Don’t Take Our Word For It...

From the moment we were greeted at the airport, we knew that we were in safe hands. The in-country staff are every bit as helpful as the staff in Northern Ireland with any and all queries. We met our hiking group in Moshi and were very lucky in that respect also, as they are all lovely people. Our climb was all very pleasant until people started to feel the effects of altitude sickness (Nine out of ten of our group experienced some sort of altitude sickness). However, as unpleasant as this was, the help given by our Adventure Alternative guides showed how dedicated, caring and supportive they really were. We all summited and, on reflection afterwards, all ten of us agreed that we owe that solely to the dedication of the Adventure Alternative staff, both on the ground and on the mountain. Also, our guides and porters were all treated well and had the appropriate clothing and footwear (which you realise the importance of when you see some porters from other companies wearing sandals or runners/trainers with the soles falling off). Reaching the summit of Kili was, without a doubt, the highlight of our honeymoon, despite the several amazing experiences that followed, and we will always think of the fantastic staff at Adventure Alternative whenever we think of our climb.

I wanted to send along a couple of quick notes on how much we enjoyed our trip to Kilimanjaro. Castro was an incredible logistical organizer – – he diligently checked some important points of equipment (e.g. size and type of water bottle), the attention to detail was very much the difference between summitting and being taken back to base camp early.

Our guide Romli was fantastic, fun to be around and taught us about the country and the stories of the porters, a good manager of his team and staff, and most importantly, an expert on the mountain. There wasn’t a moment where he wasn’t putting our interests first. He was very attentive – when I started to become a bit hypoxic from lack of oxygen, he quickly dropped me from the summit and made sure I slept at 3100m that night. I thoroughly appreciated his leadership in making this climb as rewarding as it was!

The team were respectful and good humoured, became like a surrogate family for our week on the mountain. We were very happy with the high quality of the materials used at the camps – especially the thick sleeping mats, and the delicious food and fruits.

I thought Adventure Alternative was brilliant. Before I left I emailed them a couple of times about kit and AMS tablets and they (Andy MacDonald and Chris Little) replied very quickly with sound advice. On the ground in Tanzania Castro was very helpful.

I thought the food was exceptional, given the circumstances, and he said that he particularly favours getting Amini as a cook/porter as he’s so good at making the food – I thought it was lovely that he went that extra mile with little things like putting bits of green pepper in the omelette each day to make it a bit more interesting.

So, all in all a great experience and a good company. Worth double-checking their kit list again yours too as they tend to supply mattresses so there’s no need to take a sleeping mat.

The Kilimanjaro climb is a once in a lifetime adventure. It waz brilliantly organised by adventure alternative team. Evertyhing was designed to make it as comfortable as possible from the arrival in Moshi to the departure day. The 7 day trek on the mountain is a great experience, the last day is really hard and nobody’s sure to get to the top (I did not) but the whole experience is fascinating and the nature and views are amazing.

This message to THANK YOU and all the Adventure Alternative team for the organisation of our trip to Kilimanjaro. Thank you for organising the trek even if we were only 2. Everything went really well and smooth from the very 1st contact to the end of the trip thanks to your professionalism and reactivity. I wish to say thanks to Castro in Moshi for the local organisation and the good care he took of us as soon as we arrived in Moshi until our departure (also for organising the relation with the bus company allowing me not to be stuck in Moshi on my leaving day 🙂 Thanks to Lipman and Kamande for taking care of us on the mountain, allowing us to go as far as we could and bringing us safe back from the trip. Thanks to the cook and porters (what a job!).

I wish Adventure Alternative a long life and will definitely recommend your organisation around!

We started out with a charity climb of Mt Kilimanjaro for Alzheimer’s Australia NSW. There was a group of 18 people to start ranging from early 20s to 64!

Then 5 of us moved onto a post climb safari in Ngorogoro, Lake Manyara and Tarangire which AA head office set up for us. It was nice having the same operator covering both so they knew the drill and made the transition out of Moshi so simple.

We did our own thing for a couple of weeks then met up with another AA team in Kenya for a Masai Mara safari with just my husband and I.

Adventure Alternative from the main office were only too willing to give oodles of guidance and answer an array of silly questions over the past 6 months. On everything from altitude advice to which camera lenses to pack, they answered everything.

The crew on Kili were great. Because of my injury I could go up ok but down was a nightmare. I couldn’t get down quickly enough and the mountain crept in. My body just wanted to shut down and sleep but Kamanda wouldn’t have a bar of it. I was pretty convincing I thought, “just 5 minutes sleep and I’ll be good to go again” I pleaded, but he kept me going with very calm but strict orders. He even gave me his sandals for the trip down when my feet couldn’t fit in my boots anymore. Pete and I also had a really great experience with a porter named Manus. If you’re looking for an up and comer, he was great, personable, eager to help, always on the front foot…

The safari in the crater etc was good. I think we found the setup of the Kenyan one a little better though with separate guide and driver to help with alertness on the long drives.

I was originally so sad that I wouldn’t have time to visit Moving Mountains to learn and see more about the charity arm, but having Kelly in the car with us was perfect. Pete and I got to ask all the questions we wanted and learn all about what Moving Mountains does there. We talked the whole trip to the Mara. We also found him very knowledgable about all things Kenya. We quizzed him on politics, logistics, religion… You name it, and he had good solid conversation on each of them. We were really impressed.

Kamau, the driver, was also awesome. He tried so hard to find things for us and was super chilled with a sly sense of humour. He was gutted he didn’t spot is a leopard but seriously tried harder than any other safari driver I’ve ever had. There were a couple of technical problems but they acted like total pros in how they dealt with the obstacles and were even sorting things out at 3am to make sure we had as minimal impact as possible. They really did a good job, I’d go with them again in a heartbeat.

My daughter her husband and myself climbed Kilimanjaro with adventure alternative and we all made the summit on the 29thSept. We had an amazing trip, it wasn’t easy and if it was there would be no challenge .Many thanks to our guides and porters for the way they looked after us without their help and encouragement we would never have made it. We met a young man Kelly from Kenya he is living proof of the wonderful work Adventure Alternative does. He went from street child to the director of the company, and his enthusiasm is just a joy. Castro our main contact, like all the staff were so helpful, they really made the whole trip a lot of fun!!!!!!!!!

I was hoping for and expecting an experience that would sit with me for a long while and was not let down, awesome does not do it justice .

The trip, from the decision to run an adult Africamp to returning home, was well organised, informative, fun and something I hope to repeat in the future. The trip was made enjoyable and rewarding by the positive attitude and support of all the staff (AA and local community staff) who ensured that we had an experience to remember.

I have learned a lot about Kenyan life and culture and also a few things about myself. I feel as if for a time I made a little bit of difference to the life of some Kenyan children and adults. Thank you.

My son did Kenyan Africamp and came back saying it can’t be described in words and photos, you’d have to see it for yourself. I did and he was right!

The Kenyan staff are warm and welcoming and gave such an insight into their beautiful country. The work of Moving Mountains is awe-inspiring we visited Ulamba orphanage which is just a small part of the many projects they support.

As well as helping with this project we had 2 safaris, cycling and rock climbing and two amazing journeys across Kenya all packed into a 2 week stay. Fantastic experience and supporting the charity too!

The expected headache and nausea did not materialise (praise God) and so eventually we reached the crater rim of the volcano, Stella Point, just as the tropical sun was rising over Mawenzi Peak, wow!!!!!.  The temperature was minus 15 centigrade…. the whole crater to my right, extending for miles, was deep in snow; truly spectacular!  To my left were the renowned Kilimanjaro glaciers, hundreds of feet deep, with stunning vertical edges, unlike any glaciers I had ever seen….I was as warm as toast in my down jacket, so was able to savour the whole kaleidoscope of surreal beauty sitting astride the top of Africa in relative comfort!….Over the next 24 hours we descended to Mweka Gate at 5000 feet, having gone from polar to tropical weather in that incredibly short time period! ….The prelude to all this was a five day trek from Machame Gate, at the beginning of the Machame route.  This route is the most beautiful of the various routes to the summit….with two days climbing high and sleeping low, to aid acclimatisation….We spent the next two days relaxing at our hotel in the beautiful tropical gardens and swimming pool, almost heaven! ….The ascent is dramatic and takes you through five climatic zones, from equatorial jungle to alpine polar, where nothing grows because of the intense cold.   ….we employed Adventure Alternative, a British company, to organise our trip. This involved four guides, a cook and porters….They were brilliant and we developed good relations with them….This climb was a major challenge, psychologically, physically, emotionally and mentally.  We were certainly stretched, (but not to breaking point). ….The staff were great and the organisation superb, so hats off to Adventure Alternative, our trip organisers.  The guides and porters gave us a great musical send off at the Mweka Gate, which was a brilliant finale to our mountain adventure.

If you are looking for an adventure holiday, with a company committed to sustainable tourism, then I would highly recommend the 7 day trek on the (Kilimanjaro) Machame route with Adventure Alternative Limited.

You just need to be a reasonably fit adult, prepared to put in the time and effort a few months in advance, walking, cycling, swimming etc to improve fitness as the trek is moderately tough.  It needs some strength, stamina and determination to reach the summit, but to put it in perspective, I am a 49 year old desk-bound accountant, and my husband is 57, neither of us are experienced hill walkers, but we made it and are thilled with our certificates, photographs and shared memories.  Kilimanjaro is a beautiful mountain with unique flora and fauna, fantastic views and stunning scenery, and the excellent guides and hardworking and friendly team of staff are with you every step of the way – Joy Shaw

Just to let you know that on the 28th myself and Antony made UHURU POINT with the two girls making STELLA POINT. What an awesome experience it was for us all. Loved every minute of it! Please can you pass on a special thanks to Commander, Lipman, Cornell, Simon and Castro. But also to the whole team including the unbelievable porters!!!

The service we got from Adventure Alternative from start to finish was 1st class. (Elbrus is being discussed as the next challenge/fundraising climb). It was an unbelievable experience, one that I’m sure non of us will ever forget. And for me it has been the highlight of my life to date.

Be reassured that the next time I do anything like this, the first company that I will look at booking through is Adventure Alternative.

The team in Tanzania from Castro down are nothing short of first class.  Everything was done with a smile in a very professional way. From my previous experiences in Africa I thought we would be pestered by the porters for smokes, clothes, money etc. Found the complete opposite, only one lad tried to sell us badges on the last day a polite no thanks and he did not approach us again.

How do those guys move so fast with their loads of gear while we are making progress lika a pile of asthmatic ants? Yes, I do understand that they are used to the conditions but they are still an amazing bunch of guys. Same goes for the guides for all 19 of us to make it is down to their care and skill. As I was the senior citizen of the party on the summit night they thought I might struggle, I must have been asked at least 20 times if I was OK.

In short an amazing experience.