Kilimanjaro

Generally clients are woken up at about 11pm and served a light snack before departure at around midnight. Guides sometimes will delay departure if conditions are good and the party is strong. However leaving later is a danger as clients descending the mountain in the strong sun can sometimes become very weak and more liable to trip and have an accident. On occasion guides leave earlier to accommodate clients who in their opinion may struggle or tire easily on the ascent. Getting the clients to the summit safely and comfortably is the guide’s main priority but we do apologise if the reason for an early departure was not made clear to Jessica at the time.

We do feel that the facts as presented here by Jessica misrepresent the situation. The two nights either side of the Kilimanjaro ascent are inclusive in the package cost on a B&B basis with free access to all the hotel facilities such as swimming pool, bars and gym. Rooms have en-suite facilities, hot showers, fans, mosquito netting on windows and over beds. Additional nights are charged at US30 per person in a shared room (single room accommodation is US60). Jessica shared a room with her husband and had an extra night for which she would have been charged US30 B&B per person. To my knowledge only the most basic African style hotels would be US5 for rooms with virtually no facilities. Clients going on Kilimanjaro with the local operator are free to use any hotel they like however all logistics are based at the hotel. Almost every hotel which organises Kilimanjaro ascents has its own teams of guides who in turn take on their own team of porters and cooks. It is only sensible for clients to stay at the hotel associated with their trek organisers and guides.

I am not sure how to interpret Jessica's statement that the guides were "pretty crap". We have had thousands of clients being escorted by our guides - almost always the clients cannot praise the guides enough. We know the guide who went with Jessica personally and he is a competent and well-spoken person; however he is one of our less extrovert guides. His unassuming and gentle manner has been very much appreciated by other individuals. All Kilimanjaro (KINAPA) guides go through a rigorous training supervised by KINAPA and covering flora, fauna, first-aid, mountain rescue, knowledge of the mountain. All this is conducted in English and the ability to speak an adequate level of English is a basic requirement. The local operator offers free English lessons throughout the low season for all it's staff but we will ask the local agent to ensure this particular guide avails himself of further lessons during the next low season. In addition, the local operator does review all customer feedback with her staff and will structure further customer service training for this guide to help him to be more adaptable to each client's needs.

At the park gate, where Jessica had to wait, there are many formalities that a guide must attend to and it may not be possible for him to meet the clients when the driver arrives with them. There are many groups departing at the park gates and all have to wait their turn to be processed. This should have been explained to Jessica at the briefing the previous night and we apologise if this was not the case in this instance.

With regard to other local operators, yes, you can just turn up and book whenever you arrive with anybody. People must be very wary when doing this as there are many rogue operators. People also need to be prepared to pay in cash in many instances as most operators will not accept card payments or cheques. This is often off-putting for those that aren't comfortable carrying around large amounts of cash.

We are unable to comment with regards to the local operator you mentioned, as we have not used their services, however they are much more expensive and the services provided are similar. According to their website they charge at least US$2000 per person extra for the same trek as ours.

All hotel and mountain staff are local Tanzanians with families living in local villages. Most speak English and most are very happy to converse with visitors. Apart from this, the local operator runs a shuttle bus service to Moshi for those who would like to visit the market, shops, restaurants, exchange money at the Forex Bureau etc. Local excursions are available at the hotel with local guides for walks and trips to local forests and communities. The local operator has set up, sponsors and assists a porters and guides association, also the local operator supports and helps-out the single mothers employed at Springlands and a local orphanage including their food and schooling. Produce is obtained locally. (We can give you their charity website for further information.)

The local operator pays porters and guides their wages according to Park Guidelines and supports their own tipping recommendations which provide them with total income well-above the Tanzanian average. Tips are often handed out by the guide to his chosen team according to the work that they have carried out. This way any possible arguments are avoided about the amount of work done. If porters found their guide to be dishonest this would become very apparent very quickly and he would lose his position and his team. The tipping sheets are guidelines only. The local operator’s sheet also says they can use the agents tipping recommendations.

Security: We have never had any complaints about loss of equipment in the store room. Jessica's mat was on the outside of her bag and could have fallen off. A sleeping mat has been found in the store (Vango Adventures Mat 183x51x3 cms) - maybe this is hers? Our arrival information does state: 'Pack the items you wish to leave at the hotel during the time you are away in a convenient, lockable bag and label the bag clearly with your name and date it is to be passed on to you'.

We were very disturbed and saddened by this client's comments and the vitriol of her message. We spent many years living and working in East Africa and chose this operator to work with, when as one of the first western companies operating in the area we had the choice of many local companies. We chose this operator because of its dedication to customer service and care for its staff and the local environment. We know the owner and most of the staff (including the guides and porters) personally and many are firm friends and we regularly visit the operation. Indeed, I have ascended Kilimanjaro more than 15 times with this and other operators. We do hope we have managed to answer the client's feedback adequately.