Mount Meru (4D) & Kilimanjaro Grand Traverse With Crater Camp (7D), Premium Group Tour (French & English Speaking Guide)

All our itineraries and quotations are fully customizable to suit your requirements. We are happy to prepare a free custom offer and check availabilities for you.

Please send us your travel wishes via our trip inquiry form here: [ GET CUSTOM QUOTE ]. This will be the fastest way to speak to [y]our advisor, check availabilities and get a custom quote for this trip.

We aim to respond to your inquiry within 24 hours and are looking forward to helping you plan your trip!

For technical questions or other wishes, email support@fairvoyage.com.

All our trips are fully customizable according to your wishes and requirements. Unless requested and specifically stated otherwise, the following items are normally excluded from our standard quotations for this trip:

• Tipping for your guides, drivers, hotel staff, porters, or other service providers
• International and domestic flights
• Visa fees
• Travel and medical insurance
• Medication and other personal medical items
• Food and beverages when not on tour and other than specifically stated
• Alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, snacks, and other food and drink not specifically mentioned in inclusions
• All personal purchases and expenses, such as for souvenirs, local SIM cards, etc.
• Rental gear, such as sleeping bags, apparel, gadgets, etc.
• Additional accommodation in case of itinerary variation (e.g. due to sickness)

When joining an open group to climb Kilimanjaro, please note that you will have to adjust your walking speed to that of others, which typically means the pace of the slowest person in your group. It is not uncommon for this to create some frustrations amongst group members. Faster climbers would prefer to go ahead and take less frequent breaks, while the slowest person may feel pressured to walk faster.

When booking a group trek, please expect that you will need to adjust to the pace and needs of the entire group. Furthermore, you will not be able to adjust your itinerary spontaneously (unless needed), such as shorten your climb by a day if you feel that you can go faster. While there will always be a sufficiently high guide to client ratio to assist with early descent if needed, groups will not split up to accommodate the preference of some climbers to walk faster than others.

If you prefer more flexibility during your climb to set your own pace and adjust your itinerary while climbing, please contact us for private climbing packages.

Absolutely! We always do our best to meet your change requirements. Changes can be made easily until you've booked and paid for a trip. Thereafter, please note that changes will be subject to our Change Policy and Cancellation and Refund Policy.

For changes that require adjustment payments before traveling, we will need to charge an administrative Change Fee of US$100 to help us cover our administrative costs. Therefore, please review your Itinerary and Price Inclusions carefully and tell us any changes you already know you might need before making your booking and payments.

Once you are fully satisfied with our custom offer and we've confirmed availabilities, you can pay safely by card or bank transfer.

We normally require a deposit of 30% and full payment within 60 days of the start of your trip to confirm your booking (see our Terms & Conditions). Exceptions apply depending on the nature and time of your booking, in which case we will advice you accordingly prior to your payment.

While any mountain can be dangerous to climb, Kilimanjaro is a lot less dangerous than most as the risk of rockfall or falling to death is mostly avoidable. However, climbing Kilimanjaro can be very dangerous due to the risk of altitude sickness which is the main cause of tourist deaths on the mountain. While the risks of altitude sickness can be mitigated to a large extent, they cannot be fully avoided.

If you are in good health, ascend slowly on a safe path under the guidance of one of our experienced and well-trained mountain guides, are honest about your physical condition with your guide and follow his safety instructions, you are not likely to suffer injury or death on your climb. But you must understand that you are always taking a risk when climbing Kilimanjaro.

Once you've booked your Kilimanjaro climb, if not sooner, it is important that you take these steps:

1. Take out travel insurance

Travel insurance is mandatory to participate in all Kilimanjaro climbs booked with Fair Voyage (read why). To protect your financial investment if you need to cancel your trip due to illness or other unforeseen changes, take out your travel cancellation insurance as soon as you've booked your Tour. Make sure your medical insurance covers emergency evacuations and high altitude trekking up to 6,000 meters. See our insurance recommendations.

2. Book your flight

To maximize your chances of finding a convenient & affordable flight, it's best to book your flight as soon as you've booked your climb. Kilimanjaro International Airport is conveniently located within 20-60 minutes drive of most hotels in Moshi and Arusha, which are both commonly used as a base to climb Kilimanjaro. It is best to arrive 2 nights before the start of your climb and to depart a day after you finish your climb. If constrained by time, it is also possible – but not recommendable – to arrive on the evening prior to the start of your climb, and to depart on the evening of your last climbing day.

3. Make sure your passport will be valid for 6 months

To enter Tanzania, you will need a visa. To obtain a visa, your passport must be valid for at least 6 months from the date of your entry to Tanzania. Check your passport's expiry date. If required, make sure to apply for a new passport well ahead of your trip.

4. Obtain an electronic visa

You must have a valid visa to enter Tanzania. To speed up immigration procedures, we recommend you to apply for your visa online, except:

• If you are arriving by land from Kenya via the Tarakea border, visas are not available online.
• Visas on arrival cost US$ 100 per person. Bring this amount in cash as card payments may not always work.

Make sure to apply for your visa well ahead of time as it may take up to three weeks for you to receive it.

5. Get a health check as well as required vaccinations & medications

It is important that you are in good physical health. If you are at increased risk due to age, level of fitness, or health condition, you must get a medical check and confirm with your doctor that strenuous exercise in high altitude is permissible for your condition.

In addition, make sure to check the latest Tanzania COVID-19 travel regulations as well as required and recommended vaccinations and medications for traveling to Tanzania. In particular, note that the type of malaria in Tanzania may be lethal, so we recommend taking preventative anti-malarials. As some vaccinations may need to be administered over longer periods of time to become effective, it is best to consult your medical expert well in advance of travelling to Tanzania.

6. Provide all your traveler details

Please login to your trip dashboard to share your personal and trip-related details for each person in your booking as soon as possible prior to the start of your trip. This allows us to prepare your trip (including your arrival and departure arrangements; as well as any dietary, medical or other requirements we should be aware of), and to ensure that we have all your details for emergencies.

7. Start to train

It is never too soon to start your training.

8. Organize all required gear, documents, medications, etc.

Organizing your gear can be a very time-consuming process. It is best to review our recommended packing list and start thinking about how to organize any missing items as soon as you've booked your climb. Most gear can be rented locally in Tanzania (except for cross-over climbs starting in Nairobi), which is a cost-effective and environmentally friendlier alternative to buying new gear. Please check with us for a full list of items available locally.

9. Understand how to minimize the risks of altitude sickness

The biggest risk for Kilimanjaro climbers is altitude sickness. Read our detailed article about the dangers of altitude sickness and how to minimize your risks. Ideally, you experience the effects of increased altitudes above 3,500 meters before climbing Kilimanjaro. However, for most climbers this is not feasible, nor is it required. Even if you have the opportunity to pre-acclimatize, benefits usually only last a few days and disappear by the time you climb Kilimanjaro. So make sure you understand the risks, but don't worry about pre-acclimatizing.

10. Carefully read all your Tour documentation

Please carefully read all information provided under the Preparing Your Trip section where we have put together all essential information for you. To know more, check our comprehensive Travel Tips with answers to over 300 frequently asked questions of Kilimanjaro climbers. If in doubt about any information, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Climbing Kilimanjaro is a strenuous and potentially hazardous activity, including risks associated with high altitude. Your guide’s primary responsibility is to ensure that you are safe and healthy during your trek.

A large number of emergency evacuations on Mount Kilimanjaro are attributed to incidents when climbers push themselves too far to summit by all means and therefore are dishonest with their guides about their physical condition.

It is important that you are always honest with your guide about your physical condition and that you inform him if you are unwell. You must follow your guide's instructions at all times, especially when instructed to descend as it will only ever be in the interests of your health and safety.

Always remember—summiting is optional, coming back down safely is mandatory.

Expect that you will not be able to avoid altitude sickness entirely. Even climbers who acclimatize well will experience at least shortness of breath and some other mild symptoms. However, the so-called “3 golden rules of altitude acclimatization” will help you acclimatize naturally in order to reduce the discomforts and risks associated with altitude sickness. The golden rules are:

1) Take your time: It is important to acclimatize slowly. Therefore, take as long as possible to hike between camps to help with acclimatization. Walk slowly, even if you have energy to walk faster. It is typically the climbers who are in excellent physical condition and push hard who later have trouble acclimatizing. Follow your guide’s pace and reduce your walking speed to “pole, pole” (slowly, slowly). Climbing Kilimanjaro is not a speed competition. The slower you walk, the more likely you will reach the summit.

2) Stay hydrated: Drink at least 2-3 liters of water every day, or more if in combination with dehydrating substances such as diamox or caffeine. Try to drink as much as you can especially in the morning and during the day, but stay within reasonable limits of no more than 5 litres per day. Excessive water consumption leads to loss of vital sodium and minerals, which can also be dangerous if not replenished. Depending on your amount of water consumption, supplement adequately with rehydration salts.

3) Walk hike, sleep low: The third rule recommends to sleep at a lower altitude at night than you've climbed to during the day. On some days, your guide may advice you that you have the option to go on an acclimatization hike from your camp to a higher altitude and back. Make use of this option when possible.

Diamox is a drug which reduces the symptoms of altitude sickness or acute mountain sickness (AMS). It has therefore become popular amongst Kilimanjaro climbers and the subject of much heated debate.

It is worth noting that Diamox was developed to prevent AMS in case of rapid forced ascent. This is not the case when you climb Kilimanjaro, where you have the option to take your time and ascend slowly over multiple days in order to acclimatize naturally.

We find that medical practitioners and travellers from countries with a higher tendency to make use of prescription drugs, such as the United States, also tend to towards advocating Diamox for Kilimanjaro climbs, whereas those from countries leaning towards natural preventions and avoiding drugs, such as Switzerland, also tend to have a less favorable view of Diamox.

Some of the most common side effects of Diamox are frequent urination and tingling sensations in your fingers and toes. While this is not problematic per se, it will significantly impact your sleep quality. Poor sleep for multiple days prior to attempting your final summit push may decrease your summit success chance and enjoyment of your summit experience.

Objective statistics are currently not yet available to support a clear recommendation for or against Diamox, both from a safety and summit success both of view. In the absence of such evidence, we recommend that you follow the advice provided by your expert medical practitioner.

When planning a trip to Tanzania, the following vaccinations are always recommended:

• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B
• Boosters for tetanus, diphtheria and measles

The World Health Organization additionally recommends the following vaccinations for all travellers worldwide:

• Mumps
• Rubella
• Polio

In addition, you may need the following:

• Yellow fever certificate: Required for immigration if travelling via a country with increased risk of yellow fever (such as Ethiopia or Kenya); not required otherwise.
• Typhoid: Usually only recommended for pro-longed stays.
• Rabies: Usually only recommended for pro-longed stays in remote areas.

Medical requirements other than vaccinations:

• Malaria: There is no vaccination to protect against malaria. The type of malaria virus in Tanzania can be lethal. We therefore strongly recommend that you take preventative anti-malarials when travelling to Tanzania.
• Other: Please refer to our packing list for more medical items recommend for your trip.

Please note that some vaccinations are administered over prolonged time periods to become effective. Therefore, it is important that you consult your medical expert well ahead of your trip.

Most visitors require a visa to travel to Tanzania. This includes travellers coming from the United States and Canada, most European countries, Australia and New Zealand, and parts of Asia. There are some exceptions including nationals from Cyprus or Romania, citizens of Malaysia, Hong Kong and a number of other African nations. Be sure to double check the visa regulations for your country as they are subject to change.

Until recently, the easiest way to get your visa for Tanzania was upon arrival. However, the Tanzanian government has changed the procedure of issuing visas on arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport with immediate effect.

Travellers who arrive at Kilimanjaro Airport without a visa, need to go through the following extensive process which may take more than two hours to complete:

•   Queue for a Government Control Number – you need this number for any payment to the government
•   Queue to pay your visa fee with your control number at the bank at the airport
•   Queue for Immigration to check and issue your visa

Therefore, we highly recommend applying online for the Tanzanian e-visa or obtain a visa before arrival at your nearest embassy as of August 2019. E-visa are normally issued within 2 or 3 weeks after application via the e-visa portal.

However, it is important to note that ports of entry or exit for the e-visa are limited. It is possible to arrive through Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar airport with an e-visa. The border crossings Namanga (Arusha-Nairobi) and Tunduma (Tanzania-Zambia) also accept e-visa.

If you arrive through the Tarakea (Amboseli - Rongai Gate) and Isebania border crossing, we recommend obtaining a visa upon arrival. Your e-visa will be accepted too, but the validation process may take much longer as the necessary equipment at these respective ports is not available.

The fee for single entry Tanzania visas is US$100 for US citizens and US$50 for all other nationalities that require a visa. E-visas can be pre-paid by card. The visa on arrival fee needs to be paid in cash (in US dollars).

You need the following documents to enter Tanzania:

• International passport, valid for at least six more months upon entry and needs to have at least one empty page;
• Visa required for most travellers;
• Yellow fever vaccination certificate, if travelling from or via any of the countries with risk of yellow fever transmission (including Kenya and Ethiopia).

When asked, you must also be able to show proof of your roundtrip ticket and possess enough funds to cover all costs during your stay.

We recommend that you arrive in Tanzania two nights before the start of your Kilimanjaro climb. This gives you enough time to acclimatize and recover from your flight. It also allows enough time for your check-in luggage to arrive – delays are unfortunately a common occurrence – and to organize any required rental gear or purchases locally.

If you are on a tight timeline and comfortable with the risk of potentially lost or delayed luggage, it is generally sufficient for you to arrive by early afternoon on the day before your climb. This will allow enough time for your pre-climb briefing and gear check which is usually conducted in the afternoon or evening prior to the start of your climb.

On special arrangement, but not recommendable, it is also possible for you to transfer to the park gate directly from the airport if you only arrive early morning on your first climbing day.

You will usually finish your Kilimanjaro climb by noon, latest early afternoon. The drive to Kilimanjaro airport takes about two hours. On the way, you may need to pick up any luggage stored at your hotel, and you'll likely want to have a quick shower if you've pre-booked a day room to freshen up before your flight. Taking all of the above into consideration, you can usually make it to Kilimanjaro airport on time for an evening flight from about 6pm.

From a safety point of view, however, departing the same day you finish your climb is not recommendable. This is because when you suffer from moderate altitude sickness, you should always get a medical check at the local hospital before continuing your journey, even if your symptoms have improved. If you are scheduled to depart on the same day, you might be tempted to skip such a potentially vital check-up, at the risk of your own safety.

When joining an open group, your tour usually includes one more night of accommodation after your climb. This also gives you the opportunity to celebrate your climb with your group and new friends – a very special occasion that you may not want to miss.

By booking a Tour with Fair Voyage, you warrant that you have or will immediately take out adequate insurance coverage. Fair Voyage cannot accept any responsibility for financial loss or costs incurred by you that are outside of our control.

Even when you have booked an all-inclusive package tour, there is still a need to bring money for visas, gratuities, souvenirs, drinks, snacks, laundry, meals not covered by your itinerary, equipment rentals and any other expenses.

The US Dollar is widely excepted in Tanzania, and we strongly recommend that you bring enough cash in US dollars for all your intended purchases and payments locally. Please make sure to bring smaller notes, and that notes are not older than 2006 as notes issued before 2006 are not accepted in Tanzania.

ATMs are available in major cities (including Arusha, Moshi, and Zanzibar), though may not always be conveniently located near your hotel. Credit cards are only accepted at larger hotels, stores and restaurants, and may involve high surcharges. Even when credit card machines are available, outages may occur due to limited network connectivity.

It is customary to tip your crew for their assistance and hard work during your climb. While tipping is not mandatory, we strongly advocate paying recommended tips to ensure a fair total compensation for your crew, especially your porters, who rely on gratuities as a substantial component of their income.

The total recommended tip can be a substantial amount and varies depending on the length of your climb, group size, amount of camping and safety equipment included in your climb, and the base wages paid by your Tour Operator. If you do not find specific tipping guidelines on this page or if in doubt, please check with us.

Your local Operator for this climb recommends tipping of US$40 per climber per day, which means in total:

• For 7-day climbs: US$280 per climber
• For 8-day climbs: US$320 per climber
• For 9-day climbs: US$360 per climber
• For 10-day climbs (in combination with Mt Meru): US$400 per climber
• For 11-day climbs (in combination with Mt Meru): US$440 per climber

For this Tour, you do not need to worry about the allocation of your tips to each staff member. Your Tour Operator will take care of the tip allocation to make this easier for you whilst ensuring fair treatment of all crew members. Typically, 40% your tip gets distributed to your guides and chef, and 60% to your porters.

You'll need a lot of gear to stay warm, dry and safe during your Kilimanjaro climb. Here's a complete checklist of everything you'll need (download PDF), including required gear, additional items that we recommend as well as optional items that you may wish to bring.

Many items can normally also be rented locally in Tanzania (except for cross-over tours starting in Kenya). If you do not see a price list with available gear for your Tour (or anything you need is missing), please check with us before booking your climb.

Documents

Medical and first aid

Personal care and sanitation

Clothing

Footwear

Headwear

Handwear

Accessories

Equipment

Other

Starting 1 June 2019, a plastic bag ban has been in effect in Tanzania. This means travelers are no longer allowed to bring single-use plastic bags into Tanzania both in hand luggage or in checked-in luggage.

The production, importation, use and sales of single-use plastic bags are prohibited and will be fined by the Tanzanian government. The penalty, if you are seen using a single-use plastic bag, is 30.000 TZS. Therefore, we recommend that you leave plastic bags at home and use cotton bags instead.

Fortunately, plastic zip-lock bags that are used to store liquids in hand luggage, are still allowed. The reason these remain allowed is that these are personal belongings of travelers. As a result, travelers will not dispose of these in the country, states the Tanzanian government in an official announcement.

We recommend that you only take high-quality zip-lock bags with you. This decreases chances of them to break and at the same time, they will increase your credibility in case you would have to show them upon entry in Tanzania.

Due to the warm and humid weather throughout most of the country, it is best to bring light comfortable clothing, with a warmer layer for evenings. Long sleeves and trousers are best for dusk to protect against mosquito bites. During the day you will need a hat, sunglasses and high factor sunscreen. Modest dress is advisable for both men and women, particularly in coastal areas.

Luggage delays do happen. Facing one can seriously impact your trip. For that reason, it is advised that you travel with the most critical pieces of your climbing gear in your hand luggage. Wear your hiking boots on the plane and one full hiking outfit including outerwear. These are the most difficult and costliest items to replace, and the ones that will most affect your ability to participate in the climb. Any critical pieces of outerwear, raingear or footwear should also come with you in your hand luggage.

Please keep valuables with you during your travels and do not place them in your checked luggage. Upon arrival, you may also store them in a safe with the front desk of your hotel.

It’s best to secure all bags that you do not carry with you with a padlock in order to prevent theft. This includes your checked luggage during your flights, any bags you leave at your hotel, as well as any bags that you leave with your driver, guide, or porters. We regret that we are unable to accept any liability for any items lost or stolen.

Your main bag on the mountain will be carried by a porter. To protect porters, there is a weight limit. Please check the limit stated in the Inclusions section, or check with us if in doubt.

Your bag should be a soft holdall, duffel bag or rucksack as many of the porters carry the bags on their heads. Hard bags and suitcases are not suitable and will not be allowed.

In addition to your main bag, you will need to bring a daypack for you to carry during the hike each day, as you will not have access to your main bag until you reach the next camp.

There are no power outlets to charge your devices on Kilimanjaro. You may want to bring spare batteries or a portable power station/battery bank. However, batteries drain quickly in the cold and you are at risk of finding them empty after few nights on the mountain. Another option is to use a solar charger that uses the energy from daylight to generate electricity. With modern devices, one hour of sunshine may be enough to fully charge your phone or camera.

The standard voltage in Tanzania is 230 V. You can use your electric appliances in Tanzania if the standard voltage in your country is between 220-240 V (as is in Europe and Australia). If the standard voltage in your country is in the range of 100-127 V (as is in the US and Canada), you need a voltage converter. The power outlets are UK-style (three prongs—two flat and one rectangular).

We recommend you to carry with you enough masks and hand sanitisers to protect yourself and others in your party from Covid-19. However, since recommendations often change, we strongly advise you to check the WHO Covid-19 travel advice page for more information.

As a certified B Corporation, Fair Voyage curates travel experiences and local suppliers according to industry-leading social and environmental sourcing criteria, and aims to make its sourcing criteria fully transparent for each trip.

We have curated this particular itinerary and our local partners on the basis of:

KPAP Partner for Responsible Travel

Travelife Partner

Please contact us for more information or a tailored itinerary with experiences and accommodations specifically curated according to the impact you want to have.

You might have seen cheaper offers elsewhere. Please beware: When adding up all the costs, it is not possible for a tour operator to operate profitably and legally when offering much cheaper prices than you'll find on Fair Voyage. Such operators are not duly licensed and operate illegally, and – most likely – they exploit the porters who carry your gear and supplies. We only promote duly licensed companies that are partners of the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project and adhere to minimum fair porter treatment standards. This is the very reason for our existence – to promote responsible tourism and ethical climbs.

There are more than 20,000 porters who work on Mount Kilimanjaro and most of them are not treated fairly. They risk their lives to carry heavy loads for tourists yet often do not even get their due minimum salary of less than US $10 per day. They sometimes only get one meal per day and have inappropriate gear. In extreme cases, porters have been found dead, left behind by their guides when they had accidents or fallen sick. Although KPAP and their Partner companies have been able to achieve significant improvements for their porters and the industry overall, the situation is still far from satisfactory for the majority of porters on Kilimanjaro.

We believe that responsible tour operators who treat your porters fairly are also more likely to offer you, as a client, higher quality standards, and that porters who are treated fairly by their companies are also more likely to have your best interests in mind. That means first and foremost not your summit success, but your health and safety.

Amongst others, you rely on your porters for your water and food to be treated properly. In the worst case, you might have to rely on them for a safe descent. Will your porters be able to do a good job if they are hungry, cold and get paid significantly less than their colleagues camping right next to your group?

While there is no guarantee, we believe that booking your climb with a responsible tour operator and guides who treat your porters fairly will be the safer choice for you.

The temperature on Mount Kilimanjaro swings between the two extremes of very hot or extremely cold. Generally, the lower areas will be humid and subject to plenty of rainfall – particularly in the rainforest and during the rainy season. The higher parts of the mountain are often much colder, with bitter winds and potentially snow at the top. Early mornings will warm up as soon as the sun rises and the days will be warm and bright. As soon as the sun sets, however, the temperature drops radically, often to below zero degrees.

Like all mountains, the weather is somewhat unpredictable. It’s best to avoid the rainy seasons from November to December and mid-March to May. Even during the dry season, however, it may rain occasionally, especially during your first and last climbing day when you are in the rainforest.

Sitting south of the equator, Tanzania embodies the picturesque vision one has when it comes to East Africa. Home to Africa’s highest mountain, Mt. Kilimanjaro, abundant wildlife in the world-famous Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, and exotic Zanzibar island, just to name a few of the country's highlights, Tanzania has proven time and again that untouched, pristine natural wonders are those that make the best memories and experiences. While the beauty of the country will draw you in, the friendly people and fascinating culture will make you want to stay. The colorful culture, exquisite landscapes, and rich wildlife are all wrapped up in a warm and welcoming package that is Tanzania.

Tanzania mostly enjoys a tropical climate with fairly pleasant temperatures all year round of between mid 20° to low 30° Celsius during the day. The hottest months are from October to February. The coolest months are June to August when nights and early mornings can be cold.

The country has two sets of rainy seasons; the long and heavy rains fall between March and May while the shorter rains fall between November and January every year.

Kiswahili is the national language of Tanzania. However, English is the official business language. Travellers can get by very well using English which is commonly spoken in all areas typically visited by tourists.

Tanzania generally follows North American tipping practices. Tourists are expected to tip at restaurants and hotels, their safari guide and driver, we well as their mountain crew when climbing Kilimanjaro.

The dialing code for Tanzania is +255. Mobile network coverage is widely available. It is even expanding in the parks, though limited in many areas and should not be relied upon. Vodacom, Airtel, and Tigo are the best networks.

Internet cafes and hotel internet access is available in most cities. Most safari lodges and camps do not have public internet connections. Even if there is an internet connection, it is often slow. If you require, you can purchase a local SIM card with data fairly inexpensively in major cities. For registration, you will need to ring your passport copy.