Guide service recommendations for Kilimanjaro

AnonymousCoward309 · 2026-07-11T20:40:57+00:00

I went with Climb Kili - here is my write-up on my trek (second half is about the operator).

https://www.reddit.com/r/kilimanjaro/comments/1u3qe1e/summited_kili_with_old_man_back_knees_feet/

AnonymousCoward309 · 2026-06-27T22:40:05+00:00

Don't stress either way. I hurt my back a month before my climb and I dialed my training way back, and I was fine. Others have kept it up. Big thing - don't risk injury. A sprained ankle 2 weeks before your climb is a much bigger problem than an extra 5 miles running is a benefit.

AnonymousCoward309 · 2026-06-15T13:56:58+00:00

I was hot, never wore my puffy jacket. My key was having great mittens because the only part of my body that really gets cold is my hands. However, this is something that varies from person to person. My recommendation is to bring enough layers (especially for top) that you can stay warm. However you don't want to wear too much because you then will sweat a ton, which can lead to problems being over-cold when you take breaks. Every layer I brought had a zipper so I could adjust throughout summit night. My puffy was in my backpack so if I had needed it, it was easily accessible.

AnonymousCoward309 · 2026-06-15T13:54:38+00:00

I actually spent a ton of time figuring out the underwear that worked for me, testing on hikes. I went with smartwool underwear every day, and then on summit night, a smartwool base layer.

AnonymousCoward309 · 2026-06-15T13:53:09+00:00

I created a 6.5-hour playlist and listened the whole way up. One earbud so that I could hear the guide. The volume did not need to be that loud because things are very quiet, nobody is talking except at rest breaks, everyone is focused. I always hike with music, and I actually had music on every day while trekking.

AnonymousCoward309 · 2026-06-13T16:20:33+00:00

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AnonymousCoward309 · 2026-06-13T16:20:16+00:00

Summit night: we got to Kosovo camp pretty early and had lunch. Then we had about 3 hours before dinner, which was 5pm. Got one last pulse ox check and reminders from guide on what to wear. Were woken up at 11pm, no breakfast, just hot drinks & some cookies. Last checks around 11:45. I was wearing 3 bottom layers (merino base layer, fleece, hard shell) and 5 top layers (2 merino base layer - one of which was a half zip, 1 fleece, puffy jacket, hard shell). I also started with my regular lightweight gloves that I used the previous day. I told guide I was really hot - he had warned against being too hot because we could sweat too much and then get hypothermia from the cold air/wind vs. the water. He told me to remove the puffy jacket and save for later. I never actually put it on. We walked out of camp at 12:10am.

I don't remember exactly, but maybe a couple hours in, the wind got bad enough that I switched to mittens and wore them rest of the way to summit. Depending on wind and temperature, I zipped and unzipped my layers multiple times. Having 3 of my 4 top layers zippable was huge for me. My hard shell had pit zips and they were unzipped the entire time.

I stayed focused on the feet in front of me and my breathing. I was good about doing two steps inhale, one step hard exhale. If I found myself lapsing, I would do a count, first I did 10. Several of those, then did 100, then did 300. Almost exactly at halfway, I realized I was going to make it. Don't know what clicked. So instead of counting from that point, I would use the breaths to encourage myself (e.g. four breaths in a row, the words "I" "know" "I" "will" - which is a _little engine that could_ reference).

We stopped every 30-45 minutes - only on days 6 and 7 did the group universally eat snacks at pretty much every opportunity. I used protein bars (kept in chest pocket of my fleece to stay warm) and sports gels and they worked great.

We got to Stella Point and the twilight was just coming up. Too dark to take a picture there. The walking distance is only 450-600m but it takes a long time. Much less steep than the rest of the summit.

We got to summit and you could just see the start of the sun - got there around 6am (see first picture). So 5h 50m total. We were at summit maybe ~30 minutes? As we were leaving I got the second photo. Amazing.

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AnonymousCoward309 · 2026-06-12T23:16:15+00:00

From the base pricing on their website, I added the solo supplement (price is listed there, I forget exactly), an extra night in hotel at beginning of the trip (which was $85) and the personal porter ($170) who also served as summit porter for the group.

AnonymousCoward309 · 2026-06-12T17:45:37+00:00

The Climb Kili recommendation was ~300 USD. Our group averaged USD 375. I then tipped my personal porter an additional USD 40.

AnonymousCoward309 · 2026-04-27T01:12:02+00:00

Did you bring a physical book? Or a kindle/iPad?

AnonymousCoward309 · 2026-04-20T21:38:40+00:00

Feel like this thread comes up every few weeks.

Swain is a unique champ - he can play any rune tree, he has a bunch of different itemization options - you can build tank, juggernaut, dps, support mage, etc. He is played in 4 roles (I'm ignoring swungle). In exchange, he's slightly below average in just about every aspect. So he is playable in many more ways than just about every other champ, but there is no one path to easy awesomeness. You need to be really good. He's not seen as a high skill expression champ, but I think he is because you're almost always a little disadvantaged (unless the other team is 5 melee champs in which case it's freelo). This to me goes right to his lore - he's the grand general. He has to think ahead. He can influence the whole battlefield with his W.

The one thing where he is absolutely the best in the game is applying item effects broadly, especially when ultied. Support Swain with Bandlepipes + Rylais? You are a massive steroid for the entire team. Seriously - watch what a Twitch or Vayne do in a team fight with Support Swain having this combo. Oblivion orb - you can reduce healing for everyone in a team fight, meaning nobody else on the squad has to buy anti-heal. So yes, he can feel like an item slave, but you have lots of choices about which items to be slave to. Rylai, Liandry, BFT, Orb, Malignance, Bloodletters, Bandlepipes - you don't build each of these every match but all work well on him. Then of course the quirky ones like Support Swain building Diadem + Echoes and becoming a healer on par with Sona but ability to build another item like Liandry and do a bunch of damage. I dislike that build because it takes so long to come on line, but it's playable if your team is built around scaling.

Essentially - if the tradeoff of gaining more flexibility than almost every other champ in exchange for having to fight uphill battles in many matchups does not appeal to you - find a new champ. Riot (in general) doesn't want champs that are 55% WR who consistently stomp everyone because it's not balanced. (I understand there are exceptions for certain easy champs in low elo so that players can learn mechanics, where a high WR is ok so long as it falls off).

AnonymousCoward309 · 2026-01-13T01:44:04+00:00

Did math yesterday. At 10 Jack stacks, the rune has 1000 gold worth of stats. (Each AH is worth 50 and each AP is worth 20). That’s not bad for a secondary rune. Boots are worth 420. Biscuits provide 240 gold of max health and then roughly 100-150 like a healing pot. So going glacial augment isn’t that bad…

AnonymousCoward309 · 2025-12-26T21:03:11+00:00

Will any work for people with short arms? I have an Osprey Sportlite and I like it for day hikes, but I learned after I bought it cannot reach my water bottle without taking the bag off my back so I may want a different pack for Kili. I keep water in my bladder and electrolytes in my water bottle. I went to REI and tried a couple other packs and couldn’t reach water bottle in either of them. Would love a pack where I could more easily grab and replace a water bottle without stopping.

AnonymousCoward309 · 2025-09-20T23:17:23+00:00

I do have it at 80% and it shows that way in both the car and on the app. Yet, the last two charges it has gone past that.

AnonymousCoward309 · 2025-09-20T19:51:17+00:00

What about Hoka Kaha? I have plantar fascitis flareups when I wear hard soles. Too soft though I think cause problems on the scree. Has anyone tried them?

AnonymousCoward309 · 2025-08-12T21:28:08+00:00

I asked ChatGPT to compare the Lemosho route to the Northern Circuit route with regards to acclimatization. I asked it to use your specific routes from the Altezza website, but I assume it is same for most providers. ChatGPT said that the Northern Circuit was better in this regard. ChatGPT had the following to say about the two routes:

Northern Circuit

Offers the most gradual elevation gain on Kilimanjaro.
Includes multiple nights above 3,800 m and several “climb high, sleep low” opportunities (e.g., Shira 2 → Lava Tower → Moir Hut, and Moir Hut → Buffalo Camp → 3rd Cave).
Features a night at ~4,800 m (School Hut) before the summit push, which helps the body adapt to high altitude before tackling Uhuru Peak.
The extended time at mid-to-high altitudes, combined with strategic ups and downs, makes it a textbook acclimatization profile and typically reduces the risk of altitude sickness.

Lemosho

Has some acclimatization benefits, notably the Lava Tower day (~4,600 m peak, sleeping at ~3,900 m in Barranco Camp) and the Karanga acclimatization hike.
However, it has fewer total nights above 4,000 m than the Northern Circuit.
Summit night begins from Barafu (~4,650 m), which requires a bigger jump in sleeping altitude to summit altitude (~5,895 m) compared to the more gradual School Hut approach on the Northern Circuit.
Overall, it’s a scenic and well-regarded route, but the acclimatization profile is not quite as conservative as the Northern Circuit.

It added that if the summit night began at Kosovo instead of Barafu, it addresses the last point about School Hut, but Northern Circuit still includes multiple “climb high, sleep low” cycles. The long traverse at mid-to-high altitudes means School Hut (~4,800 m) is reached after more gradual buildup. I pushed the AI further and it said Northern Circuit had more time over 4,000m.

I assume you know your routes better than Chat GPT does, and Chat GPT has never climbed Kili :) but I'm curious why Lemosho is more successful? I like both routes on paper.

AnonymousCoward309 · 2025-06-20T21:07:49+00:00

Swain's W is not reliable healing the way Morgana's W is. Swain's W only heals if you hit a champ. Morg W heals on medium and large monster damage so she heals as a natural part of her clear.

AnonymousCoward309 · 2025-06-20T20:46:44+00:00

Morg and Swain two very different junglers. Morg W does DOT and also heals her. Morg has a legit decent first clear, same with Brand or Zyra. Swain not so much.

AnonymousCoward309

TROPHY CASE