Your trek may be right around the corner or months down the line, but it’s never too early to start getting ready. We could give tips on everything from which boots to buy to which songs to download (hey, it matters!), but no matter what, we’d tell all our guests to make sure they’ve done the…
Everyone who’s ever been on a long journey knows it’s not just what you pack, but HOW you pack that counts. But on Kilimanjaro, the limiting factor isn’t the space in your duffle: it’s the weight of your items. Porters on Kilimanjaro are only allowed to carry 33 pounds each up the mountain, a limit Thomson strictly adheres to for their health and safety.
An unfortunate side-effect of the 24-hour news cycle is that dramatic or tragic stories get much more coverage than stories of hope and success, and that coverage often lacks context and in-depth analysis. Shock value and implied danger are the order of the day while perspective and basic facts are often lost in the media…
If you look at Kilimanjaro’s history, one tribe stands out as being intimately tied to the mountain: the Chagga. But the Chagga didn’t live around the foothills of Kili in isolation, and in fact, for several centuries, they weren’t a unified tribe at all. Much like their neighbors (and longtime adversaries) the Maasai, the Chagga…
The Kilimanjaro summit sign has long been an inspiration to weary trekkers nearing the top. But over the years, the original sign, constructed from wooden planks, became weathered and worn. In January 2012, the wooden sign was finally retired, replaced with a shiny new green sign…
At Thomson, we’re proud to lead 98% of our trekkers all the way to the summit! But what about the 2% who don’t reach Uhuru Peak? Read David’s story of his early descent with his daughter who suffered from altitude sickness.
Thomson staffer Ali Riley recently had the chance to experience one of the most challenging routes up Kilimanjaro: Umbwe. This is the story of her experience.
There are a lot of ways to measure a mountain’s prowess. Overall height is a common yardstick (and hopefully not determined BY a yardstick), as is technical difficulty, but there’s one measure all but the most mountain-obsessed may not have heard of: topographic prominence. Topographic prominence is the height between the summit and the lowest contour line circling the mountain in question and no other higher mountain.
Getting enough sleep on the mountain is an important factor for summit success…but it can be hard. It’s going to be cold on Kili, and buying the wrong bag—or using it incorrectly, and missing out on some of its warmth potential—can be the difference between getting a full night’s rest and getting frustrated by a night full of shivering. Make sure you’re considering all of the following important factors
In 2007 I decided I wasn’t getting any younger, the world wasn’t getting any saner, and if I ever planned on seeing Africa, this was the time to do it. I also decided, and to save my life I can’t remember where this came from, that I should also climb Mount Kilimanjaro while I was there. Not surprisingly, I couldn’t find a single other person who shared my passion to climb the highest mountain in Africa, so just like the Little Red Hen, I decided, fine, I’ll just do it myself. And I did.
