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Def11 wrote:Joel are you there?? i just sent you a PM.

Hi,

sorry for the delay. I haven't been at SP for a while. I bought a flight with Kenya Air from London to JRO. I bought the flight Stockholm-London seperately. It's much cheaper to seperate the flights, than to book the flight all the way.

Regards
Joel

Thank's Joel.

I'd like to share my experience of climbing Kili on a tight budget. I did it in august .The entire trip cost me about 2400 $ . there were 5 of us . Our group chose 6 day Machame route . The sum included : 900$ for tickets to Nairobi and back from Dar es Salaam with Emirates, I payed 950$ for guides , porters , food etc , 100$ -tips . I also payed 90$ for one night at hotel in Nairobi, 30 $ at hotel in Moshi , 30$ in Arusha ,and 40 $ in Dar es Salaam. The bus ride from Arusha to Dar es Salaam cost about 20 $. I spent about 200 $ on food ,gifts ,taxis outside the mountain. Vaccinations cost me only 50 $
I enjoyed the trip very much. All of us made it to the top

In theory one could do the climb self supported with a guide or 2 just for route information and safety. Its basically a 6-8 day hiking/backpacking trip so one just packs the necessary food along with shelter (can be split between several people, same with cooking and water treatment gear) and appropriate clothing. I dont beleive in making a large production out of it like most trips I read about. Thats just insane, IMHO misses the point of being in the backcountry in the first place. Is such a trip possible (the fact that this type of trip would be low budget is just a bonus!), 2-4 people with one guide or 2?

I understand that the main problem regarding cost is the basic park fee of $600-$700 per person for a 6 day trek, that is just outrageous IMHO. That can't be changed.

sneakyracer wrote:In theory one could do the climb self supported with a guide or 2 just for route information and safety. Its basically a 6-8 day hiking/backpacking trip so one just packs the necessary food along with shelter (can be split between several people, same with cooking and water treatment gear) and appropriate clothing. I dont beleive in making a large production out of it like most trips I read about. Thats just insane, IMHO misses the point of being in the backcountry in the first place. Is such a trip possible (the fact that this type of trip would be low budget is just a bonus!), 2-4 people with one guide or 2?

I understand that the main problem regarding cost is the basic park fee of $600-$700 per person for a 6 day trek, that is just outrageous IMHO. That can't be changed.

We were two people and had two Guides(cheif Guide and assistant Guide).

Just did a 2 week Kili and Meru trip for under 2000 USD.

Kili and meru under 2000 USD? that's very good price.

WouterB,

2000 USD? That´s indeeed, a very good price. Maybe you can share your experience with us (and not only tellig us how cheap you went...). We will be all very thankfull.

By the way...any of you know about TanzaTrail?....I am budgeting now with them....and I will share the info with you all.

Greetings!

So I am reading that people are doing Kili with only a guide in a more alpine style. I like this option. Anyone have some suggestions on a guide to call that will keep things as cheap as possible. I dont need anything but to get on the mountain.

Mooner wrote:So I am reading that people are doing Kili with only a guide in a more alpine style. I like this option. Anyone have some suggestions on a guide to call that will keep things as cheap as possible. I dont need anything but to get on the mountain.

But how does one guide without porters carry the dining tent, the bathroom tent, the Kilimanjaro lager, the popcorn and corn muffins and your gear?

We just did it over the holidays for the budget price of 6 grand (just us two) but that doesn't include the $450 tip for our team of 10

Mooner wrote:So I am reading that people are doing Kili with only a guide in a more alpine style. I like this option. Anyone have some suggestions on a guide to call that will keep things as cheap as possible. I dont need anything but to get on the mountain.

probably you could send PM to Joel who did the similar trip.

I like the idea of climbing kili in a alpine style, can any one advise please? I'm planning to trek kilimanjaro in January 2014 and liked the idea of doing with just a guide and me.

I hiked Kilimanjaro without using any porters or support team. To obtain a permit you are required to hire a guide, so it isn't really possible to hike Kilimanjaro solo. That said, I did great take satisfaction in setting my own schedule and managing everything myself. If you're curious, here is my trip report: http://intothemountains.wordpress.com/2 ... gust-2012/

It is a very doable hike. Be prepared to haul a large quantity of water to the higher camps, depending on the route you take. I used 'Kilimanjaro Alpine Service' for my guide. The prices keep increasing every year, and I hiked in 2012, but here is their website: http://www.climbkilimanjaro.eu/

Thanks, Just one week to go, very excited....

are there any advices that you could give regarding the diamox?? i'm thinking whether to use it or not.

Thanks.

Hi,

Just a note on Diamox... At first I wasn't going to take it (thinking it's somehow "cheating"), but then I started thinking about how I was taking malaria pills and getting immunizations to avoid getting sick, so why wouldn't I take another pill to avoid altitude sickness too?

From what I've read, altitude sickness and its more serious complications HAPE and HACE are not really related to fitness (i.e. very fit people can still get sick). For it to be effective, you're supposed to start taking diamox a day or two before starting your climb, so don't just save it for summit day. Spending more days on the mountain before summit day also helps a lot, whether or not you take diamox.

My experience was that the only side effect of diamox was frequent urination. I actually found this enough of a nuisance that I stopped taking it on summit day, but by then I think the diamox had already helped me acclimatize.

Have fun!