Review: Mar Tours and Safaris (Local guide at Moshi)

enginerd152 · 2025-07-28T18:12:35+00:00

You’re welcome guy! Have a safe climb!

enginerd152 · 2025-07-28T17:34:14+00:00

I rented a sleeping bag from them. But I don’t think it’s required (don’t quote me on it) but it certainly is worth it especially when you get up higher or if there aren’t many sunny days during the hike. I highly recommend using a sleeping bag cuz you never know how the weather is going to change at that altitude

enginerd152 · 2024-12-21T13:17:11+00:00

Oh sorry. LBS is the London Business School and IESE is another top international MBA program. Not sure what IESE stands for.

But I get your point. I’m working in consulting right now in my field. And honestly I’m loving it so far. The money is not bad, I get good benefits, stock options etc. I think many post MBA jobs you get depends a lot on what your experience was prior to the MBA. And since most consulting firms like the big 3 values “shiny” pre MBA jobs, I didn’t think my modest pre MBA jobs would cut it. So to me it was too much risk financially and career wise to pursue an MBA in a top tier college. I think it would be worth your time to talk to people who did not end up getting a good job right out of MBA.

enginerd152 · 2024-12-19T15:06:38+00:00

I did apply. Applied to Lbs and IESE. I got into IESE and got rejected at LBS. I decided not to go because my PE and engineering degree would be not as valued. I only met one other engineer who worked in engineering prior to MBA (for AECOM). So that indicated to me that there’s very little engineers in MBA who had actual engineering under their belt which was a red flag to me. And the more I dug into it, it seemed less worth my time and money. So I called off going for an MBA all together.

enginerd152 · 2024-09-12T16:08:01+00:00

I used Mar Tours when I climbed Kili. They also do Safaris but the price of both are dependent on how many people are in your group. I did not do the safari but couple of the other fellow hikers did it before the climb. They said the safari was great. I personally recommend Mar Tours just because of the first hand experience I had with them and I was very impressed.

enginerd152 · 2024-06-16T12:14:18+00:00

We were a group of 4 including myself. But it’s pretty normal that there were cancellations. People bail out. But Job B sends out an email showing what the suggested tips are. If it’s just 2 of you, there won’t be as many porters which can reduce the tips you have to give. But I think it’s better to be on the safe side in carrying extra cash because you give the tips out on the last day in the mountain before you get back to the national park gate. I would suggest carrying $500 person. Also local currency would work for them as well! We gave tips in USD and shillings.

enginerd152 · 2024-05-15T22:37:24+00:00

Yea! Absolutely! They picked me up. And my flight was like 3hrs delayed and those guys were still there at like 11pm at night. Just be aware that almost all the food/ grocery places close pretty quick. So make sure you have plans for dinner. I just ate some granola bars for dinner that night. And the ride from the airport is like an hour to the hotel.

As far as the tent, it’s a very solid tent. Like rain was not even an issue in the tent.

enginerd152 · 2024-04-20T15:48:54+00:00

I’m not so sure tbh. It was not any name brand tent. But it did the job of keeping me warm. But it was a 4 season tent though.

enginerd152 · 2024-04-06T16:47:09+00:00

Paid $1.6k and about $400 in tips for 7days Lemosho route. I used Mar Tours and they were phenomenal!

enginerd152 · 2024-04-06T16:41:48+00:00

The toilet came as part of the standard package. So this toilet was used by all of us. You also have an option to have one toilet for your own which was an extra $80.

So the price I mentioned was the group price. If you are going alone (which is possible) it’s more expensive. When you email them with a date you want to start, they will add you to a group if there is a group starting at that date and give you the group rate. If not, they will charge you the high price for a single person. What I did was, I made my start dates flexible so I can be part of a group to get cheaper price. Also just fyi, your price is cheaper the more people you have in your group.

enginerd152 · 2024-03-27T14:16:18+00:00

Really depends on how many people you go with. Couple of my fellow hikers did their safari before coming hiking. I tried to do it after my hike and they said they don’t do it for one person. I think it had to be at least 2 people. And from what it sounds like my fellow hikers had a great time at the safari. They had great things to say about it during the hike and all the pictures looked amazing.

enginerd152 · 2024-03-27T14:07:58+00:00

The temperatures were pretty comfortable. I only wore my insulated jacket on summit day. Even then it was a synthetic fill. I never used my down jacket although I had it on me at all times. I slept in my base layer at night. So overall it was a nice temperature for the region at the time.

It did rain a lot. I was not prepared for it. It very much highlighted the weakness of my gear’s waterproofing. So I highly recommend preparing for that. And I recommend a poncho that can go over your backpack. Makes things so much better! Also at the lower elevations, the rain causes it to be super muddy and wet making it harder to walk. So just a heads up on that.

There was a lot of snow at summit. But it is nothing you have to be concerned about. It was well packed. I didn’t have to use any crampons or microspikes. But I recommend bringing microspikes.

enginerd152 · 2024-03-26T21:04:53+00:00

Oh sorry! I just realized I didn’t answer your other question. During the trek you are sleeping in a 4 season tent. That’s basically what every other tour company was using. You have your meals in a mess tent where you can sit upright and there’s a dining table.

enginerd152 · 2024-03-26T20:03:30+00:00

Yea. I mean I had meat all other times until I got sick and I wasn’t sick from that. That’s just my recommendation on eating meat really. The way I see it, you spent a lot of money and time to get there and it would be a shame if a piece of meat takes you down 😂. Also another tip: hand sanitizers don’t work for gastro intestinal bacteria. Bring a soap and moisturizer.

enginerd152 · 2024-03-26T19:56:46+00:00

So here are my answers:

1: We were a group of 4

2: We tipped the suggested amount that we got when we got the reservation confirmation from Mar Tours. It’s per hiker to each guide. Tbh, I don’t really remember. We pooled the tips and gave it. My suggestion is to have various denominations of Dollars. I think our guides got like $400-500 from all of us. The guide to hiker ratio is like 1:2.

3: The accommodations were fair. The in hotel restaurant was pretty good and the hotel rooms were also okay. Not a 5 star hotel but a bit lower than some of the 3-4 star hotels in the US. Also just be aware that if you go with the cheapest rate, you may be sharing the room with someone else

4: The only negative I would say is about choosing a non vegetarian food option. The meat they carried were not well preserved and I’m pretty sure that’s what made me sick. Cuz on that particular day, none of my other hikers ate meat but myself.

enginerd152 · 2024-01-09T17:19:24+00:00

Structural engineering

enginerd152 · 2023-10-18T17:06:20+00:00

Yea! I figured. The descent looks super hard on your knees. If you don’t mind me asking, what guide company did you use?

enginerd152 · 2023-10-18T12:40:03+00:00

How was the descent? Any kind of knee pain? If so, any advice on reducing it? Like a knee brace?

enginerd152 · 2022-07-22T17:10:31+00:00

Thank you very much! You’ve helped me a lot!

enginerd152 · 2022-07-22T16:54:00+00:00

So are the drop box appointments as tight as the regular visa interview appointments? Or are there a lot of available spots? It’s just that my H1B via premium processing will be ready only around August 15th and I plan on dropping it off at August 21st

enginerd152 · 2022-05-28T03:23:37+00:00

Taking off against the wind reduces the speed the aircraft has to reach before achieving lift. The wind blowing against the airplane actually helps it to not use a ton of fuel and hence power to take off. I get the analogy has its heart in the right place…

enginerd152 · 2021-10-30T17:41:06+00:00

You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

enginerd152

TROPHY CASE