So the deposit for our Kili climb is paid! OK, we didn't actually have to wire money to Africa, rather it was going to Cyprus (but is that really any less shady!?). Our European trekkers (Ed and Imogen) assured me that people wire transfer money in Europe all the time (of course they were probably drunk at the time...) and this seems to be quite the reputable outfitter, so I'm sure all will be well, despite the initial trepidation.
After loads of researching different climb outfitters, we have selected Team Kilimanjaro as our trekking agency.
It was no easy feat, as there are probably hundreds of outfitters - in the US, Europe, Tanzania, etc... Not only that, but many of the outfitters are simply agencies that subcontract to a local Tanzanian climb organization. We settled on Team Kilimanjaro after narrowing the choices down to Africa Travel Resource (which uses a very highly regarded local outfitter called Africa Walking Group), Good Earth (I have two colleagues who used Good Earth and were quite happy with their climb and safari) and Team Kilimanjaro (TK). TK came out on top though, after reading a lot (I mean, A LOT!) of reviews on Trip Advisor and blogs from others who had climbed Kili. They also seem to be somewhat affiliated with the author of the book, "Kilimanjaro: The Trekking Guide to Africa's Highest Mountain" which has been my Bible for Kili research.
After deciding to hike the Rongai trail, it seemed that TK's customized TK Rongai route was the best option of all the trails for our group - slightly less challenging (I use the term, "slightly less" very loosely...it's still damn hard!), some of the best acclimatization opportunities (without wasting energy, which occurs on some routes) and not too overcrowded. Apparently, on one of the most popular trails (Machame, which was our second choice option), we could expect to be surrounded by hundreds of tents each night, which was not appealing. As an added bonus, TK offers a nice feature for family and friends to track the progress of the climbers online each day of the trip. And the best feature of all, they offer a toilet tent! Sold!
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