Me and a friend happen to be in Tanzania in July, and would love to get up on Kilimanjaro, via the Marangu route (don´t have time for any of the more scenic ones). However, reading up on it, there seems to be 3 major problems:
1. It seems like it´s ridiculously expensive (best quote I got was $50 for transport , 120 for guiding, 520 for park fees, and 125 for additional expenses= $815 per person )
2. There is a requirement for a minimum of 5 days spent on the mountain. I will already be acclimatized from Asia and Mt Kenya, so ideally, I wanted to go up and down in 2 days, to make it more of a physical challenge.
3. Having 2 guides for a group of 2 climbers seems to be mandatory (140 dollars per guide for 5 days). Ideally I would have liked to have no guide at all.
Does anyone know if it´s possible to work your way around any of this? Any exceptions to the rules? $815 and 5 days is much more than I´m willing to spend on a trek.
Thanks
Per