Almighty Kilimanjaro

I did the Machame 7 day route with a friend of mine. We are both 27 years old and with a good fitness level.

For the trek, we had a staff of 11 people: 2 guides (Innocent & Fred), 1 cook (Dastan), 1 waiter (Salim), 1 summit porter (Swalehe) and 6 regular porters. Our guide Innocent came the day before our trip to pick us up from the airport and gave us a briefing at the hotel. He also did a gear check to see if we had everything what we needed. It was really good that we checked it because we ended up renting a sleeping bag with a confort zone down to -15°, which is actually needed

During the trip our two guides took really good care of us and demonstrated excellent knowledge of the terrain and the weather. They did every eveing a health check and a briefing for the next day (what to wear, what to carry in our daypack, how long to walk and through what vegetation zone). They also constantly make sure you drink enough (at least 3 litres) and don't go too fast ("pole pole"). During the summit hike, they will cheer you up and offer help by carrying your daypack for some time, so that you can get some "rest"

We also had a great cook, who prepared our breakfast, lunch and dinner. We even got some extra snacks from him. The team will always make sure you have enough food and I guarantee you won't be starving for the next couple of days. They really push you to eat with incredibly big portions, which is actually really good because of the altitude you'll slowly lose your appetite... or was it simply because we ate too much :)

We had an excellent waiter called Salim. He woke us up every morning and brought us hot water for washing. He also made sure that we had hot tea or coffee every morning before getting out of the tent. With Salim, you will be served every meal to your tente with extreme kindness. Although, I would have preferred to have more autonomy and independence as I am used to being on the mountain by myself with a gas cooker and canned food, this is how it works with most companies: they ensure you keep focused on the wonderful landscapes and your actual trek.

Out of the porters, I would also like to mention Swalehe who was designated our summit porter to help us with last push for the summit at night. I promise his warm cup of tea at Gilman's point was a delicious life saver.

Overall, this unique and emotionally intense experience has been made possible thanks to the expertise of the whole Almighty Kilimanjaro Africa team. "One team, one dream. Non-stop to the top"