Mt Kilimanjaro 6 days Marangu route hike

This was as an excellent trip that was well planned and executed. Gasto (our head guide) and team made this an amazing experience that lead to a successful summit. The accomodation and food they provided was to a high standard which contributed to the experience. Or party had slightly different schedules and flight times but the team were super flexible and able to adjust/accommodate any changes we required with no fuss or problems. Overall, if you're in any doubt which tour provider to use for your Kilimanjaro climb / safari, you can't go wrong here.

Short: You can confidently choose this company either for your Kilimanjaro hike or a Safari, You will be in good hands, everything worked out nice and professional. Long: It was hard to choose between the ca. 1200 tour operators in Tanzania. I wrote the top ten on tripadvisor and choose Safari Soles because Bryson was the most patient for my questions. Transportation: Pick up at JRO Airport was unproblematic, a guy (Andrew) waited for us with a sign at the gate and brought us to our hotel. More importantly when we left Tanzania we needed a transport at 4:00 a.m. which also was no problem at all! Although our accomodation was at a very secluded place, no street lights and the heaviest rain you can imagine, Adrew was on time (we had booked a different hotel than what is included in the price). Customer support: I had contact the whole time to Bryson who was very patient, he answered all the questions in emails (we changed 32 in total) satisfactory and made us a customary iterinary. Paymant also was smooth, we payed 10% ahead and the rest on arrival. We always recieved a receipt. Kilimanjaro hike: We are a couple in our 30s and did the Marangu route with guides William and Manuel. The day before starting William went through our hiking gear, if you are missing something you can rent it. The hike was slow paced walking and finally we got to the top! Every evening we got asked for signs of altitude sickness and they measured our oxigen saturation. For worst case they carry always oxigen with them. The cook Hussein did great job feeding us, the portions were always plenty and tasty. Here I have to mention that nor on the hike nor on the safari we did got diarrhea! (we are travelling now since more than 3 month and had sometimes problems with this but not here). Only issue was, after they saw that we are doing good with the hike we felt a bit rushed to make it in 5 reather than 6 days. As I asked other groups this is pretty much common on the Marangu route, almost everyone felt the same. For us the acclimatization day was important, so just keep steadfast and there will be no problem. After we told them that earlier return is no option for us they accepted it and no further questions were asked. On summit day most people start the hike at midnight. It was very tough but we got much psychological support from our guides, we felt secure. Safari: We made a 6day/5night safari through Lake Manyara, Tarangire, Serengeti, and Ngorongoro-crater. We shared the jorney with 3 others in the same age group. Our driver/guide Omar spoke excelent english and did everything to show us the animals. We always had time to look as long as we wanted, he waited patiently, and just went on when he felt that everyone was ready to go. Also he told a lot of interesting facts and organized much in the background. Our cook Ali prepared very tasty meals in BIG portions, every morning he baked us fresh buns (I mean who does that?). Also we much apreciated that while most other groups always had lunchboxes for lunch, we always got a nice table with kitchenware and properly served meals. Of course you don't need this, but it is a nice touch and most people looked at us what a nice lunch we have

I did the Marangu day hike with Lucas. Everything was excellent. First, I booked the trip at 5pm the day before. I was worried if it was too late to book online, but immediately was contacted about pickup and details for the hike. I was picked up promptly at 7am. The SUV was very nice and Lucas and Andrew were very friendly and gave me a background on Kilimanjaro, Arusha, and anything we passed on the road. The hike: Once we arrived Lucas handled all the paperwork and we started on the Marangu route for Mandara Hut. Lucas has very good English and is very good company to spend an entire day with! He showed me blue monkeys, Colobus monkeys, several plants and trees. We also passed time chatting about food, sports, animals, and music. He is a great conversationalist and very enjoyable. He has a lot of knowledge and experience of Kilimanjaro and Tanzania. Lunch at Mandara hut was delicious. (They do make sure you have no dietary restrictions). There was so much I couldn’t eat it all. There was also a large variety of food, so something to appeal to everyone. Overall, I highly recommend Safari Soles. They are very quick to respond and professional. Had my confirmation within 10 minutes of booking online and showed up on time, spent the entire day with me, no rushing. It was absolutely excellent! I highly recommend Lucas as he was exceptional. The guide will spend your whole day with you, so keep him in mind!