Tracking your Friends and Family as They Climb Kilimanjaro

The vast majority of our climbers have loved ones back home who are concerned about their safety and happiness while away in Africa. For family and friends of a climber it can be worrying to imagine them struggling against altitude, the elements, and objective risks associated with climbing a mountain, and to have no information or updates about how they are faring. It is with these concerns in mind that we have developed a system of live-time reporting - complete with photos - sent directly from the mountain. 

To track your friend or loved one's progress on Kilimanjaro, please WhatsApp their name to us and request the link to their reports page.

Track a Kilimanjaro climber

Choosing to Climb with Team Kilimanjaro

We understand that a very significant factor in the decision of many adventurers to climb Kilimanjaro with us is that we control everything directly ourselves, not relying on any middlemen or local tour operators to dilute the integrity of sometimes very sensitive and specific information as it passes down through the chain of command.

Consequently, our climbers expect near-perfect communication between management and our staff on the ground on Kilimanjaro, and swift and ready access to information pertaining to all aspects to their booking.

While we believe that the nature of Team Kilimanjaro’s operational structure affords us a very great advantage in this sense, we would however, like to caution climbers that they should please understand the limitations of the hardware that we use on Kilimanjaro, and - more significantly - the limitations of the cellular network provider to supply consistent signal across the mountain.

With such concerns in mind, we would suggest that while climbers may rightly expect TK to enjoy the highest standards of communication realistically available, we regret that such are the objective limitations that lie outside our control, that climbers should certainly not base their decision to climb with us on the assumption that we will unfailingly be capable of providing photographs of their climb sent in live-time direct from the mountain on every day of their climb.

Limitations of Data Availability on Cellular Networks on Kilimanjaro

Indeed, prospective climbers should please appreciate that while we have a very transparent blog site that ought to provide clear evidence of what our teams are able to achieve in terms of live reporting from the mountain from Kilimanjaro, nonetheless, the following factors may disappoint climbers that expect faultless and comprehensive photo reports:

  1. There are several areas on the mountain which enjoy cellular coverage for voice calls but which lack adequate data packet saturation, necessary to send images of an average size of 50KB from Kilimanjaro. This means that on certain days on certain routes (particularly days 1 and 2 on TK Lemosho), it is entirely impossible to provide live photo reports.
    1. Even in zones where we ordinarily enjoy adequate voice and data signal coverage, from time to time we encounter periods of as long as three consecutive days, in which cellular coverage is simply absent. We understand this to be attributable either to maintenance, system upgrades, hardware failure or damage, or power supply issues.
      1. From time to time our guides may commit human errors, such as allowing their phone to become damaged or wet. Where such (rare) events occur, our guides will usually use the phone of one of their fellow team members to send SMS reports or will attempt to liaise with other iPhone-equipped TK groups on the mountain. This is often not possible, however

        In short, we would ask climbers to please appreciate the fact that we aim to achieve an ongoing high standard of communication and reporting amongst our teams, and we believe that the service we provide in this regard is second to none that is elsewhere available.

        That said, we ask climbers to understand that the provision of such services is not to be understood to be an β€˜inclusive’ component of the service we provide or in any way a contractual obligation on our parts.

        We hope therefore that friends and family will enjoy tracking their loved ones on Kilimanjaro, but assert unequivocally, that this facility should not be depended on and that this service should be expected to be intermittent and subject to many uncontrollable limitations, including those already described.

        If you want to make a significant, positive contribution towards cleaning up Kilimanjaro and help us return its ecology to a pristine wilderness environment, please make use of the following payment facility:

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        Frank John Fund
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        Following Frank John's sad passing away in March 2022, some former climbers have requested the opportunity to contribute towards helping Frank's surviving wife, Clara, cover the costs for the family.

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        Help Bring Clean Water to the Maasai
        Tuesday, December 21st 2021

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        Help Us Fight Rhino Poaching
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        It is estimated that since the turn of the previous century, the world has lost more than 99% of its rhino population, and that today, only 29,000 of these majestic creatures survive.

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        Wilderness First Aid Basics
        Thursday, September 23rd 2021

        Wilderness first aid is the knowledge and ability to effectively address injuries, illnesses, or emergencies outside of modern facilities, out in the wild. Skills include knowing how to dress a wound, treat a burn or bite, or set an injured limb. These are important skills that can save your life or the lives of other outdoor enthusiasts. Learn more and be better prepared for your next hiking or backpacking adventure.

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        VIP Series Comparison
        Thursday, September 23rd 2021

        Mobile users: Scroll right πŸ‘‰

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        Many people spend a lot of time and money training and equipping themselves for a Kilimanjaro climb, only to fail in their objective of reaching the summit. Failure is avoidable and we really want trekkers to understand how to prevent it.

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        As from March 2021, PCR testing (or rather, sample-taking) is now available at Seronera and Ndutu airstrips in the Serengeti. This facility has been implemented to prevent clients having to either curtail their safaris or dissect their safaris with a journey to Arusha or, more recently, Karatu (FAME Hospital), mid-safari - so as to satisfy the "less than 72 hours old" validity rule that most airlines are required to enforce. 

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        Arusha Cycling Club
        Wednesday, January 20th 2021

        Arusha Pedal Series club aims to organise a group ride three times a week - on Mondays, Wednesdays or Thursdays, and Saturdays. All keen cyclists are welcome to join.

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        Dangerous to climb Kilimanjaro?
        Friday, January 1st 2021

        We read widely divergent estimates of deaths on Kilimanjaro, but how dangerous is it really? In this post we share our own experience of the dangers.

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        Dealing with COVID in 2021
        Thursday, December 3rd 2020

        First of all - you can definitely still climb Kilimanjaro during COVID-19! There is absolutely no impediment within Tanzania. Issues only potentially arise with your own country's rules.

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        How to Get a PCR Test in Zanzibar
        Thursday, December 3rd 2020

        Although there is no requirement to have a PCR test for COVID in order to enter Tanzania, many climbers are nonetheless required by their airline to show evidence of a negative COVID test before boarding the flight home.

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