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

Ok... I know I am nitpicking so I apologize in advance. But Kili is a physiological challenge... not a physical challenge.

And the bulk of the fees is for the foreigner park entrance fees. That part is fixed... so there is little to play with. You have a pretty good deal already, even if not ideal for you.

mrchad9 wrote:Ok... I know I am nitpicking so I apologize in advance. But Kili is a physiological challenge... not a physical challenge.

And the bulk of the fees is for the foreigner park entrance fees. That part is fixed... so there is little to play with. You have a pretty good deal already, even if not ideal for you.

Yeah, I know it may sound a bit optimistic with two days, but I will have spent lots of time at high altitude before the climb, and I've never had problems with altitude before, at much higher elevations. And I do believe that Kilimanjaro can become a physical challenge if you limit the number of days, which would make it more interesting.

I have never been even close to Kili, so I have no idea if it will be possible to get around all the hassle and red tape, but I like the way you're thinking ... trying it in two days after getting acclimatized elsewhere!

That said, if, and that's a big if, you do manage to get permission, I expect that getting around those fees will be impossible. In fact, you may even have to pay more just to get permission to do this. Perhaps you can find a sponsor - explain that you're going to do something extraordinary and who knows, maybe you'll find a company that's interested in footing the bill.

Good luck, Rob

A final update for anyone reading this post in the future. I had no luck getting a permit for less than 5 days, and no way of cutting the costs any further. From the research I´ve done, it doesn´t look like it can be done. I don´t think 900 dollars for a slow 5 day trekk is good value, so I´ll be doing something else instead. Mt Kenya seems like much better value, and hopefully less of a crowd. It´s kind of sad that one of the poorest and least well known areas in the world is practically off bounds for budget travelers. I´ve only seen that much regulation before in Nepal. With that little freedom of choice, and such steep fees, the attraction of Mt Kilimanjaro seems like a mystery to me.

Mystery? It's the easiest of the seven summits. That's why it's overrun with out of shape old farts walking 4 miles a day with a dozen porters and shelling out big bucks that keep the mountain packed year round. Unfortunate... but no mystery.

I tried that. Coming off Elbrus the week prior and got no where with permission (Zara) I would be very acclimated but no go

per160 wrote:A final update for anyone reading this post in the future. I had no luck getting a permit for less than 5 days, and no way of cutting the costs any further. From the research I´ve done, it doesn´t look like it can be done. I don´t think 900 dollars for a slow 5 day trekk is good value, so I´ll be doing something else instead. Mt Kenya seems like much better value, and hopefully less of a crowd. It´s kind of sad that one of the poorest and least well known areas in the world is practically off bounds for budget travelers. I´ve only seen that much regulation before in Nepal. With that little freedom of choice, and such steep fees, the attraction of Mt Kilimanjaro seems like a mystery to me.

Not trying to be mean......but can you find any other 5 day guided activity on any continent for under $900? You're right....they're poor.....which is why they want $900!

[/quote] Not trying to be mean......but can you find any other 5 day guided activity on any continent for under $900? [/quote]

Well in my opinion, the mandatory guiding is something negative. I´d rather go without a guide, even if he comes for free. But if you insist on bringing a guide, you can get a guided 2-3-day ascent of peaks higher than Kilimanjaro, in Bolivia, for 140 dollars, including hut accommodation, transport, food and equipment. And that´s in much wealthier country than Tanzania, with much higher wages. Or you can do it on your own, for about 50 dollars........And you´re not required to spend 5 days on the mountain, and you can actually have the summit to yourself, with a little bit of luck. That sounds like much better value to me.

[/quote] You're right....they're poor.....which is why they want $900![/quote]

Which isn´t necessarily a good long term strategy for bringing in revenue to the country. Relatively poor countries like Thailand could easily charge a 100 dollar fee for entering the country, and still keep most of the tourists, but choose not to, presumably because it´s not good for them in the long term. It may be that the high fees in Tanzania is beneficial for those setting them, but not for the people. Anyway, my point was that I don´t feel like paying a fortune for a hike, when the rest of the country is poor/cheap. Part of the point in going to poor countries, is that I generally get a lot for my money there. If not, I´ll go to some other country instead. I also don´t like being in a place where I am only being seen as a source of revenue. If you´re used to being able to move freely in nature, it sucks when there is bureaucracy and fees surrounding every single area that you may be interested in going to. I´d rather they just charge people another 100 dollars upon entering the country, and then let them experience the place in a less restricted manner. All too often mandatory guides and porters are just a way of bringing in revenue, and has nothing to do with safety.

mrchad9 wrote:Mystery? It's the easiest of the seven summits.

Yeah, I get that, but it´s still a mystery to me why anyone would care about the seven summits.

Supply and demand. 25,000+ people every year decide that $900 is worth it. You don't. It's cheaper in Bolivia.....then go to Bolivia! There is always going to be someone, somewhere, who thinks a certain price for a certain good or service is too much.....and that's ok. They obviously feel like they are doing what makes most sense. Of course it's Africa, nothing those countries do politically makes a ton of sense. Don't like it? Don't go. I doubt complaining about it on SP is going to change a whole lot. Like Chad said, it's a more realistic climb for wealthy people to knock down one of the "trophy climbs" without having to put in a lot of work before hand. Supply and demand. If it were "too much" people would stop going and the price would have to subsequently be lowered in order to keep bringing in revenue. Or not, which is probably what would happen in Tanz......beaurocrats sitting around scratching their butts wondering why the revenue dried up.

I have a friend who climbed it in 2-3 days. He was "guided" as per law. but was able to get some special permission.

WyomingSummits wrote:Supply and demand. 25,000+ people every year decide that $900 is worth it. You don't. It's cheaper in Bolivia.....then go to Bolivia! ...........Don't like it? Don't go. ........I doubt complaining about it on SP is going to change a whole lot.

Yeah.......I already mentioned I´m not going to Kilimanjaro......My complaints wasn´t exactly a petition to change their regulation.......

WyomingSummits wrote: They obviously feel like they are doing what makes most sense.

Yeah, but decisions can be based on limited information and a limited brain capacity

MoapaPk wrote:I have a friend who climbed it in 2-3 days. He was "guided" as per law. but was able to get some special permission.

Do you know how he did that, and if he still had to pay the fees for 5 days? Did he have to bribe someone to get the permit, or perhaps some ranger in the park?

I'm inclined to agree with Per on this issue. Unfortunately this happens all over the world and deters many people from accessing some of the most beautiful of God's (not guides, park rangers and bureaucrats) creation.

In very similar circumstances, a friend and I wanted to do the Kokoda Track, a treacherous 100km trail in the mountains/jungles of Papua New Guinea, which has historical significance from WWII. Having just climbed the highest mountain in PNG, we had a few spare days, not a whole lot of money and the urge for a physical challenge. Similar to Kili (but I imagine not on such a large scale), we were told you need guides, pay fees and take 10 - 14 days to complete it. Getting rather pissed off with all the ho-ha, we ignored all the bureaucracy and walked the trail in 3 days, unguided without paying a cent. After overtaking probably 15 or so guided parties along the track, word got through of these 2 Aussie blokes were racing along the Kokoda. Somehow 1 day later we were in the Tourism Ministers office in the capital getting a handshake and an interview for the local news................

Same thing happened when we tried to climb Ayres Rock (Uluru). Fees, rules and regulations ('dangerous' 10km/h winds deeming the Rock ‘un-climbable’ for that day) led us to sneak in through the National Park gates at 4am and climb it. I have to admit, descending the Rock in daylight in clear view of hundreds of jealous tourists, the several park rangers waiting at the bottom were not as impressed as the PNG tourism minister............