Climb Kilimanjaro en route?
 

Hi all. I'm planning a trip around Africa by bike for 2011 and are thinking about climbing Kilimanjaro when I'm going through Tanzania. I would just like to know if it is possible to make all the arrangements to climb Kili when I arrive there. I did climb it in Sept 2006 and it was amazing. We stayed at the Keys Hotel and they seemed to have arranged everything for the climb.

My plan is to just show up at the Keys Hotel and arrange with them for a guide and a porter. Have anyone had any experience with doing this, is it possible or is there a agency in Tanzania that can arrange it. Any idea of what this will cost if arranging it in Tanzania and if any special arrangements must be made. Thanks

Safe Riding
Rassie

Hey Rassie,

Yep, you can just show up in Arusha and pick from the myriad of tour operators, cheap, expensive or in between. Usually you can hop on a tour within a short period of time. Some pre-planning will make it easier if you want to select a certain duration of trip or different route. If you are looking at doing the standard, plenty options, only thing to be concious of is the busy season whereby it might get a bit harder to join up immediately. You can pick a few recommended tour operators from a travel book like Lonely Planet or others and contact them to roughly establish prices and general dates, or you can juts show up at the Hotel you already know and go from there:) Have fun.

Ras,

Good luck man. Keep us posted on how it goes. I for one am interested in doing the same thing when I make it over that way and would be interested in your experience and how it works out.

I camped in the garden of the "Golden Shower" (don't laugh) hotel in 2000 and had a view of Kili from my tent. It was on the main road from Arusha to Dar es Salaam. I'm sure safe parking is possible there.
HTH
Chris

We climbed Kili on our way down in 2008. We used Stanley Sunday and had a great experience. His website is Home if you're interested in booking ahead (no affiliation, just a satisfied customer). If I recall correctly we gave him about a month's warning, as we made arrangements in Ethiopia and then rode through Kenya to Arusha.