kimandkevintravel
05 Feb 2020
We took the 7 day climb up the Rongai route with Kilimanjaro Safari Experience, and every moment of the experience was amazing. A great aspect of Kilimanjaro Safari Experience is that it is a Tanzanian company, so you know every dollar you spend is going to support the wonderful and deserving people of this country.
From the start, the owner Shungu did an great job answering my questions quickly and thoroughly via email before we decided to climb with his company. What was most important to us was that Shungu treated the guides and porters who led our climb fairly, and we were encouraged to hear that this was the case. Shungu did a great job organizing and communicating the details of our trip with us, and was accommodating of a one day delay in our scheduled arrival (we planned this with him a few months before arriving). Shungu and Issa (our head guide) met us at the airport and arranged everything for us from there.
The best thing Shungu did was to select Issa to be our head guide. Issa himself was amazing! He knows basically everyone on the mountain, as well as having many years of experience first as a porter and now as a guide. Because of this, he had lots of information to help us make decisions about the climb as we went up the mountain, and was able to solve any issues that arose during the trek so quickly that we didn't even realize there was a problem.
Issa in turn selected an amazing team of an assistant guide (Ayubu), chef (Joshua), waiter (Lamik M), and porters (Jafari, Johannes, Shabaneu, Lamik L, Steven, and Makame) to help us along our journey. We definitely could not have made it without them, and their positivity and friendly smiles throughout the entire trek were the best part of the experience. We could not have asked for a better team!
The trek itself was slow and steady, and our guides set a good pace for us from the beginning. As there were only two of us, they were able to tailor everything to us to make sure we made it to the top. This is in contrast to many of the bigger companies we saw, where some people were struggling to keep up with the faster members of their group. The small group experience we had with Kilimanjaro Safari Experience, as well as the amazing team of people, are the main reasons I would recommend a trek with them over any other company.
The hospitality we experienced throughout the trek was incredible. We had multiple course meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and the food was always so delicious (even when the altitude took away my appetite). Every morning we would head out for a 3-4 hour hike up, while the porters took down our camp, carried all of our belongings and the food and equipment, overtook us on the trail, and set everything up and had a delicious meal waiting for us by the time we arrived at the next camp. They were so efficient and effective at their jobs, we were amazed by all they did for us.
Overall, I cannot say enough good things about Kilimanjaro Safari Experience. We had an amazing trip with no worries, as everything was arranged for us and we were well taken care of. I would 100% recommend them to anyone looking to climb Kilimanjaro!