Mt Kilimanjaro Logue » Resources

Travel Insurance: Should you have it?

Donovan — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 19:30:08 +0000

While Kilimanjaro is one of the easier mountains to climb in the world, it does not mean you should forgo travel insurance. Travel insurance is usually required by all foreign expeditions companies, but not required by local companies (generally speaking). Fortunately, since you do not use any specialized equipment going up Kilimanjaro, it’s considered that you are hiking, or trekking, and therefore you can get most travel insurance that covers outdoor adventure.

Travel insurance is pretty cheap normally – and the extra $50 you spend, is well worth the safety and security to know that you are covered. One thing about most travel insurance is that you end up covering any medical costs you incur, and then you are reimbursed by the insurance agency. I know that may seem ridiculous, but how can a insurance company work with different hospitals all over the world. You manage the process, and then are reimbursed.

BootsnAll Travel Network has a wide range of travel insurance that you can review.

Health Precautions On Kilimanjaro

Donovan — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 22:24:27 +0000

If you are climbing any mountain – not just Kilimanjaro or Mt. Kenya, you should always keep this in mind.

Do not go higher than 10,000 feet if you have any of the following conditions:

1. A nose bleed
2. A cold
3. A sore throat
4. Respiratory infection
5. A High Temperature
6. A cough

From time to time on Kilimanjaro, you might wake up with a sore throat or a small cough, but if it persists for more than 24 hours, you should get down the mountain as soon as possible.

Barranco Wall on Kilimanjaro

Donovan — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 19:07:13 +0000

Here is a view of the Barranco Wall as you are approaching from Shira Camp. After you stay the night at Barranco Camp, you will hike up this wall early in the morning. This is perhaps the steepest and one of the harder points of the Machame route. Hiking up a fairly small trail with enormous cliffs on one side (and porters passing you from time to time), you will use your hands and feet to climb up parts of the wall. Most of it is manageable but there are a few spots that are a bit scary.

Overall, if you have good team, you should have no problem getting to the top. It’s kind of hard to make this climb right after breakfast, and many people “loose” their breakfast doing this strenuous part. If there are hoards of people staying at Barranco Camp, try to set off early so there isn’t a huge train of people hiking up at the same time.

The top of Barranco Wall is a great place to take a break and enjoy the epic views.

Publish Your Stories On Mt KilimanjaroLogue

Donovan — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 13:58:34 +0000

I am constantly receiving emails from people who have climbed Kilimanjaro, or are going to climb Kilimanjaro. Usually these are filled with questions, advice, or thoughts about the mountain. I have decided to start accepting outside perspectives on Kilimanjaro to be published on this blog. If you have climbed, or are going to climb Kilimanjaro, and want to share some perspective, thought or opinion, please let’s know. Email Donovan (at) BootsnAll (dot) com. We will accept anything – your favorite picture from your trip, or even an essay on how much you loved, or hated, climbing Africa’s highest mountain

Resource Links for Diamox

Donovan — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 15:29:56 +0000

Most Americans want to use Diamox while climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. There are different opinions and perspectives on if you should use it, and how you should use it. Here is a sample of good links where people debate the subject and if they had positive or negative effects with using Diamox.

Altitude Sickness and the Side effects of Diamox

Wikipedia on Diamox

British Mountaineering Council

Kilimanjaro Forum

Donovan — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 19:27:47 +0000

On the far left hand side of the screen, you should see a link called Kilimanjaro Forum.

If you ever want to ask a question about climbing Kilimanjaro, or read other people’s concerns, this is designed as a community for sharing information about climbing Africa’s highest mountain.

Check out the Kilimanjaro Forum

The Final Mile

Donovan — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 11:17:54 +0000

Watch Out For Vehicles

If you are descending via the Mweka route, you will know your trip is almost over when the trail becomes more of a dirt road. The last mile or two, you can actually drive a Land Rover up the mountain, as seen below in this picture. It used just for picking up hurt people or as an access road for park authorities.

You will also know you are almost to the end when you see many locals children cutting grass for their animals.

Kilimanjaro’s Hidden Secret – Beer for Sale!

Donovan — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 15:50:48 +0000

I love beer

There is a hidden racket on Kilimanjaro, a little profiteering going on through a mixture of park authorities, guides and porters. When most tourists descend off Mt. Kilimanjaro, they want to quench their thirst with a nice good beer, whether it’s warm or cold, as long as it’s beer.

Since Safari Lager and Kilimanjaro Beer are pretty much the only beer available in the country, most tourist can’t wait to get their hands on a beer back at the hotel. But wait, beer can “be arranged” in certain camps, most easily at the Mweka Camp, the camp on your last night down the mountain. Porters carry up beer to Mweka Camp via the Mweka Camp gate. In Mweka Camp, you can find the camp manager and ask for beer. He will pretend he doesn’t know anything, but then will call over a porter, who will ask you how many beers you want, and run off into the forest, bringing you back as much beer as you want. We bought about 70 beers one night and it was no problem – probably one of their biggest orders.

The thing is: it’s expensive, at least compared to the regular price. In hotels and on the streets, you can get beers for about 700 shillings to 1200 shillings, that about 75 cents to $1. However, at Mweka Camp, beers go for about $3 each. It’s worth it, though. Some poor soul had to pack them up to 10,000ft on the mountain. And, if they can make it happen, I will pay the price.

Uhuru Peak – Kilimanjaro Summit 360 Picture

Donovan — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 15:21:54 +0000

This is the best summit picture I have found on Kilimanjaro. It shows the summit of Kilimanjaro with a Quicktime movie stitched together. You can click and drag it to “look around” the summit with a 360 degree view. Try it, it’s fun.

See Kilimanjaro picture.

Also, when you drag it one direction, if you look closely, you will see a huge cliff, drop off, and down into the bottom of the Reusch Crater, with all the huge glaciers in the backgroune.

Kilimanjaro Park Fees

Donovan — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 03:39:16 +0000

In 2006, the Kilimanjaro National park fees were dramatically increased. Almost all outfitters mountaineering companies include the park fees into the overall price of the trip. However, it’s important to see how the price breaks down:

This is PER PERSON, PER DAY on the mountain.

Daily Charge $60.00
For a six day trip, you would pay $360.00 per person to the Tanzanian government. On a seven day trip, you would pay $420.00 per person.

Night Charge $40.00
For a six day trip, you would pay $200.00 per person to the Tanzanian government. On a seven day trip, you would pay $240.00 per person.

Rescue Insurance $20.00
This is a one time fee.

That means, on a typical trip up Mt. Kilimanjaro, you would pay between $580 to $680 PER PERSON to the Tanzanian government. All tour operators absorb this cost and pay it for the client.