BootsnAll Travel Community

I'm planning to climb Kilimanjaro a third time. The last time I went I climbed with Zara, and was not happy with the experience. Anyone know anything about Thomsom Treks or Thomson Safaris? They're expensive, but is it worth it?

just curious, what was it about zara you didn't like? i'm going up with them this august...

I have friends that work for Thomson treks and they are known as one of the better outfitters on the mountain. From what I have heard, they get great reviews.

Donovan

Overthehill,

I went with Tusker (www.tusker.com) and really enjoyed the experience.
We climbed the now closed Western Breach but Tusker will take you to Crater Camp along the Barafu Route during the day so you can see the glaciers, the crater and camp at 18,880 ft.
You may or may not sleep at that altitude but the top is worth seeing.

The other outfitter that caught my eye was Kiliwarriors. You may want to check them out.

Good luck

itsfiveoclock...,
When I climbed with Zara, we shared camp with numerous other outfits, so it was easy talk with climbers from other companies and compare experiences. Zara is a mass transit company up Kilimanjaro, that charges really low prices. That's why I signed up with them. Big mistake. Their gear is substandard, and more importantly, their guides did not have a clue about altitude problems. As a practising medical professional, I was keenly aware of the guide's lack of knowledge of how to deal with altitude-related emergencies before, during and after they became serious. In fact, I've learned through many years of climbing, that a well trained guide should never let an altitude problem become an emergency. Ours did. If I hadn't been there to intervene, another climber would have died. That's why I'm looking much more diligently into joining up with a climbing operator that understands what altitude is, and has quality trained guides working for them.

As a youngster I climbed for the first time back in the seventies, up the Marangu route, when there were hardly any companies from which to choose. So one just picked the cheapest. I made that mistake a second time with Zara, and now I'm hunting around for one of the more qualified, albeit more expensive companies. Hope this helps. Let me know what you wind up doing.

I climbed Kili in February 2005 with Thomson and it was outstanding. The guides were great -see if you can get Bernard Shimera! The equipment was good and there was too much food.
we went up the Shira-Western Breach route and the views were fantastic. You probably know that the Western Breach route is now closed due to the rockfall in January 2006, which killed three people.

We also went on the post climb safari and it was terrific. The lodges, camps and wildlife viewing was amazing. I would go with Thomson again in a heartbeat They are expensive but it is worth it.

p.s. I was 68 years old when I did the climb, so you can see they take good care of seniors!

Good Luck