Karibu!

No one knows exactly how many companies are involved in the Kilimanjaro tourism industry but there are certainly dozens of them. Even a quick glance at the offers will let you know that they can be divided into economy and business class services. Economy offers were for large groups of tourists, up to 30 people, but the cost per participant was significantly lower. Our finances allowed us to choose a relatively expensive but by all accounts high-class company Altezza Travel, which organizes groups of no more than 10 people. There also exists an even more exclusive offer to provide the complete service to only one climber or a couple, but even the guide companies themselves recommend climbing in a small group. 

Although the people in the group often do not know each other at the start, they share a common goal and interests so there is a high probability that they will make friends and support each other. That is exactly what happened in our group, and by the time we left Kilimanjaro we were a few friends richer.

The financial relationship between the travel company and the client is built in such a way that the client pays for all services in advance – before reaching Kilimanjaro Park. One might expect that the interest in the customer would wane once the money exchanges hands, but it did not, or at least in our case there wasn’t a moment that we felt such an attitude. There could be several reasons for this.

First of all, the company’s best advertisement is feedback on its work, both indirect, for example, publishing a review on the Tripadvisor website, and direct, telling about it to potential customers somewhere in Moscow, Riga or New York. As far as I understand, the word of mouth is the most powerful mechanism when it comes to attracting new customers. Of course, the most important indicator of the quality of the company's work is how many customers have achieved their goal to climb to the very top of the mountain. Therefore, the organizers make a great effort to not only physically provide all the necessary conditions for the climb, but to also motivate, support and encourage the climbers.

Secondly, only a fraction of the payment the guides receive comes from the tourist company, they hope to receive a more substantial reward in tips from happy tourists after the adventure. The travel company advises you on the size of the tip expected and it is quite a lot by Tanzanian standards. Therefore, the leader of the guide team and all the staff put forth a great effort to ensure that the tourists are happy and satisfied with small day-to-day things as well as able to actually achieve their main goal – to climb to the top. Official statistics do not hide the fact that only two out of three attempts to make the climb are successful, and, of course, if the tourists have not reached their desired destination they are not likely to be entirely satisfied.

Perhaps the most important is the third factor. Everywhere in Tanzania we felt a very special kind of hospitality. One of the most popular words in Swahili is “Karibu!” This can be a response to words of gratitude, a kind welcome, and various expressions of hospitality. Everyone we met in Tanzania was very friendly, helpful, and considerate, regardless of whether or not they were likely to directly benefit from it. Hardly ever was there a feeling that a service provider or a salesperson was very greedy or selfish, more often it was the contrary. For example, after descending the mountain trails and coming out of the park area, we sat in the gazebo and drank Coca-Cola when a local came up and politely offered to wash and clean our muddy shoes. He told us we could pay what we wanted. When four of us each paid him a dollar, he was so happy that he told our fifth companion, Kirill, “You don’t have to pay anything, give them to me, I’ll clean your shoes for free!”

Tea table during the hike.

So during the days we spent in Kilimanjaro Park we really felt pampered like children visiting their grandmother. For example, during our first stop when we got off the tour bus, it seemed that the top priority for our guides was to feed us immediately. They found a shade canopy with benches underneath where we could sit and enjoy food from specially packed lunch boxes, but, horror of horrors, there was no table under the canopy. Immediately, one of the guides ran up with a folding aluminium table, quickly assembled it and covered it with a tablecloth.

Such care was evident in every camp and even during the hikes. Porters and guides with luggage were ahead of us every time, and someone was already waiting for us at a halfway point with the same aluminium table, a tablecloth, two tea thermoses (with and without sugar), cookies and nuts. In turn, when we arrived at the next camp, we found tents already set up, mats rolled out and our big bags carefully placed inside the tents. Next to the sleeping tents there was a social tent with a table and six chairs, where we had meals, underwent daily medical examinations and otherwise socialized.
 

Tents already put in place and waiting for us on the first day of camping.

 

From our conversations with the guides we discovered another dark side of large groups and cheap solutions. First of all, it is not possible for guides to correctly direct such a large group of tourists from the psychological point of view. In a large group there will always be someone with different interests, which can quickly lead to conflicts in conditions of high-altitude fatigue, and under these circumstances it would be difficult to find the necessary reserves of strength for the final push. In addition, the quality of nutrition in large groups is far from top notch, therefore digestive problems may arise and they are definitely unwelcome when you have to deal with great physical strain. The leader of our group once stated in a horrified voice, “Just imagine, they don’t even use hot water to wash the dishes! There are huge problems with bacterial poisoning”. To be honest, I cannot judge whether the differences between the offers are really that significant, because we only enjoyed the exclusive service.

All in all, it can be said that the easy friendliness of the guides and the competition between tourist companies created a very pleasant atmosphere for us as customers. However, it is prudent to mention the negative aspects of mountain climbing as a business. For example, the whole week is meticulously planned out and it is practically impossible to deviate from the plan. If on the summit push day we were scheduled to leave the camp at midnight, then we were to head out at 24:00 sharp, even if there was very strong wind and snowfall at that time. It might have been much easier to make the climb three hours later, but our plan was to climb that night, descend in the morning, and, after a short rest, go on another ten-kilometre hike to the next camp. Had the start of the climb been delayed, sticking to the plan would have been impossible.