Tanzania
Climbing the back Way Up Kilimanjaro
| Outfitters |
Price |
Accommodations |
Alpine Ascents International
206-378-1927, www.mountain
zone.com/aai |
$3,795 |
camping, tourist hotels |
Mountain Travel-Sobek
800-282-8747, www.mt
sobek.com |
$4,540-$5,390 |
camping, tourist hotels |
Thomson Safaris
800-235-0289, www.thomson
safaris.com |
$4,250 |
camping, tourist hotels |
Wilderness Travel
800-368-2794, www.wilderness
travel.com |
$3,995-$4,295 |
camping, tourist hotels |
|
The Route: A 16- to 21-day journey culminating in a rigorous, weeklong ascent of the 19,340-foot summit of Africa’s highest mountain — via routes far less mobbed than the Marangu tourist trail. Includes a post- or pre-climb minisafari.
When to go: Year-round
Difficulty: Difficult
Travel advisory: Begin cardiovascular training four months in advance, and pick guides who can recognize early signs of pulmonary or cerebral edema; a dozen people died on Kilimanjaro in 1998, most of them from acute mountain sickness.
High/low points:
- Reaching Uhuru Peak at sunrise to see the fleeting phenomenon of the mountain’s huge shadow stretching to the horizon.
- After the giddy triumph of reaching the crater’s rim, realizing you still have at least an hour or two of walking to reach the summit.
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