BootsnAll Travel Community

We booked our Kili hike and safari through BootsnAll/Donovan. We highly recommend it. Our guide Douglas spoke English well and was very knowledgeable about the mountain. Most importantly he got us to the summit without any problems or difficulties and without pushing us to take Diamox. We went with Donovan becuase we are currently living abroad and had a hard time getting some gear and making sure that both the climb and safari would happen in a two week period. We had an awesome trip and it was definitely in part because of all the work that was done behind the scenes. They arranged all the transfers and hotels, so we had little to do but enjoy our vacation. As far as we could tell, the main difference between an outfitter and the more “exclusive” outfitters are the small details – flowers in the mess tent, private outhouses, and the singing. If these things are important to you, then go with a more expensive outfitter, otherwise you will have all the same amenities and attention, and quite literally, the same meals. Also, we were told that if you desire your own private outhouse almost all of the outfitters can arrange it, but for a price.
The safari was awesome. We stayed in the high end lodges, the Sopas, and paid the price for the standard lodges. The jeeps were new, clean, and exactly what we wanted. Moreover, we were by ourselves for both the hike and the safari. Although, we paid a bit more than if we booked everything in Tanzania it was well worth it and significantly less than the large foreign companys, such as Tusker or Thompson. Once we landed in Nairobi we had nothing to worry about other than where we wanted to go for dinner.
I would highly recommend BootsnAll/Donovan, and our guide Douglas. It was by far the best bang for the buck!!!

[title edited for clarity by Donovan]

Lee, I'm so glad you had a good trip, and a good experience with Donovan! I'll try to make sure your kind words don't go to his head.