Dania H. – Lima Peru | Kili climb, Safari Tanzania, Zanzibar | Oct 2015

I cannot even write about how amazing the whole trip was. I got back home less than a week ago, and am still processing everything that happened in the last month and a half. We started our travels in South Africa, namely in Johannesburg and Cape Town. This was good, as it allowed us to get used to the time change. The time in South Africa also allowed us to hike Table Mountain and Lion’s Head, a small (very small actually) preparation for Kilimanjaro. On October 4^th, we flew to Tanzania to start our one-week trek to the summit of Kilimanjaro. The Machame route is one of the easiest and allows a good amount of days to acclimatize in the altitude. Regardless, it is absolutely crucial that one goes prepared and in shape. My husband and I are trail runners (especially in altitude) and work out more than 3 or 4 times a week. For anyone wanting to hike Kilimanjaro, I would recommend you work out several times a week (3 times or more). This can be anything from running, multifunctional workouts, hiking (with a backpack that weighs more than what you would bring), taking the stairs as much as possible, etc. Also for your preparation, try to experience being in altitude if you have never before I loved everything about the week: the porters that became our friends, the 2 days of rain we had on the way up (ok maybe did not looooove that part but hey, it’s part of the experience!), the amazing starry nights, the morning tea and coffee brought to our tent by August, walking and seeing how the environment changes as you go up higher and higher, etc. The biggest highlight for me was definitely the last day. We set off at midnight after having breakfast; all in a row with our headlamps, with a dark sky full of stars over us and just walked and walked and walked. It got really cold: bring good gloves and socks. But once the sun started to rise… it was breathtaking (and not because of the altitude!). And then arriving at Stella’s Point and then to Uhuru Peak was amazing, we had tears in our eyes as we looked around us and saw glaciers with golden reflections. The amount of time spent at the summit is not very long, but it is really memorable. A wonderful experience I recommend to anyone who enjoys being outdoors. This was my second time traveling with Heritage Safaris. The first time was great, and this time was even better. We had a lot of coordinating and organizing to do because we hiked Kilimanjaro, went on a 5 day safari, and flew to Zanzibar for 5 days as well. All these activities happened one after the other and flights seemed tight to me at first, but it all worked out! Thierry was great and organized: always answering questions or modifications to the itinerary, speaking over Skype, sending us travel details and complete itineraries, organizing transfers, etc. I would and absolutely will recommend Heritage Safaris to anyone traveling to Tanzania, Africa or even South America. It was fun to prepare for the trip and we did not have to worry about a single thing when we were there. Thank you so much!