visa allows you to re-enter Kenya after visits to Uganda or Tanzania, assuming that your Kenyan visa is still valid. This is particularly useful for those people who have a return ticket to Nairobi and are planning to use the shuttle services to access and return from Kilimanjaro.
If you wish to apply for a visa extension, you must present yourself at the immigration offices in either Nairobi, Mombasa, Lamu or Kisumu. It is only possible to extend the visa for a further three months.
Accommodation
There is no shortage of accommodation at the foot of Kilimanjaro. Most groups base themselves in Moshi before the climb. This is a small town that has benefited considerably from its proximity to the mountain. Set at just over 800m, it has grown to become a bustling, cosmopolitan place and is now the capital of the Kilimanjaro region. It is the home of the Chagga people and the centre of the region’s successful coffee production industry.
The town itself is open and relatively spacious. The central streets are wide and the general pace of life is slow, making it an attractive and relaxing place to spend time. There are a number of hotel options in town to suit all budgets (see Appendix A), making this an ideal base for the climb up Kilimanjaro.
Main A-frame communal dining and bunkroom at Mandara Huts on the Marangu Route
All overnight stays on the mountain are arranged by the outfitter – as a climber you don’t have to book or notify anyone of anything. Once you begin your ascent, your accommodation options are affected by the route that you have chosen to ascend. If you are going to climb the Marangu Route, then you will most likely take advantage of the huts constructed along the path. These are relatively basic structures that provide bunks and mattresses for their overnight guests. There are also communal dining areas, long-drop toilets, and, at the two lower huts, running water and solar powered lighting. More detailed descriptions of the huts and their facilities are provided in the description of the Marangu Route.
If you choose to climb Kilimanjaro by any other route, you will need to camp throughout your trip. There are designated campsites on each of the paths. These are usually situated close to water sources, frequently streams or pools and adjacent to an old metal uniport cabin. Outline details relating to these sites are given in the text wherever they can be found on the mountain. Each campsite has long-drop toilets in the vicinity.
It is worth bearing in mind that the final hut or campsite on the ascent will be dry, and water will have to be carried here from the last water points lower on the mountain.
Karanga Camp on the Machame Route (photo: Wallix/Shutterstock.com)
Money and currencies
The national currency in Tanzania is the Tanzanian shilling (Tsh). It is a relatively stable currency: for latest exchange rates see www.xe.com. When travelling in Tanzania you are best using a credit/debit card to withdraw money as this is the lightest, easiest and safest way to carry money. Most bank ATMs in Tanzania accept foreign cards, especially Visa, making getting hold of shillings easy. In case your card is lost, rejected by the machine or swallowed, it’s worth having a second card as a back up method of withdrawing money. Certain purchases can technically only be bought with US dollars, the preferred international currency in Tanzania, including plane tickets and top end hotel rooms but in the main you’ll find Tanzanian shillings easiest to carry and welcome in most places. When travelling throughout Tanzania, make sure to have a number of small denomination notes available as lots of shops struggle to break larger notes and sometimes don’t have sufficient change. On Kilimanjaro, there are limited opportunities to spend money but you might find a drink stop or entrepreneurial individual selling souvenirs at the gates, so have a number of small shilling notes to hand. You’ll need dollars to tip the team after the climb is complete.
Language
The official languages of Tanzania are Swahili and English. Swahili, or Kiswahili, has played a major role in uniting the people and solidifying the country’s sense of self. Swahili was adopted as the country’s national language after Tanzania secured independence. It has become the most widely spoken language used by Tanzania’s ethnic groups and provides a degree of commonality. English is widely spoken in the main towns and tourist areas, but is much less common in rural or smaller towns. It is the official language of commerce, administration and higher education.
Swahili is technically a Bantu language, although it has assimilated a number of Arabic, Persian, Hindi, Portuguese and English words. Trade and immigration have influenced and moulded it, and it is now the lingua franca of central and eastern Africa. It is surprisingly easy to learn and is pronounced as it is written, with the stress nearly always on the penultimate syllable. Local people are often delighted if you make the effort to try and speak a little Swahili, even if it is just to say ‘Hello’. Your guides will undoubtedly introduce you to a handful of phrases and essential words, most usefully the Kilimanjaro mantra, ‘pole, pole’, which means ‘slowly, slowly’. A glossary of useful words is provided at the back of this book in Appendix D.
Besides Swahili, there are a host of local languages that can be categorised in four groups: Bantu, Nilotic, Coshitic and Khoisan. The vast majority of Tanzanians speak one of the Bantu languages as their first language. The Maasai are the main speakers of the Nilotic languages.
Maps
There are a number of maps of Kilimanjaro itself available, both in Tanzania and abroad. Specialist map shops in the UK, such as Stanfords (branches in London and Bristol, www.stanfords.co.uk), carry a range of the best trekking maps available. Some of these are also available at the national park headquarters at the Marangu Gate or in the towns of Moshi or Arusha. Most of the maps that are available are general overview maps of the entire mountain and are not really of sufficient detail to be used as trekking maps. Nonetheless, they help to put the mountain and the various routes into context, as well as providing some useful and interesting details.
A revised edition of the ITMB (International Travel Maps) Kilimanjaro map was published in 2006. Drawn at 1:62,500 scale, it shows all of the main trekking routes, campsites, huts and water points. Colour shading to show altitude is combined with 100m contours and spot heights. There is a comprehensive index that lists many of the caves, glaciers, mountain features and surrounding villages, as well as some short text providing additional information about the routes.
You will also come across the Kilimanjaro Map and Guide by Andrew Wielochowski and published by West Col Productions. This double-sided sheet features a 1:75,000 scale topographic trekking map of Kilimanjaro. While similar to the ITMB map, the physical features such as scree slopes, glaciers and cliffs are more clearly shown here. On the reverse there are also more detailed maps of Kibo (1:30,000 scale) and Mawenzi (1:20,000 scale), in addition to text on the routes, climate, flora, fauna and suggestions for essential equipment.
View across the barren Saddle to the Kibo massif (Rongai Route, Mawenzi Tarn Hut to Kibo Huts)
The map of Kilimanjaro-Kibo by Sandra Greulich and Sacha Wettstein was published by Climbing Map in 2008. It is an excellent 1:80,000 map that combines topographic coverage of the mountain with an enlargement for the Kibo crater, a list of GPS waypoints, profiles of the main routes and street plans of Arusha and Moshi.
German publisher Harms Verlag produces a map of Kilimanjaro National Park and the surrounding area at 1:100,000 scale, with Kibo shown as an
