Kilimanjaro Climb - Lemosho Route

We have just returned from this amazing trip. What a wonderfully experience it was. David the tour leader was absolutely fantastic. He was strong and decisive leader and was exactly what we all needed to complete this tough challenge. The porters were unbelievable and every bit of credit you read about them in other reviews is so very well deserved. See for yourselves how dedicated to you they are. It’s like a small village constantly on the move up the mountain together. The food was first class and there were a lot of choices for everybody. To be fair we all ate really well and you certainly wont go hungry at all. The mess tent had a great vibe as you will find similar people wanting to do similar things as yourselves. Our group of 11 had a great balance. Me and my wife were the only couple together and all the others had come despite being in relationships. Advice Don’t take a book or a kindle. There is very little ‘down time’ so you wont get the time you think you will get because there is always something to do. I thought we’d have hours of waiting around in the afternoons but it never worked out that way. Sometimes everybody would be tired and take a nap other times a card game would commence. You’ll be amazed at how quickly the hours go. You will have a great group of people believe me. You booked this trip for the same reasons that they did so embrace it. You will wear a lot of the same clothes, just ensure you have your summit night clothes fresh and ready to go. Because we went in early February there were hot days and cold nights. Your clothes wont smell and neither will you so take a little roll on deodorant and use it every morning. You will get a wishy washy (bowl of hot water) every morning and most afternoons too. Remember it’s nothing like Glastonbury camping mainly because you will always be sober. Believe it or not but the 15kg allowance is plenty. No it really is. Don’t stress about packing it’s all going to be OK… Don’t go mad with your snacks as there is unlimited chocolate and biscuits provided by Exodus. The only small complaint was that the toilet tent was a bit shabby and the zipper needed attention. The toilet itself was absolutely fine. I’m sure Exodus can afford a new toilet tent. The organisation was first class and a lot of friendships developed. It’s amazing how it’s all arranged and so well put together. I would recommend this trip 100% and Exodus as a company have got you covered. They might cost a little more than other tours but you get what you pay for on the mountain.

A great route up Kilimanjaro allowing for some of the best (for Kilimanjaro) altitude aclimatisation on the way, helping to ensure greater success and less physical stress. Lemosho is a busy route though, even more so when the trail merges with the Machame route. You will definitely not feel like you have the mountain to yourself.

Exodus and their team, whether those based in the UK or on the ground in Tanzania, could not have acted more professionally or been more helpful in ensuring that I had a fantastic trip. Our group's all female team of guides, led by Lucia, with Joyce, Anna, Angela and Happiness did their utmost everyday with words of encouragement, smiles and gentle cajoling to steer us to the summit! It was like being looked after by a pride of lionesses! Without the rest of Lucia's team of porters, chefs etc, success would not have been possible. The aim of the trek was to summit Kilimanjaro but by taking the Lemosho Route, it enabled us to enjoy, stunning scenery, interesting and unusual flora and fauna and perhaps most important of all, a little more time to acclimatise for the summit attempt. Prospective trekkers should be aware that a sunrise at the top of Kibo is not guaranteed. The five of us who successfully summited, were greeted by a temperature of -10 deg C and very strong winds! Just glad I had so many layers on! All summit attempts for the previous night were cancelled. This experience will stay with me for the rest of my life, including getting to know my seven fellow trekkers, who were great fun! Have a good look at Exodus, you will not be disappointed. Date of experience: 25 February 2024

I loved every minute of this trip. We had a great group, 16 people. Our leader and porters were fantastic. The weather during the day was good. It was cold at night. Thankfully I brought a hot water bottle and the porters filled it for me at night. My only comment would be, that the sleeping bags which we hired were very poor quality. I think that they had been laundered too many times, hence there was no warmth in them. The sleeping bags were very small, just one size! Not sure that a well built man would be able to fit into one of them! I didn't have any altitude sickness symptoms, but some of my fellow travellers did. The food was great, very plentiful and for me, no tummy problems. I had the right clothes for the trip and this made a huge difference. We had a proper toilet at each camp and that was great for us girls...! I just loved this trip, I would go again tomorrow. I am already looking at Everest Base Camp - I am hooked.

This trip is well worth booking, challenging yet rewarding I am so pleased we chose to do this through Exodus. The food is great, it's hard to believe food to such a high standard is prepared in a tent.

A tough but inspiring adventure that provides stunning scenery, great camaraderie and the realisation of a bucket list dream

The overall trip was a great success. The Kia Lodge was basic but clean. The initial transfer from Kia Lodge to the Moivaro hotel was smooth. The Moivaro Coffee plantation hotel was a good quality hotel with good facilities. The journey to Lemosho Gate was as expected. The 8 day hike was well led, well supported and the food was plentiful and of good quality. The chef did a superb job. The tents could do with an upgrade, and the groundsheets were a tad smaller than necessary. The support staff were magnificent and all played their parts in making this a memorable journey. The return to Moivaro was as expected although some of the admin could have been completed quicker to allow more time at the hotel after 8 days hiking. The private transfer back to Jaro airport was a mess! Transport did not arrive on time, after chaser call, Exodus admin staff member (who did her utmost) arrived to pick us up in private car about 20 mins later but ran out of petrol. Taxi was flagged and passenger ejected. Private taxi then tried to play catch-up and had to stop to fill up before rushing us to the airport exceeding limits, risky overtaking and honking horn. We got to the airport.....but not a particularly satisfactory end to the trip.

While summit night was very challenging due to a snow blizzard and extreme cold the overall trip was very well led by our Chief guide David, the porters were wonderful, the food was amazing considering we camping for 8 days and our group of 10 bonded quickly as a team and were all very supportive and encouraging of each other.

I was in a team with 4 others who will be ‘forever friends’ such a short time on the mountain six days up and two down yet we got to know each other so well encouraging each other all the way. An absolute dream team . Thank you Caroline , Hazel, Fay and Andrew . Our head guide Julian (J.T) was superb as were Hance and David. As long as I can remember I have wanted to climb this mountain and at 62 I thought I should give it a go! A month ago today I stood on the roof of Africa. What a day!

This was my third trip with exodus and it did not disappoint. I had a great time and met some fantastic fellow travellers. The trek was fairly easy walking with a few points that required scrambling over rocks mainly Barranco wall, one of my favourite days on the trek.

I had the privilege of trekking up Kilimanjaro (8 day Lemosho route) with the best walking pals and crew in the entire world. I've never walked at altitude before, and I was honestly a little nervous, but I am so glad I booked the trip. The views are incredible, you learn a lot about yourself and above all you are surrounded by the most supporting, caring and knowledgeable leaders and crew who seem to permanently have smiles on their faces - ably led by JT (Justin Thomas). What a wonderful way to spend 8 days, I can't recommend it highly enough.

I was born in East Africa and having walked through the rift valleys as a child, it was always my desire to climb to the roof of Africa. Although a regular walker myself, the ascent on few occasions became a challenge, especially on the summit night and I would not have succeeded the climb if it wasn’t for the support I was given by John (Tony Seka) and his support team. Their continuous kindness and patience was very much appreciated - and I know that this view is shared by everyone in my group!

Very well organised and supervised trip Guides were amazing All staff very helpful Amazing trip

All ten of our party summited after a long and sometimes difficult tiring trek. This was down to Johns fantastic leadership skills and constant encouragement and help. He has a first class team of assistant guides and brilliant porters who all had a real positive attitude and couldn’t do more for you.

Review of my Exodus trip to Kilimanjaro in The Herald: https://www.heraldscotland.com/life_style/16237809.travel-trek-to-the-summit-of-mount-kilimanjaro/

Wonderful feeling on reaching the summit after a midnight start !

Absolutely loved every moment of the trip

I will echo previous reviews which have noted how fantastic this trip is - to me, time spent on Kilimanjaro was just magical... The mountain was as majestic as I expected it to be; the Lemosho route providing a great opportunity to discover the various landscapes it holds at different altitudes. Reaching Uhuru after days living above the clouds was the culmination of a special journey which would not have been possible without the incredible support, kindness, professionalism and all around awesomeness (TO THE MAX! ;)) provided by our dream team, aka JT and his crew - a total of 63 badass Tanzanian men and women, the real heroes and sheroes of this adventure! Their smiles and songs literally propelled me to the top of Kilimanjaro!

A fantastic trip which was an experience rather than bagging a summit. The camaraderie and bond that developed between us and the crew made the trip special. Can I do it again?

The title is Swahili for "Cool as a crazy banana in the fridge". This trip was excellent! Well organised and well operated by our leader, JT. He and his team were friendly, knowledgeable, supportive, capable, polite, skilled, very VERY experienced, professional, the list goes on! I was nervous about coming on this trip as I had never done anything like it before, but everything was so well managed that one by one, my worries disappeared and turned into excitement and even relaxation. Everyone in the group was like-minded, determined and supportive of each other so we all got along very well. I went on my own so it was a relief to find that every one of my group had similar enough ambitions and were easy to get along with, despite coming from a range of backgrounds. I don't believe this was just a happy accident - everyone climbing this mountain has more than enough in common to bond over and Exodus nourishes that bond well.