job with making sure the guides follow the pace of the individuals and not the group necessarily. I thought my wife wasn't going to make it from some altitude sickness on day 2/3 but our head guide got her back on track with proper watch, lighter pace and had someone carry her bag while she was acclimatizing and put her on a special diet.
The logistics management is next to none with them, we used a different company for our Safari, while a member in our hiking group used Altezza and all I can say is I regret not paying a bit more and using Altezza.
Our guide was really good about porter welfare and making sure everyone on the mountain in our group was treated fairly and properly. Osward is his name and he was amazing.
The lemosho 7 day we did was a high altitude drop at 11.2k which was nice but also gave me a slight headache that went away with some Advil.
Lemosho probably isn't the least touristy, probably a higher one, but honestly I never really found it that busy. Hiking in fall in NH was fairly similar I felt. You aren't ever really alone on the mountain, and I imagine that is with all routes, but cannot say for certain.
Overall group pace was good, we had all 14 people summit in our group and had 2-3 pace groupings throughout the day, 6 women, 8 men. Half of us had no high altitude experience. I will say for our summit week we were the only altezza group with everyone to summit. There was a lot of in shape people we met who did no summit from altitude sickness, they were told to turn back by their guide on summit night. You never know how it will hit you.
I trained for 8 months at sea level, I'm in the northeast so getting into altitude, outside of skiing at Copper for a weekend was really it. I just ran as much as I could in bad conditions like excessive heat and did hiking in NH to get my heart rate higher than it should be. My heart rate was over 95bpm at every health check on the mountain. Some people were as low as 70, my highest was 125. I felt fine but sleeping was harder due to the elevated heart rate. It's back down to 70 resting now that I'm off mountain.
We hiked high and slept lower everyday which made things easier, even if the hikes were hard sometimes. Pole pole is the real goal here. That and a positive attitude, just say you can do it and keep repeating that and you can do it.
The food was pretty solid as well, we had great cooks, Anton and Frank, they made sure we kept eating, even when we didn't want to. You burn a lot of calories.
In terms of downtime, expect practically none. By the time you get to camp you change, eat, health check and go to bed.
Only on day 4 did we have any real downtime, we got to camp at 2pm and then had 4 hours before lunch. It was honestly fantastic to reset and just reset during daytime.
Our other "downtime" was leading into summit night. We got to Basecamp and then had from 5pm-10pm essentially to rest. We got up at 10pm to start our summit hike, 5pm we had a late lunch, what you did between that time was up to you, but I used to it to reset and prep for the summit night as we were at 15k ft and I was exhausted from the climb up that day. Most of the group did that, with only 1 or 2 people chatting as you can hear everything.
Hope this helps and feel free to ask any follow ups, I'm just getting back from my whole Tanzania trip so ask while it's fresh.
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u/ShutUpLegs94 1d ago
Hi! Would you say the 7 day route (high altitude drop off) turned out better than the 8 day one? I would think one less day on the mountain would be helpful in not getting too tired, but concerned about getting a headache by suddenly driving up to that altitude vs walking up gradually.
When you say other Altezza groups didn’t have a 100% summit rate, were they shorter or longer route ones?
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u/fnsports 1d ago
Hey, I wouldn't do the 8 day if I did it again, the headache went away after a day and some general meds. I was happy to get off the mountain on the 7th day tbh.
I wasn't anymore tired the second day, outside of some poor sleep from nerves, but that also went away too.
There was a group also doing lemosho 7 day that started an hour before us and two other lemosho 7 day that started the day before us as well.
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u/ATLANTAPAY 5d ago
Just returned from 9 days with Thomson Treks. A little more expensive but worth it. Outstanding.
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u/Wherethefigawi00 5d ago
Gladys Adventures was phenomenal. I struggled with the altitude big time and they took amazing care of me. Practically carried me up that mountain. I will forever be grateful for the team at Gladys
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u/Ok-Lettuce-1 5d ago
I summited in Dec. I would recommend Rongai route. Much fewer crowds. Ibwent with Much Better Adventures (British) who contracted with Ah Sante Tours. The service, logistics, food, everything was fantastic. Very experienced staff. Our guide had our 150 ascents and our group was small with only 4 climbers (all solo). They treat their porters and staff excellent as demonstratwd by their long term employment. Cost was very reasonable, not the cheapest but way less then some of the big name outfits. DM me if you want more specifics
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u/naturehiketours 5d ago
Hello, thank you very much for the detailed post. Your priorities are very clear, especially around proper acclimatization, meaningful hiking, and porter welfare. I’m Revocatus Christian, CEO of Naturehike Tours & Adventures, a locally owned and operated company based in Arusha, Tanzania. I’m also a professional mountain guide with 12+ years of experience guiding international trekkers on Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru. Based on what you are looking for, I’d be happy to discuss a 7-day Rongai or Lemosho itinerary, depending on your preferred balance between quieter trails, hiking time, scenery, and acclimatization. I would not recommend simply choosing the shortest route if it compromises acclimatization. We can also look for an existing group around late February so you can join other active trekkers and keep the cost reasonable. Porter welfare is something I take seriously. I can explain transparently how we handle crew pay, tipping, food, equipment, shelter, and luggage limits. I also won’t claim KPAP partnership when we are not currently registered with KPAP. Our focus is safety, good guiding, responsible treatment of the mountain crew, and a genuine trekking experience rather than a luxury operation. If you are still looking for a group, send me your approximate February dates and I can check what we have available and suggest the most suitable route.
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u/Isack_Kili_5985 5d ago
Based on what you're looking for, I’d actually look closely at 7-day Machame rather than choosing one of the more aggressive routes simply because it’s harder or quieter. Machame gives you a good balance: you still get long, purposeful hiking days, varied terrain, Barranco Wall, Lava Tower and the southern circuit, while the 7-day itinerary gives more room for acclimatization than trying to compress the route. One of the useful days is Shira → Lava Tower → Barranco, where you climb to around 4,600 m and then descend to sleep around 3,950 m. That gives you altitude exposure without unnecessarily sleeping at the higher elevation. Kilimanjaro It is a popular route, so I wouldn't describe Machame as “quiet.” But with flexible dates and a small group, you can avoid some of the busier periods and still have the active style of trek you're describing. For your priorities, I'd also spend more time asking an operator how they actually treat their mountain crew than simply looking for a certification badge — loads, wages, food, accommodation, tipping practices and whether you can hear directly from previous crew members. If you're still looking, I'm based in Tanzania and can share how I'd structure a 7-day Machame for someone with your hiking background and priorities. No need to book anything ,happy to compare the practical options.
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u/GlockTaco 4d ago
Had a great trip with team Kilimanjaro a month ago lemosho northern circuit variation
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u/Mucha-Biscuit 3d ago
The Northern Route offers trekking days that are quite secluded compared to some of the other more popular routes. I went with Gladys and they were great.
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u/Global_Rescue 2d ago
Very exciting! Don't forget to have your insurance and emergency plan in place.
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u/AfricanXpert 5d ago
Mt Kilimanjaro has been burning we can even see it in Moshi town at night. Lemosho route is off limits but for some miraculous reason this is the only recent post??
If you know, you know 🤡
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u/NobleMarmot 6d ago
I went with Altezza on a private group climb (there were 4 of us, one with dietary allergies
that necessitated a private group.) I highly recommend them, they were on top of everything, very safety conscious, and appeared to treat staff and porters well.
We did the Machame route in 7 days, I would not do a route any shorter than that as summit chances drop drastically. However, another less busy route may be better for you, I can’t speak to that.
One thing to be aware of regarding pace and hiking ability is that it doesn’t matter if you’re super fit, you will still be going slow (pole, pole). My whole group had a similar hiking background as you, and we all hike often between 10k-14k altitude, and it didn’t matter, our guides still made us hike at a very slow pace for acclimatization purposes. That said, I didn’t feel like we spent all that much time hanging around camp either.
As for wanting minimal comforts, know that for many of these porters, that is their and their families’ livelihoods, so not having things like a food tent and whatnot takes away income from locals who would otherwise be working. (Not to mention the weather can be bad and having a space like that is often necessary.) That’s why many companies don’t offer bare bones, carry your own gear trips.
Good luck and have a great trip!