Kilimanjaro - All You Need to Know to Climb Kili

Confused by the overwhelming range of trekking companies to climb Kilimanjaro with? Unsure which hiking route, climb dates and price options to choose from when planning to climb Kilimanjaro?

Then why not just reach out to one of our advisors right now? We'll make everything incredibly simple, clear and stress-free!

Get in Touch Now!

Once you get in touch, all your questions will be answered swiftly and you'll easily understand which route to take, when to climb, how to tailor your climb to perfectly accommodate your individual needs and preferences, and how simple it actually is to ensure that your Kilimanjaro climb is as happy and successful as possible!

Who are Team Kilimanjaro?

Established in 2004, and having assisted more than 10,000 trekkers to the summit, Team Kilimanjaro has redefined the mountain climbing market by bringing the operational standards and procedures of a dedicated crew of world class mountaineers, athletes and adventure specialists to Mount Kilimanjaro.

The widely acclaimed authority on high altitude performance, Team Kilimanjaro has pioneered unique ascent strategies carefully conceived to maximise your personal safety and summit prospects when hiking Africa’s highest mountain and the world’s largest non-massif mountain.

Learn more about the team  

On This Page

Interactive Features

• Track a friend or relative on their trek with our Google Map.
• Friends and relatives wanting to monitor the health and progress of loved ones while they climb can offer words of encouragement on our climb reports blog.
• Keep an eye on Mount Kilimanjaro’s weather as you prepare to fly out.

What Does Climbing Kilimanjaro Cost?

We offer a wide range of hikes that span 5 differents support levels. There's a trek to suit everyone, from the self-sufficient hard-core adventurer to those who want some VIP pampering on the mountain.

Our prices therefore vary widely - from just USD 1,351 per person for a tough group of 4 with recent altitude experience wanting virtually no support, to USD 8,844 per person for a couple wanting to sleep on beds with thick mattresses in stand-up tents with ensuite bathrooms.

However, most usually climbers arriving in groups of 4 will usually pay around USD 2,600 per person for a 7 day trek, or USD 2,945 for an 8 day trek using our unique "TK Lemosho" route that avoids the crowds and ensures a true wilderness experience, the best level of acclimatisation, and the most logical assault route to Kilimanjaro's summit from high camp.

• New climbers can find climb dates to join here, or can instruct us to create new dates for them at no additional cost, whether opening their trek to others or keeping it private.
• Solo climbers or small groups wanting to expand their booking numbers to qualify for lower prices can advertise their Kilimanjaro tour dates on TK Facebook page

What Kilimanjaro Routes Do We Offer?

We can arrange your Kilimanjaro trek along any of the six official routes - Lemosho, Shira, Machame, Umbwe, Marangu, or Rongai. However, except in certain unique circumstances, we don't recommend them all. And indeed, the two primary routes we do recommend, we do not run in the standard way - having identified shortcomings with the traditional configurations of both these routes.

Rather, we have pushed the boundaries of what the park authorities permit by creating variants of the two main routes we recommend that are unique to TK and that are especially advantageous in the extent to which they avoid crowding on the hike and in campsites; incorporate the most effective use of available topography to acclimsatise optimally; and ensure an approach to the summit from high camp that is efficient and logical and bypasses the enervating loose scree, and is often exclusive to our teams, while several hundred trekkers typically jostle with one another, upsetting their cadence at a critical altitude, on the two main assault trails.

Learn more about the best route to climb Kilimanjaro  

Should You Climb with Team Kilimanjaro?

Our climbers are generally busy and discerning people who we suspect appreciate our getting straight to the point. So, we'll do so.

Readers with no previous personal experience of the Tanzanian tourism industry will be aware that there are many Kilimanjaro operators all purporting to offer pretty much the same thing: guided ascents of Kilimanjaro.

Statistically speaking, you've probably arrived at our site because you've heard from a friend or colleague that has climbed with us that based on their observations on the mountain we are likely the best Kilimanjaro operator in Tanzania, but really, you're keen to determine this for yourself.

And if your friend climbed with us a while ago, you're probably wanting to know whether we're the kind of company that sits on our laurels, or that strives every day to be better than we were yesterday.

Either way, we hope it's safe to assume that what you really want to know - since we by no means offer the cheapest climbs on Kilimanjaro, is: what's Team Kilimanjaro's competitive advantage? What are our areas of excellence and superiority? Or, put frankly, what is TK's unique selling proposition?

What Makes Team Kilimanjaro Unique?

In a nutshell, while everyone's got to earn a living one way or another, we are almost certainly totally unique in the sense that the owners would probably still run TK even if it didn't earn them a penny. TK was started because John Rees-Evans, the founder, was passionate about being in the mountains and sharing his love of high altitude adventure with as many others as possible.

Team Kilimanjaro is not really run as a pragmatic business. It's run in such a way that everyone, regardless of experience or ability, can have an absolutely amazing time on the mountain. Whether you're a hard-core seasoned adventurer and want to carry everything yourself and want the absolute minimum support possible, or whether you want to sleep in a double bed and have your own en-suite bathroom, quite literally, nothing is too much trouble for Team Kilimanjaro. In fact we relish any challenge! That's why we have five distinct support options that range from one extreme to the other, with most trekkers opting for our incredibly successful "Advantage Series" climbs.

And that's why we've often been the company of choice for getting quadriplegics and amputees to the summit, organising speed records, and consulting to the national parks on accident prevention and new route creation.

And we believe that any research you undertake will consistently bear witness to the accuracy of this claim.

See for yourself what TK's past clients say about us  

Best Kilimanjaro Outfitters

Is Team Kilimanjaro the best Kilimanjaro tour operator?

We certainly aspire to be, and are privileged often to be told by clients that have climbed with us that they are confident that we are. And we're deemed to be the obvious choice for, and are regularly approached by, extraordinarily high-achievers - both in the world of commerce, who request VIP arrangements on the mountain; and elite athletes that seek our assstance in setting world and national records on Kilimanjaro.

But while we are continually striving to be the very best we can be and to imbue all our staff at every level with a sense of personal expectation that is concordant with this ambition; nonetheless, it still feels rather ill-bred and vaunting to ourselves state categorically that TK definitely runs the best Kilimanjaro tours! 😉.

Mount Kilimanjaro - What's it like?

While Mt Kilimanjaro is one of the world’s largest topographical features, none of the six routes requires any technical skills or specialist equipment to climb, (though for Western Breach climbers we recommend that some supplementary equipment be considered).

And although the height gained from the different start points to Kili’s peak at 5,895m is around 15% greater than from Mount Everest’s southern Base Camp to its summit, the ascent of Kilimanjaro does not require the use of slow and arduous Himalayan-style siege tactics, or of supplemental oxygen.

It is therefore a perfectly manageable - and hugely fulfilling - challenge within the context of just a week or two’s holidays - provided the trekker has found enough time to do some fitness and endurance training at home beforehand.

For those as yet entirely unacquainted with the mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro is a volcano situated quite close to where Africa’s three main tectonic plates meet. For perhaps distantly historical reasons, there remains a widespread misconception that Kili is either in Kenya or at least straddles the Kenyan-Tanzanian border.

This is not true, however, as the mountain sits entirely within Tanzania and is managed by the Tanzania National Park Authority (TANAPA), through the local administration of the Kilimanjaro National Park Authority (KINAPA). There is therefore no sense in which an expedition can legally be launched from within Kenya, and all attempts must be registered at either Londorossi (Shira and Lemosho Routes), Machame (Machame and Umbwe Routes), or Marangu Gates (Marangu and Rongai Routes), in Northern Tanzania.

Read more facts about Mount Kilimanjaro  

Climbing Kilimanjaro

Unlike mountainous regions in most of the developed countries of the world, Mt. Kilimanjaro cannot be accessed solo, or without paying fees and subscribing to local regulations.

We are sympathetic to the objections of some climbers against the stringent constraints of timings, movement and methods, that are imposed by these regulations, but it should nonetheless be understood that the National Parks of Tanzania are resources that are costly to preserve intact, and that the entrance fees that they generate are a very valuable source of revenue to a grateful country that suffers a GDP per capita of around USD 1,100 per person, and that in order safely to manage the sought-after high volumes of climbers that attempt the mountain every year (between 20,000 and 35,000), the authorities deem it necessary to exert a very careful degree of control over factors such as camp locations and direction of travel.

How Hard is it to Climb Kilimanjaro?

While we are often told by those who have climbed with us - including professional athletes - that they underestimated how difficult it would be to climb Kilimanjaro and that it turned out to be one of the hardest things they had ever done in their lives, in spite of this, almost anyone who is willing to train two or three times a week for three months, and who is strongly self-motivated and does not give up easily when faced with hardship and mental and physical discomfort, would be expected to reach the summit, Uhuru Peak.

That said, we encourage readers to explore this website in some detail, as there are nonetheless some inevitable - but largely mitigable - risks to the health and safety of trekkers on the mountain that everyone should be aware of.

Risks of this nature include the onset of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) and its possible development to life-threatening conditions such as pulmonary or cerebral oedema (HAPE and HACE), if not identified and treated at the earliest stages - a process that largely requires the climber’s own cooperation and communication - as well as non-lethal threats that can compromise an otherwise successful tour, such as failure to anticipate the extent to which low oxygen environments inhibit circulation.

Read about how we keep you safe on Kilimanjaro  

Such considerations may mean that in spite of the fact that a climber has previously experienced comfort while wearing ski gloves at minus 15 degrees Centigrade when skiing at 2,000 metres, at 5,000 metres they will nonetheless risk frostbite at only minus 10 unless they wear generously filled down mittens, or similar.

These issues are not obvious or extrapolatable from non-altitude related pursuits and since we have encountered many disappointed climbers on Kilimanjaro who evidently did not consult their organiser in very great depth, we would emphasise the extent to which early and detailed communication with your chosen expedition coordinator is in your best interests, if wanting to summit comfortably and safely.