BootsnAll Travel Community

I am planning a trip up Kili next Jan. Does anyone have some reviews, good or bad on Zara travel. They seem well recommended, but I want to know for sure before I book.

From my perspective, a lower priced, lower quality, budget tour operator. It's more about the sheer numbers, then the quality of the experience.

Read about Zara's Porters

During my own trip in 04 I saw the Zara groups on the mountain and was unimpressed. My research led to Tusker because they offered a 9 day up, 2 down trip so we could maximize our chances at altitude at 95%. They are not cheap. A 5 day trip is only a 50% chance. There are many day combinations with different groups.
I didn't discover BootsnAll until after my successful trek but they seam to be centered and go about their business the correct way.
Kiliwarriors is another recent discovery and they boast a 100% success rate but are as expensive as Tusker.
Using this site to ask questions is a great strategy. Learn as much as you can and pick someone you become comfortable with.
It is an outstanding experience.
Good luck,

I'm climbing this August with Zara so I'll be able to report back more info after I return, but in terms of helping me plan the trip they've been great. One thing I like about their operation is the way their website is set up. I reserved my trip in about 10 minutes using their online setup. No hassle at all.

I though Zara was great in every way.I did a Mt kenya hike followed by kilimanjaro.Mt kenya is a nicer mountain with 10% of the people. RR

I climbed for the first time 28 years ago up the Marangu route. Hardly a soul there at that time. I went back last year with my son, and joined Zara for the price, as they were very cheap. Wow! So many people. As Donovan noted, it's a mass tourism outfit. And I got what I paid for. You always do. But one of the women in the group didn't. She came down with cerebral edema, and the guide kept pushing her to the top. I know what HACE is - I'm a practising neurologist. We were camped at Barafu alongside another company called Tusker Trail, and their guide treated our team member with oxygen, dexamethasone, and put her in a gamow bag, as she was pretty bad. Probably saved her life. When I got back to the UK, I checked the company out, and found that they were much more expensive. But then again, you get what you pay for.

Thanks for the comments concerning Zara travel. I have an observation to make. What do you get for your extra money by using a firm such as Tusker Trails over Zara. They might provide emergency equipment such as the gamow bag, but isn't the best treatment for an altitude related condition is to decend. Kilimanjaro has a very good set up for getting people down off the mountain, even if the guides and porters can't or don't. Also as an american company, how much of the money paid to them stays in the local community. I am only interested in using operators where I know the money I spend stays in the local community.

On my trip, when we had to evacuate the climber, I did not even see the supposed rescue team we paid for. They were called but never showed up. Every one I've talked to says the Kilimanjaro National Park rescue team is useless. I quizzed the climber who had I helped - after the climb, and said that the rescue team showed up at Mweka Hut (about 3 hours from the gate. They only had a stretcher - no oxygen or gamow bag.

As I mentioned, my observation with the Zara guide we had was as follows:
He had no skills to know when to send someone down. He just kept pushing us up, regardless of our condition. This did not bode well for the climber whom I helped. Also you should look at guide to climber ratio. That's important when it comes to evacuation. The guide on our trip kept leading us up the mountain, and the evacuee was accompanied by a porter, when she really needed medical attention.

The following is reproduced from another website on Kilimanjaro.

"The use of oxygen on some climbs actually shocked me, and I think it was dangerous as is proven by the story below. Sometimes a short shot can make you feel better for a while, as it is just a short term drug. Problem is that your body gets a much harder blow after stopping with oxygen which can get you into real trouble. Like taking any drug it will wear off when you don't want it to, even compare it to a snort of cocaine to rush up the hill and then running out of 'energy' when you need it the most.

In all cases, if someone actually needs oxygen, they should descend immediately, even one camp down (max few hours) would be enough and be the prefered option here. I strongly advise against going up 'on oxygen'.


A Gamow bag is not needed as descent is the only solution and it is easy on Kili to descend. But somehow many people fall for the oxygen en Gamow bag trick and pay so much money that they could have bought a bag themselves...


Here is an interesting and very recent story for everybody:

7summits.com organised the Kilimanjaro peace climb last month as a preparation and booster for the Everest peace climb. While the 9 climbers were enjoying the Lemosho /Western Breach route, one of them did not feel good and was accompanied down with a friend and a guide. No problem, the other 7 summited and all was well.

But the night they slept in the crater something strange happened:
The leader of our team -and my friend- Lance Trumbull, heard noises in a tent of one of the high priced outfitters team and went to check it out. Apparently one guy was busy dying and the guide was just sitting there watching it. Lance gave dexamethason and organized the resque/evacuation while their guides were just doing nothing, Lance was saving this man's life, something the man thanked him for later on.

The guides -yes, from the same 'safe' company charging extra for oxygen and gamow bags- had given this man extra oxygen on his way up to the crater as he was feeling very bad. Of course he should have descended, but, hey, he had paid for oxygen right? Then at night he almost died because of this, if Lance had not helped him, he would not have survived."

What do you think now?

Save your money. Take your chances.

Good answer! What it says to me is that it doesn't matter what you pay, it's the guides, porters and cooks that matter. Get a good team and your already halfway there.

Boy I can't wait to post my experiences here! I'll be climbing Kilimanjaro during the first two weeks of September. I considered many outfitters. Seems there are many front companies for Zara. My initial desire was to book through Tusker or Kiliwarrior. But then a friend of mine said he would go if I found a cheaper outfitter. So I was thinking about going through 7summits.com. They use Zara but I was hoping they had the pull to get the better guides for their groups. I don't know. It does seem, though, like whenever I read about a bad experience with an outfitter on Kili its usually Zara. So after searching and searching for an alternative I settled on the Marangu Hotel. Not solely on Gard's trip report posted on this site but because I found it is the outfitter the Colorado Mountain Club's High Altitude Mountaineering Section uses and has used on several past trips. Of course they bring their own leaders... Plus I have read other trip reports posted by people that have used the Marangu Hotel with nothing but good things to say about them. The Marangu Hotel seems to be good price wise too being not a whole lot more than Zara. I will let yall know on my return!

I think that what is most important is that you learn to trust yourself and your friends to alert you if the altitude is affecting you adversely. I've been reading stories of tragedies on the mountain, and from what I've read, it really doesn't matter if you're with a high or low-priced outfitter. Regarding Tusker, here's a link you might find interesting...

http://www.alpineascents.com/kilimanjaro-article.asp

Also, it seems that it might be advantegeous to make friends with other team members - maybe you will find there are medical professionals climbing that you can ask advice from if things are looking bad.

BTW, I will be climbing with Zara in October, Machame route with an additional day.

quote:

Originally posted by overthehill:
Save your money. Take your chances.

Taking chances with your LIFE is stupid. Your life is not just your own but you owe it to the ones who love you to have a little bit more sense.

[QUOTE]Good answer! What it says to me is that it doesn't matter what you pay, it's the guides, porters and cooks that matter. Get a good team and your already halfway there.[QUOTE]

It does matter to some extent what you pay. Yes guides, porters and cooks matter...how do you know you are getting a GOOD TEAM.I'm not saying paying 10 times more will get you better service or attention and better team but still the likelihood of a very cheap company means they are cutting corners. I'm not qualified to make the Tusker vs Zara comparision but do what you are doing ..research.

Do your research, ask fellow climbers and more importantly know what you are getting into. Read about Altitude sickness and prepare yourself.

Kili is not a dangerous mountain but do your part in keeping it safe...cheap outfitters are more likely to bring inexperienced guides and porters. Don't put your life and their's at risk. Especially THEIR'S since you are doing it for fun and they for a Living.

If you are going with friends do look for each other and remember that the mountain will always be there. Turn back if you feel you are not safe. Listen to your gut instincts as well.

I wish I would've seen this website before I put my NON-REFUNDABLE $600 deposit down with Zara (I was first referred to them by a friend of a friend, and then looked for more info on them and others - they had favorable reviews on Fodors...). I think I would have been more selective - but, in my post previously, the link is an account of someone who went with Tusker and reported the guide's lack of AMS knowledge. And then there's the disturbing "pushing on" of Zara guides...

I wonder if the outfits who offer the trek for $5000+ have had any tragic accidents?

And does anyone know what emergency evac insurance can get you? Is it worth purchasing for this climb?

Definitely get travel insurance. I got my coverage from World Nomads. It was very affordable ($240 for a 6 monthy policy) and they provide up to $500,000 USD in emergency evac coverage. They've gotten good reviews on the BnA forums, you can search the boards for "World Nomads."

BootsNAll also has travel insurance policies here.

Tim

In all fairness you should mention that this article was written back in 2000.

I've been researching a lot for my next climb. In the process I had a long discussion with the owner of Tusker, Eddie Frank. When I mentioned the Alpine Ascents article to him, he told me that it was that article that made him realize back in 2000, that he needed to beef up the medical aspect of his guide training. Apparently, he has focused a lot on medical training for their guides since then.

There has been mention of Zara travel having bad reviews. I have searched on the internet for any reviews on Zara travel. All I have found is good ones. Ok it is likely with any travel company that they will only publish the good ones and hide the bad ones. Ignoring these I have found only a few good ones on independant review sites.
Can anyone give me some links to other reviews so I can be better prepared before I go.
On the subject of guides pushing their guests to the top. Does anyone know if the guides get a bonus for getting as many guests to the top?

I've been in Moshi Town (at the base of Kili) for two weeks now. While here I've been doing some volunteer work for the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project, and have had the opportunity to talk to lots of climbers about their experiences. From what I've been able to see, Zara is a high-volume, low-budget operator. They have arrangements with lots of booking agencies and do tons of trips up the mountain.

As with anything else in life, you do get what you pay for. Zara obviously has experience doing these trips, and gets people to the top. And paying a premium to a company like Abercrombie or Kiliwarriors doesn't guarantee that you will summit, or that medical problems won't come up. From what I can tell, the prices usually come down to quality of equipment, and supplies such as food. Some operators go so far as to haul toilets up the mountain if that's what their clients want and are willing to pay for. I'm not interested in a toilet, but I do want a quality tent to sleep in, and three square meals a day. Also, you should know that for a seven day trip, the park fees charged by the goverment are now $680. So if your operator is willing to take you on a 7-day climb for $900, only $220 of that is going to pay for guides, porters, food, equipment, etc.

You can read this article for some more tips on choosing a company. Keep in mind that this article was written last summer, and since the parks fees went up this year, the range of suggested prices is going to be slightly higher now.

Also, I understand that most climbers are more worried about their own climbing experience and being able to summit safely. That said, I would like to direct you to the Kilimanjaro Porter's Assistance Project website so you can see what they say about porter treatment on the mountain, and also review their list of recommended Partners for Responsible Travel. (One of the lower cost companies that I've heard them speak highly of is Marangu Hotel.) Part of the work I've been doing with KPAP is reviewing surveys done by climbers and porters in regards to wages, tips, food, equipment, and overall porter treatment. The surveys done by KPAP show that Zara consistently underpays their porters, they often have only one meal a day, and often sleep in the mess tents instead of in their own tents. (The exception to this is the Marangu route, where everyone sleeps in huts.) Granted, wages are a problem all over the mountain with every company, but given the number of trips Zara does, you'd think they'd be willing to spread the wealth a little bit.

I'd be happy to speak more to anyone about KPAP offline, or else put you in touch with the director of KPAP.

Tim

p.s. I'm starting my climb on Monday, a 7 day trip up the Lemosho route. I booked through BootsNAll, and am climbing with a company called Moshi Expedition and Mountaineering. I'll be sure to let everyone know how my climb went and what I thought of MEM.

Do you think, tmags, that since I already put my deposit down with Zara and am locked in, that I could pay extra to make sure that the porters we have (there is only two of us) will have 3 squares and a separate sleeping tent? And if so, how much American should I offer them?

I am so willing to do that.