Local Moshi Adventures — Local services in Kilimanjaro

After reading glowing reviews and being recommended on social media, I was looking forward to supporting a local tour operator for the Kilimanjaro hike with Local Moshi Adventures. Unfortunately I was that tourist/hiker who had a mediocre experience with this operator.

Honestly, if it wasn’t due to Tanzanian law requiring licensed guides, i would have enjoyed hiking this mountain in solitude and at my own pace since I had experience in wilderness backpacking and high altitude trekking. Not all the routes on Kili are technical. The Lemosho route was definitely not technical.

First the good. I commend the porters who were doing the back breaking work carrying all the cookware, food, and camping equipment. I was also grateful for the toilet porter and our waiter who was always prompt with serving us food, water, especially hot water for washing our feet and face. The rented tents and sleeping bags were in good condition and clean. With their help, the hike was very comfortable.

Now for the mediocre/bad. When i was booking the tour, the owner seemed nice and answered questions through email. When we met him, he was graceful and professional though communication was lacking a little bit when it came to details. More on this later.

On my third day of the trek, i developed severe stomach issues from their food. Thankfully, imodium, electrolytes, and diarrhea meds were brought with me to ease the discomfort. All i ate was plain bread for three days and drank electrolytes. In this case, the toilet porter was tipped more money for dealing with it because he sets up the portable toilet housed by a small tent nearby mine.

We had two guides: lead guide and assistant guide. There was a lack of engagement. Usually hiking is fun for me, but with the two guides around, felt more like a slog and being babysat by people. I guess was expecting guides who were more enthusiastic and naturally fun to be around? These two guides were BFFs chatting in their own language 2/3rd of the time, excluding us from their gossiping.

When I asked questions about Tanzanian culture or ask questions about the mountain, they would respond in an uninteresting manner, very short responses and then silence. i had no interest in talking with them nor getting to know them more afterwards.

Of course, they were experienced about hiking the mountain and summiting, but maturity wise they did not click with our group.

The incessant empty praises “strong team” or being proud of us for trekking quickly got tiring to hear fast because well, i was not in elementary school anymore. Praising me was fine but overly doing it while passing other hikers came off a tad annoying and a bit of a try hard.

Lastly, the worst part was the owner’s response when he asked me for feedback about any improvements. I told him my criticisms, and he came off somewhat dismissive and defensive like he was only expecting praise. Not sure why he was asking me for feedback if he was going to respond in that manner. He stated stomach issues happen. Based on his admittance, i recommend bringing meds if you choose this operator. When i told him about the overall lack of engagement, he started getting defensive basically stating a tactic/excuse that it was how they do tours in Tanzania.

It was such a mediocre experience that i was relieved that i didnt choose them for my safari.

Try this tour if you are not interested in chatting with anyone and just need help with summiting Kilimanjaro...

We really wanted to support a local tour operator but how to pick the right one? After visiting their website, reading up on a few reviews and a first email we immediately knew that Local Moshi Adventures was the one for us. And they sure delivered on our high expectations!

In all our travels we never met a company with such a high level of service, personal attention and going the extra mile. Sure you have operators that deliver premium service but they also charge you premium. Local Moshi Adventures is very reasonably priced. What also was very important to us is that they treat their porters in a good way. We can tell from our first hand experience that they do just that and more. Our group of 4 had the overwhelming amount of 17 guides/cooks/porters to support us in all our needs to reach the top. I am sure they will at some point sing the Kilimanjaro song to you. A truly magnificent experience when you are standing on the mountain itself.

Our guides were very professional and strict when it came to our health. Always checking up on us. Making sure we eating and drinking enough. Daily health check. Customizing the schedule where needed or had the cook prepare something different so we would all eat enough. Not that we asked any of this or that we were very demanding or anything. It just all came very naturally to them and always with a smile on their face. They also made sure that the gifts and tipping money we had were divided among them as we had asked. This was very transparent.

The owner also made our trip more pleasant by making sure everything was in order. He checked up on us during the trip to make sure of that. Even had a few surprises for us including a huge Kilimanjaro shaped birthday cake when we came back. A big thank you to him!

Arranging a last minute one day safari was also not a problem to them. If we are ever to go on a longer safari then they will be the first we will contact. Also the already booked day trip to the Kikuletwa hot springs was very worthwhile. Our chauffeur was very knowledgeable and told and showed us a lot things on the way to and from the hot spring. Including the magnificient baobab trees. Make sure you bring some sweets as you have a good chance to meet some small children who will reward you with the biggest smiles you have ever seen.

All in all do not hesitate to book your trip with them. They will not let you down and you will be supporting a local company that not only takes good care of you but also takes good care of all of...

From start to finish the trip couldn't have gone better.

Planning: LocalMoshi was incredibly accommodating of a fairly complex and evolving itinerary. We did one week of safari with the whole family, then we did one week of climbing Kilimanjaro with my oldest son while the rest of the family flew home. Every detail was worked out ahead of time (including scheduling for covid tests, airport pickup/dropoff, everything).

Accommodations: We were picked up and dropped off at a different hotel each night (our preference was to see as much as possible, so opted for a different hotel each night). The hotels were great. They greet you with fresh juice when you arrive and handle the bags for you without issue.

Safari: We went to the Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Nogorogoro Crater (in that order). Every day was unique and such a wonderful experience. We saw the big five and so many more animals. We had a monkey jump in the car and grab a banana from us (I had stepped out to stretch my legs). It was a wild trip that the kids will remember for the rest of their lives. Our guide was knowledgable and collaborated with the other drivers in the area. He had been a safari guide for over ten years and was clearly one of the most respected and effective guides out there (we were always in the right position for the perfect pictures, our truck never got stuck in the mud, we helped others when they broke down, etc).

Kilimanjaro: Our Kilimanjaro guides dragged us to the top with minimal effort required by my son and I. By the time we finished our hike, the team felt like family. The food was great, the decision making was great (we made a judgement call to summit a day early and sleep in the crater afterwards, as opposed to doing the reverse... this was such a good call... we didn't sleep much in the crater due to the altitude and may have struggled to summit afterwards).

Fees: The reasonable costs were agreed upon and paid up front, so aside from tips and drinks there were not any surprise costs. Everything was delivered exactly as agreed upon.

Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better experience. I strongly recommend...