Has anyone climbed Kilimanjaro? I am looking to go with my parents sometime next year and we are looking at various companies and options…
Just a few questions:
What trekking company did you use and would you recommend it to others?
What time of the year did you go?
plus any other insights or stories about your trip up Kili would be great!
Thanks!! 
I’ll try and get a contact for you. There are overland cruisers that go from Cape Town to Victoria Falls and from Victoria Falls to Kilimanjaro. Some people buy a truck in South Africa and get enough people to go along to share costs. Obviously, you will mead a good bush mechanic.
Search these links in the mean time:
google.com/search?hl=en&lr=& … aro+safari
Thanks, I’ll check that out.
I went up with Geurba - who I would happily recommend. There are several different routes up - the one I did was the Marangu route which is the most common, probably the easiest (fairly gradual climb until the last bit), and you get to sleep in huts rather than tents.
I think you can pretty much do the climb all year round - although you probably want to avoid the rainy seasons (err … maybe April & November?). I had clear fine weather in September (you actually start climbing at quite a height, so heat isn’t a real problem)
I had a great time, but it is a bit of a lottery how much you’ll be affected by altitude sickness. It’s not related to how fit you are, and if you get hit by it badly then you’re probably going to have a pretty miserable time. Out of our group of 14, a couple got hit badly by it (and probably regretted their choice of holiday), but everyone got to the crater at the top (although only 8 to the actual highest point). The trick is to go up as slowly as possible - so don’t go with the cheapest company you can find who will rush you up, and spoil the whole thing for you.
Other companies who i trust for these types of holidays are Exodus and Explore - they’re also worth checking out.
Guerba: guerba.com
Exodus: exodus.co.uk
Explore: explore.co.uk