Kilimanjaro Expeditions

Elbrus

Expeditions

Carstensz Pyramid

Any one who has ever climbed one of the 7 summits or has undertaken another expedition knows that you spend more time in preparing the trip and getting the right information than actually being there..  Or you can choose to pay an expensive agent to sort everything out. We like to think that we can offer you the best of both worlds.

7summits.com has developed a network of local guides and organizations that employ the most reliable people and offer the best value for money for the best price. 

That's why we are able to offer you very low prices on high quality trips to Everest, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Aconcagua and Carstensz Pyramid and Vinson. We offer prices that are equal or lower than the local prices, so you do not pay extra for us to take care of the reservations, answering questions and helping you create the best trip possible! Why pay triple the price for exactly the same trip?

Below are links to the detailed Everest, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Aconcagua, Carstensz  & Vinson trip Pages containing all info you need: prices of trips, itineraries, what's included and what's not etc.: no hidden costs! 

We can organize any custom trip, just email us your wishes and we'll get you a good quote. 

Kilimanjaro Expeditions

Elbrus

Expeditions

Carstensz Pyramid

Below are some client comments from the past years about 7summits.com and our services, guides and expeditions:

Hi, Harry.  I apologize for taking so long to report on our trip to Kilimanjaro.  We made it to the summit handily, and we had a great time doing it thanks to your fantastic team--Living, Thomas, Babu, Nicky and the others.
 
We felt safe and in good hands the entire time.  Living was so calm, attentive and knowledgeable, and handed out the meds just when they were needed; he was a fantastic leader.  Thomas was fun, always cheery in the AM, great with our boys, and kept us properly hydrated. 

Babu lead us just first few days, then ran down to take his guide test--I'm sure he did well; Nicky accompanied us to the summit and saw that we had everything we needed.
 
And then, the day after we returned to the Springlands, Bruce and entire crew tracked us down!  It was really an extraordinary effort--and they did it just to be nice on their day off.
 
You've put together an excellent operation, mostly because of the team you've employed. 
 
I've attached a few photos which tell the story.  We truly had an experience of a lifetime.  Thank you so much.
Best regards,
Clair, Rob, Philip & Jack Hamner
August 15, 2012 summit team!

One of our clients (see their own feedback below), wrote to thank on behalf of their friends:

Harry,

I hope you are doing well!

I wanted to thank you on behalf of my friends, whom I have sent to you for the Kilimanjaro ascent - most recently; Jill, and Harold & Yuen.  They told me that they also had Bruce as their “Head Guide” for this trip – (now on over 300 ascents up the mountain) - and that they had a wonderful adventure.  Over the past few years, my various friends and others who have contacted me about using you as their trip planner have never been disappointed.

(...) We will be looking to see what new adventures we might arrange (maybe South America?)  I am sure you will continue to hear from us.

Meanwhile, I thank you again, and you have my best wishes for a safe and successful future.

Best Regards,

Rocky (who climbed with us in 2010, his friends in 2012)

Hi Harry

I'm sorry I am so late sending you this message however I got the flu just after arriving home and have not felt up to writing until now.

I/we just wanted to let you know how pleased we were with everything, we knew exactly what was and what was not included and there was no surprises. There were many others at the hotel (with other tour organizers)that were surprised with extra charges that they didn't expect and they all paid more than we did.
Unfortunately we had to cut the safari a day short due to me being sick (unsure if it was brought from Canada or perhaps a meal that didn't agree with me) but again everything was worked out with Zainab and there were no extra charges for the extra night at the hotel or for our meals the next day.

On the mountain we had great service and many other groups were jealous of the services we had compared to what they had and again they all paid more than we did.
The 9 day program we booked was well worth the extra few dollars as we watched many groups that were much fitter than us fail to summit due to trips that were a day or two too short. Your advice on your website regarding this should be highlighted so more people see that info, many guides from other companies even told us we were smart to do the 9 day program.

As promised I put $20usd into the tip box at the hotel to make up for the $18 we shorted you ( we're still not sure how that happened)
If you ever require any feedback on your website or need to assure a client that you offer a great trip for a great price feel free to have them contact me.

Looking forward to my next climb with you whenever and wherever that may be. Thank you so much

Marc Whittier (Kilimanjaro 2011)

Hi Harry! 

We've been back from Tanzania for a few days now and just wanted to drop you a line to tell you that we had a wonderful time!  Here is a picture of Clinton and myself at about 5:20 am. Took us less then 5 hours from Barafu to Uhuru. We were passing people left and right on our way up- felt good to get up there earlier especially with the rugged two hours of knee jarring pain that had to follow.

Anyway once again, thank you very much for organizing a wonderful trip. My recommendations will surely speak highly of your company when I talk to friends and family. And next year when I look into Aconcagua- you can bet that you'll be hearing from me once again!

Thanks again Harry!

Chad Hayes & Clinton Barry (Kilimanjaro 2011)

Hi Harry

- Awesome trip- I fell short at Barafu - altitude sickness ( I caught a cold on day 2) - but the rest of the family made it.  Babuh (our guide) and Cefa were top notch.  Everything was first class - all the way through.  Ben, our safari guide was great - so knowledgeable and friendly.  

I would visit Africa again in a heart beat - the people were so lovely.
Yep- that was in fact the rhino!  At least we can say we saw the "Big 5" - plus many more!
Thank you for all your help!
Betsy Goltermann

Hi Harry,

I hope you are doing well! We had such a fantastic trip, everything was above and beyond my expectations! Thank you so much for your help and advice.

Enjoy the photos!

Heidi Goltermann

(Dave sent a separate special message for our guide:)

Babuu,

I really want to thank you for a great adventure. I was very confident in you and your team and that allows us to relax and enjoy the journey.

You are a great leader and I’m certain you will have a very bright future.

We loved Africa and the people we met during our time there. This will always be a favorite trip.

I do hope our paths will cross again in the future.

Best Regards,

Dave Goltermann

One more shot - after the safari.  We couldn't have asked for better conditions, and a better trip!  Thanks again!

Hi Harry,

I just wanted to take a moment to express how pleasurable it was to work with you on organizing this trip.  You made the process of setting up this wonderful, memorable experience easy and efficient.
The few glitches you resolved quickly and responsively.  I plan on recommending you to my friends planning trips like ours.

I won't be back to a place with fast enough internet until later.  I'll send a hilarious summitt photo then.

Thank you,
Cameron (Cameron Bass, Kilimanjaro 2011)

Harry,

Het heeft even geduurd, maar hier dan toch een wat verlate reactie op onze geweldige trip naar Tanzania.

Onze tocht de Kili op, was een hele ervaring en wij hebben beiden de top gehaald, Jaap had wat last van hoogte ziekte,  maar we zijn er gekomen. De gidsen en team waren prima, Living  en Tomas, allemaal mooie mensen en we hebben veel plezier met ze gehad en zijn goed verzorgd en begeleid.

De safari eveneens geweldig, ik ben nog steeds bezig het een plaats te geven, het heeft indruk gemaakt en zelfs na dagen begon het niet te vervelen. We hadden een geweldige chauffeur / gids, Abdullah, met veel kennis van zaken  en later kwam daar onze kok Ramadan bij.

.Wat zouden we de volgende keer anders doen; Jaap en ik hadden het achteraf leuk gevonden om aan het einde voor de terugreis  nog 1 a 2 dgn in een luxe lodge door te brengen als afsluiting, maar dit is een persoonlijke voorkeur.  Tussen Kili en het begin van de Safari  1 dag meer om de was en andere zaken te regelen, de geplande tijd was te kort ( we hebben dit trouwens zelf geregeld en Zara was hier heel flexible in ).

Harry we hebben een prima reis en avontuur gehad , we willen je bedanken voor al je goede advies en input voor deze trip.

Jaap & Herbert

PS. Ik hoop samen met mijn dochter nog een keer terug te komen

(Kilimanjaro + safari, 2011)

Jambo to you too! Yes, we are back and had a great time in Tanzania. Bruce led us to the top and we felt very secure knowing we were with the "king of the mountain". The 8 day hike was beautiful going through the different climate zones. We were surprised it was cold in Moshi (16-18 deg Celcius) as we had expected a tropical hot and humid climate.

The actual hike started really late and we arrived at the camp after dark. It was already very cold while we were waiting for the tents to be set up and the dinner made. The next days were better as we left around 9am and arrived before 4pm every day. We took lots of pictures and as the guide said: "toursts come to take pictures". George left us on day 3 after seeing Kili from the plateau and I don't think he was ever planning to do the whole hike. Bruce took it very personal but we convinced him it was nothing he could fix.

We climbed lava tower and each day of conquering the mountain (or as Bruce said: we're just following a path) was just perfect. Summit day was very very cold at -20 degrees celcius. We were warm starting out but were getting colder and colder around 5-6pm. It took forever for the sun to come through the mist and I was literally cold to the bone when the veil finally lifted to show us the enormous glaciers. It was a beautiful sight!

The safari was wonderfull even though it was the dry season and we didn't see an abundance of animals. We did see the big five and saw a lion chasing/catching a gazelle. At some point we had about 20 lions around our cars and at another time a bunch of elephants.
We'd never stayed in a tentcamp as fancy as the Serengeti camp complete with toilet,sink, shower, and the sounds of hyena's at night!

Thanks so much for arranging the whole trip.
Geoff & Eda , Kilimanjaro 2010

Hi Harry,

It’s been a little while since our trek, with 7summits, to Aconcagua. I just wanted to thank you and your organization again for doing such a wonderful job making sure that all our questions and concerns were answered before the trip and for allowing the logistics to run as smoothly as they did. This was my first trek up a serious mounrtain (above 5000m) with three other friends from Montreal, and Harry, you helped make the planning effortless. Your guide book, Aconcagua, Summit of South America provides all the basic guide information that one will need and any outstanding questions (and as you know we had quite a few) were always answered promptly.

The logistics, from our arrival in Mendoza to our departure, held no surprises (which was all good) and our accommodations were always pleasant. Our three guides in Argentina were all experienced, each with numerous summits, and spoke English fairly well. The guides were knowledgeable and always acted professionally with the group’s best interests always in mind. There was genuine care for the safety of the group.

We ended up having eleven in our group from around the world. Six of us attempted the summit but only three succeeded. Our obstacles were bad weather and the effects of altitude sickness which should always be expected when you are venturing to extreme altitudes. You can read about our adventures in my own eBook called “Extreme Trekking”.

Based on my experience, I can easily recommend Harry Kikstra’s organization to anyone contemplating serious trekking.

Best regards,
Vlad Lancheres

(Aconcagua. Please read or buy Vladimirs great and informative book about his 7summits.com Aconcagua expedition here)

Hi, Harry:

I just came back from my Kilimanjaro trip.  It was a great experience!!!  Even though, the weather was challenge (continuous rain/snow/sleet for 3-4 days), six out of seven from my group reached the Uhuru peak including myself.  The food was delicious and the service was great.  On the summit night, our chief guide: Mndeme carried an oxygen tank to the top with us.  It made everyone feel comfortable even though we did not ask or pay for it.

After this trip, I am going to study Aconcagua on your website.

Regards
Hong (Hong Gonguo, Kilimanjaro 2011)

Hi Harry
Just wanted to send you a quick note to let you know we had an amazing trip to Tanzania, one of the highlights being summitting Mount Kilimanjaro at sunrise, Jan. 22. We couldn't have asked for a better guide than Sylvester and appreciate your role in connecting us with him.
For all the details about our trip, check out our blog: http://2africa2climbamountain.wordpress.com/
All the best in your future adventures.
Lee Ann and David

Hi Harry

We are back! It was great trip and what amazing time we had!!
Graeme and I made it to Uhuru peak:-))) alena&frank only to Gilman point:-(( but we all love it!! The team was great,  Baboo ( August) and Kaka ( Sifa) were great very easy going guides and to be honest they recognised quickly that we do not need too much guiding as we usually find our way, only perhaps will be good to have better brief for next day as one day we actually thought that next day is summit day and it was not, but that seems to be typical problem when you are coming from Europe, all guides talk too much!!!

I did  liked Baboo way, to tell us when we asked etc. he was very helpful to Alena and Frank on summit day as they struggled a bit and he was there for them all the way with his support and big smile!! ... cook was excellent and we have been fed far too much!! porters were very good as well and all our tents were always up for us!! so great to hear them singing every morning...

Overall, perfect as I said!!! thinking already of next trip...Mt.Kenya?? we see:-))
See some pics:-)) and take care!!
Thanks again for all your help!!

Ivana Chung (Kilimanjaro 2011)

Hi Harry -

Wanted to let you know that we had a great trip. I loved the Rongai route. Our guide Freddie Shayo and his team were wonderful. (We also had Victor with us for part of the trip since he was leading a 6 day Rongai trip that started on the same day as our 7 day trip – he mentioned that he has worked with you in the past.)

Sheryl and I both summited Uhuru – it’s gorgeous up there. None of us had any altitude sickness issues – good weather and the slow acclimatization must have helped.

Logistics-wise, having the toilet tent was very welcome. There was another Zara team with us that didn’t have one since it’s not included when you book directly with them instead of through you. The pit latrines on Rongai are actually very clean and well maintained, but the toilet tent was still good to have.

Thanks for a organizing a great trip at a good price.

Looking forward to more climbs in the future!

Prasanth (Kilimanjaro 2010)

Harry,

We’re Back!

Your record is intact – all 12 of us made it to the top, unassisted and in good shape, and as a group!  Much of the credit goes to everyone’s preparation and the excellent support and work of the Guides and staff.  Everyone was impressed.

In particular, Bruce was everything you implied and more – knowledgeable, personable, connected – and on his 258th ascent!  The Assistant Guides; Fort, George, Adam and Franklin; were also outstanding – especially George as he was always available to help any struggling person.  The climb was not without its challenges as my son came down very ill on Day 1 on the mountain, but recovered in time to ascend strongly.  And others suffered illness, headaches, severely sore knees, etc.  but everyone pulled together like family – staff and climbers – to insure success.  A wonderful adventure which we will now document with drawings, pictures and textual description – soon.

Just an update on the actual trip route – We did Day 1 to Machame Camp, and Day 2 to Shira Camp, but then changed plans as per Bruce’s recommendation, spending night 3 at Lava Tower, and climbing to Arrow Glacier on Day 4 before spending the night at Barranco. Day 5 we went to Karanga Valley as planned, and Day 6 we went to Kosovo Camp, as you suggested.  This plan acclimated everyone wonderfully, and many of the hikes were of reasonable length, getting us to Camp each day for a late lunch.  You might consider this a best practice if 8 Days are available to a group.  No one in our party had any symptoms of AMS on the final ascent!  No one needed assistance making the ascent climb.

On the Safari, everything went just as well, with vehicles, drivers, and lodging all excellent.  We say incredible numbers of animals, including hippos and elephants mating, lions hunting, lots of lion and cheetah cubs up very close, and nearly every animal you might think of, except for the black rhinos in Ngorongoro Crater, which were hiding from the wind the day we visited.

Finally, our group is in the midst of collecting pictures, diaries, accounts, sketches, drawings, etc. to build an archive of our adventure, and I will keep you in the loop and send you some of our information.  Perhaps you may find some of it useful for your website, and/or for others.  Also, many other friends and associates are now interested in perhaps arranging their own adventure in the future, and I will be referring them to you.

Thanks again for all of your support in planning over the past year.  I truly appreciate your advice, guidance and teamwork.

Best Regards,

Rocky. (Rocco DeTomo, 12 person Kilimanjaro, 2010)

(Dutch!) Beste Harry,

Even een kort berichtje om alvast wat van ons te laten horen;

Het was in 1 woord FANTASTISCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wat hebben we van deze reis genoten!! We vielen van de ene verbazing in de andere.
Wat een prachtige berg... wat een prachtig land... wat een prachtige mensen!! Helemaal TOP!! Ik ga zeker nog een keer met mijn gezin een rondreis door Kenia en Tanzania maken i.c. met Safari en een weekje Zanzibar.

Complimenten aan jou voor de goede organisatie en informatievoorziening. Complimenten aan gidsen Babu, Shiva en Bruce. Fantastische mensen allemaal.

Fooiengebeuren liep wat lastig maar is helemaal opgelost. Zowel wij als onze gidsen hebben het niet laten gebeuren dat het tussen ons in is komen te staan. Wij hebben de max.bedragen van jou site aangehouden en zijn zo uitgekomen op 900 dolllar. De verwachting van de gidsen lag (al dan niet gemeend) op 1250 dollar.

Vlak voor vertrek hebben we een fantastisch warm afscheid van de crew gekregen en hebben we enorm met elkaar gelachen. Helemaal geweldig.

De beklimming was prachtig. We hebben er enorm van genoten. We begonnen de dag met ons lijflied; It' s a beautiful day, the sun is shining, I feel good; no-one's gonna stop me now! We hebben onze bijnaam "the crazy dutchmen" dagelijks eer aan gedaan door met elkaar en het team van dragers te dollen en te grollen.

Het team was enorm hulpvaardig. Het heeft ons aan niets ontbroken. Het eten heeft onze verwachtingen zelfs zwaar overtroffen. En respect voor de dragers.. (Voelde me in het begin zelfs bezwaard). En we hebben met zijn 5-en de top bereikt. Wat een geweldige ervaring. It's not the altitude... It's te attitude!! Ik geniet nog dagelijks na van deze trip. Heb zelfs een beetje heimwee!

Vergeet het fooien gebeuren, dat hebben wij ook gedaan!!

Een hartelijke groet van ons allen!

Patrick

Patrick Hermans & friends, Kilimanjaro 2010

Hi Harry,
With a group of 8 people we started to climb the Kilimanjaro with our guide Living and his assistent Tomas. We enjoyed the trip from day 1 even if the start was a bit unexpected: full of energy, with all gear checked twice and ready for the climb, we stopped at a local restaurant to enjoy a barbecue and to relax a bit :)

The climb of the Lemosho Route was wonderful; the daily climbs were relatively short, but that gave us the opportunity to discover the area by making some additional daytrips, climbing the Lava Tower (4700 m) and the relaxed way of climbing improved our acclimatisation. On the mountain, the view over the top of the Kilimanjaro became more wonderful every day and the meals prepared by Jamish (our cook) were excellent!

On the 6th day, we decided to sleep in Kosovo Camp instead of the more standard camp 1 hour of climbing lower. We had to pay some extra charge, but the location of the Kosovo Camp was much better and having a camp for your own is more relaxed. We started that night at 01:30 and climbed very fast to the top. Too fast probably; we reached the top at 05:15....way before sunrise! Fortunately, we had a flash on our camera's and we still enjoyed the silhouettes of the Kilimanjaro in the moonlight. What a view! After we reached the top we decided to walk back to the endpoint of the trip and slept in the hotel again.

The whole group agreed that climbing the Kilimanjaro was a great experience and we were very confident with the way 7 Summits arranged the whole expedition! A safari afterwards is also highly recommended!

Many thanks, Tom

---------------------

Tom had already written feedback in Dutch as well/Nederlandse versie:

Na een lange reis, waarvan de laatste 9 uur op elkaar gepropt in een dalah-dalah die ons van Nairobi naar Moshi bracht over stoffige wegen, kwamen we eindelijk in het Springland Hotel aan. Wat een verschil met de rest van de huizen die wij die dag waren tegengekomen! Het Springland is luxe, de service is er goed, alles wat je nodig hebt is er aanwezig en het eten is uitstekend. 's Avond kennis gemaakt met de gids (Living) en één van de assistetgidsen (Thomas).
De volgende dag vertrokken we dan eindelijk naar het startpunt van de Lemosho-route.
Een paar uur later was het dan zover; met 2 dragers per persoon die ons al snel voorbijliepen met ónze tassen, waren we dan toch eindelijk begonnen. Een relatief korte wandeling door een adembenemende groene omgeving. Na 3 uur kwamen we aan op de plek waar de tenten al waren opgezet en konden we ons opfrissen en gereedmaken voor de volgende dag.
De daaropvolgende dagen waren allemaal redelijk kort (we hebben op de topdag na nooit langer gelopen dan 5 uur per dag) en goed vol te houden. Omdat we vaak al voor de lunch op de volgende bivaklocatie waren gearriveerd nam Thomas ons geregeld mee voor een hike van enkele uren door de omgeving. Op die manier zagen we meer dan alleen de looproute, was er soms gelegenheid om stukjes rots te klimmen (met als hoogtepunt de Lava Tower) en konden we elke dag opklimmen naar een wat grotere hoogte dan waar we sliepen; goed voor de acclimatisatie!

Op de zesde dag kwamen we aan in het laatste kamp voor de top. Maar omdat daar meerdere routes samenkomen was het er ongelooflijk druk! Living stelde voor om nog wat verder te klimmen en te overnachten op Kosovo Kamp. Omdat dit geen officiele bivaklocatie is hebben we allemaal een klein bedrag ingelegd om dit mogelijk te maken en hadden we een prachtig kamp voor onszelf met een fantastisch uitzicht.

Om 01:30 vertrokken we vervolgens richting de top van de Kilimanjaro. Living zag dat iedereen zich goed voelde en voerde het tempo al snel op. Zo snel zelfs dat we niet om de geplande 07:00 maar al om 05:15 op de top stonden! Voor zonsondergang, maar de donkere silhouetten van de naastgelegen bergen zijn zo indrukwekkend als je op de top staat dat we ons daar niet druk over maakten. Omdat niemand serieuze tekenen van hoogteziekte had, al waren enkelen al behoorlijk vermoeid geraakt, hebben we zeker 20 minuten zingend en dansend doorgebracht op de top. Omdat we zoveel eerder waren dan andere groepen waren we ook echt alleen op de top!

Op de weg terug hebben we nog een uur bijgeslapen op Kosovo Kamp en hebben toen met Living overlegd hoever we zouden afdalen. Gezamenlijk hebben we besloten om in één keer door te lopen naar beneden en 's avonds weer in het hotel te overnachten. Een lange en uiteindelijk zware afdaling was het gevolg. Maar beneden aangekomen trakteerde Living ons op een heerlijke maaltijd met friet en namen we afscheid van de dragers.
Na een dag bijkomen begon de volgende dag onze safari alweer. Een aanrader voor iedereen die in Tanzania is en een paar dagen de tijd heeft. Het zien van zoveel wild in zo'n korte tijd is fantastisch.

Al met al kijken we allemaal heel positief terug op de reis en de wijze waarop alles werd georganiseerd. Bedankt!

Tom Stuivenberg & group, 8 people, Lemosho Route on Kilimanjaro, 2010

Hi Harry,

My grandson and I are back in the States now and I just want to let you know what a wonderful trip we had thanks to you and 7Summits.  Our mountain trip  was well organized and our guide, Living and Asst. Thomas made sure we had what we needed. We were able to summit in 6.5 hours and were at Uhura Peak at sunrise. All thanks to their timing and making sure we were ready for the final day. 

We suffered  mild nausea on the third day for a couple of hours and absolutely no symptoms after that. Not bad for a 62 year old and 14 year old! The food was great and plenty of it.  The Springland Hotel was a wonderful facility and the folks treated us as one of their own. 

The three day safari gave us a chance to see why Africa is truly the "cradle of civilization".  Thanks again for putting it together for us. I doubt if I will be trying to summit any of the remaining 6, but my grandson says he is now on a life journey. I hope he can remain a 7Summits customer for a long time.

Thanks again,
Wayne and Elias
Kilimanjaro, June, 2010, 8 days trip

Hi Harry!

Greetings from The Emerald Isle!! ie we have returned safe and well from our wee exhibition to Tanzania with the cerificates to prove we stood on the roof of |Africa! I have enclosed a summit picture!! We had a most enjoyable trip! everything went amazingly well from the moment we arrived at the airport to the summit to returning to the hotel to flying to Zanzibar and eventually to returning to Ireland. 

Our Guide (Feraja) and crew were great, we never wanted for anything.  the food was plentiful and the staff at Springlands were most helpful! Thank you! so no complaints and delighted to make the summit!

Barbara & Tom (Kilimanjaro 2010)

Hi Harry,
It's a little belated, but I did want to let you know how our trip went the week before last.  All of us had a fantastic time--Living was a wonderful guide, and did a great job getting all four of us to the summit safe and sound.  I especially had a hard time, and he, Thomas, and Masu offered great support while I was struggling up through the snow. It was definitely all worth it once we finally got to the top and enjoyed the beautiful view, although unfortunately I was too cold to remember to take good pictures!  Thanks for your help arranging the trip, and tell the folks in Tanzania that they did a great job as well.
Best,
Madeline Fleisher, Kilimanjaro 2010

Dear Harry,

We would like to thank you for all the arrangements of our fantastic trip to the Kilimanjaro.
Everything worked according to plan. We were lucky with the weather so that the climb to the summit was beautiful and even comfortable.
Living seemed a very experienced guide, he taught us the slow pace and we trusted that he would get us to the summit as indeed he succeeded. It was an emotional moment for us.
We felt fine during the climb and went down on time.

Thanks again and best regards
Micha and Jaffa Feinberg (Kilimanjaro 2010)

Hi Harry! Sorry for i write you late. I just want to tell you that everything was perfect. We had a good team, and also the guide, Faraja, was good, he is a good guy.
We both summited, and we can say that we didn't miss anything. We didn't expect so much, we're not used to that comfort in the mountains..... So thank you for everything. 

I send you 2 photos of me on the summit with Saharawi flag. Western Sahara was occupied by Marocco and Mauritania in 1976, since then they are living in the desert of Algeria near Tindouf. They are waiting for referendum for self-determination to return to their lands. They need a politic help and not to be forgotten.

This is why i brought their flag to the highest point of their continent. A photo is nothing, but can help to make known this story to everybody.
Thank you again for everything.
David

Jambo!

The plane delay wasn't a great start to the trip! We arrived slightly late for our connection at Nairobi so got bumped off the flight to Kilimanjaro. It was fine in the end as they got us on the next flight out that afternoon. The fact that we had an extra day to relax at Springlands before we headed off for the climb meant there wasn't too much of a panic.

As to the trip itself it was fantastic. Much harder than we expected it to be but very rewarding nonetheless. Some amazing views during the climb though I'm not sure we managed to fully appreciate the view at the top as we were all pretty knackered (as the photo shows!).

In terms of organisation, everything ran smoothly from the airport pick-ups to going out on the climb and being dropped back at the airport at 5am for the flight home! Springlands is also a really nice place to stop before and after.

I thought Baba and Thomas were excellent as our guide and assistant guide (as was Ema, our "waiter"). I'm sure we wouldn't have all made it to the top without them. I would definitely recommend them for other people to have leading their group. The private toilet is also a must!!

Attached is a photo of us at the top (together with a Great Ormond Street Hospital Bear - we were raising money for the GOS children's' hospital).

Thank you for organising such a great trip.

Phil (Phil Anderson, Kilimanjaro 2010)

Beste Harry,

Een korte reactie : WOW !!!
Iets uitgebreidere reactie : wat een geweldige trip in een geweldig land met geweldige mensen. Helemaal geweldig.
Langs deze weg willen wij je nogmaals bedanken voor het regelen van onze fantastische trip op de Kilimanjaro. Het heeft onze hooggespannen verwachtingen ruimschoots overtroffen.
Alles is voor de volle 100% naar wens gegaan. De aankomst, het transport naar het hotel, alles klopte.
Daarna kennis gemaakt met onze gids, Living (Baba Jetu) jou wel bekend heb ik begrepen.
Ik weet niet hoe je deze mannen selecteerd maar als ik hem vergelijk met de andere gidsen dan is het een absolute topper.
Dat geldt ook voor zijn neef, die ook voor 7summits werkt heb ik begrepen.

Ons team was grandioos, prettige, eerlijke, open en bijzonder hard werkende mannen. We voelden ons welkom en gewaardeerd. Onze bijzondere waardering gaat uit naar onze assistent gids (Thomas) en onze gids (Living “Baba Yetu”). We hebben veel met Baba gesproken over uiteenlopende onderwerpen en zowel zijn ontegenzeggelijke kennis van de berg als wel de kennis en kunde van vele andere zaken hebben ons geboeid.

Harry, alles is exact zo gegaan zoals gepland en gewenst. Zelf een last-minute aanpassing van het klimschema werd op een bijzonder plezierige wijze door het team geaccepteerd zonder dat er enige druk werd uitgeoefend om de beslissing te beïnvloeden.

De topochtend was geweldig, helaas wat bewolking en bijzonder koud. Onvergetelijke ervaring, helemaal geweldig.
Zeer bijzonder is het feit, dat we op de dag na de klim uitgenodigd zijn in het dorp van ons team waar we op uitzonderlijk hartelijke wijze werden ontvangen en de gehele middag op z ’n Afrikaans onder de boom in het midden van het dorp hebben gezeten.

Springlands Hotel is ons geweldig bevallen, prachtige locatie met uitzonderlijk prettig personeel. Een aanrader voor alles en iedereen. De reis terug is verder prima verlopen, alles keurig op schema.

Wij kijken terug op een bijzonder geslaagde reis. Op dit moment zijn we nog druk bezig om alle indrukken te verwerken. Van te voren gaf je aan, dat Tanzania een van je favorieten is en wij kunnen dat volledig beamen. Dank voor de organisatie, was 100% ok!

We hebben Tanzania, de mensen, het team en vooral ook de berg in ons hart gesloten. We hebben de smaak te pakken gekregen van het maken van bijzondere reizen en ik kan me voorstellen dat het hier niet bij blijft.

Harry bedankt en zeker tot een volgende keer.

Hartelijke groet, Feitze en Jeroen (Kilimanjaro, 2010)

Hey Harry

I just wanted to give you the update from Argentina, we summited early due to bad weather coming in and everything went perfect. I couldn´t be more pleased with the way everything worked out and I want to thank you again for helping us set everything up and bearing with us through all the wire transfers and complications. We ended up skipping camps one and three and going from base camp straight to camp 2, resting the night and then leaving from camp 2 for the summit at 330am the next morning. we reached the summit around 3pm that afternoon giving our guide his 51st summit. The temperature was very cold at the summit and recorded at 38 degrees below with winds up to 50 mph. Truly a great experience for all of us and one that we will never forget.

The 2 summits I have done with you have gone perfectly and if you will be offering Everest treks next year then I want to go through you again.

Thanks again for everything!!!
Chris Cannizzaro (3-person private Aconcagua trip, 2010)

Hi Harry,
just wanted to, as promised, write a few words on our experience. In short, it was awesome!

In somewhat longer, everything was great. We first had some wonderfull days in Amani center, coupled with enjoyable stay in Springlands, where people are just great. The climb itself was tiring but non-problematic.

I had a blast with Baba Yetu (Living), who was just perfect for us. We didn’t need a motivator, as we never came close to the thought of giving up, yet he was a very reassuring, caring, fatherly presence, with just my kind of dry humor. Btw. the crazy SOB made it from the Mweka Gate to the top and back in 15 hours, did you know that? Infreakingcredible. And now, don’t tell me you did it, too, please.

However on the last day, I had a last laugh. Going down from Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate, he let us start ahead of him with the assistant guide (nice young fella named Thomas; I always joked how the two of them and a rock would make a great riddle for Thomas Livingstone). I think the trek is normed around 4 hours, and he said it would probably take us closer to three and that he would catch us up. Like hell he would, I thought. So we went around the first corner slowly, and as soon as we were out of sight, I told Thomas “Leo hapa pole pole, leo araka, araka”, and we went on to overtake everyone in sight, dropping Leonard along the way and making it down to the gate in roughly 2:20. So when poor Baba Yetu started some twenty minutes after us and didn’t catch up to us where he thought he would, he started picking up his already impressive pace, asking other guides if they saw us (“Yes, Crazy people, go down very fast”), then picking the pace even more, but all to no avail. I made it down about 10 minutes before he did, and then welcomed him with loud Swahili complaints how I always get the oldest and the slowest guides. Should have seen the locals crack on that.

Safari was fun, too. Very impressive, saw big five and all. Sleeping in tents was definitely a good decision, not only a budget necessity. Hearing the animals in the night and seeing three lions about 200 meters from where we slept were extra kicks. A tip for you if somebody asks again – driver/guide and a cook are not one and the same person; you get two of them if you camp.

So far I only have some of the Amani pics online, but if I add some more, I’ll let you know. The obligatory summit one is bellow, with sun rising at that very moment, as you can see. Perfect timing and recognition of available climbing material on part of Baba Yetu, again. Somehow, I have the feeling we will write again. A friend who was supposed to come and didn’t, got a can of Kilimanjaro beer and a T-shirt saying “Kilimanjaro, if you can’t climb it, drink it” from us. He proposed a bet this morning, that if he posts a facebook profile picture from Uhuru Peak, wearing that shirt and drinking this can of beer, Aconcagua is next...

Take care,
Bojan (Bojan Koprivica & Leonard Schindewolf, Kilimanjaro 2010)

Hi Harry,

Everyone is now well. We (me and Per) just left Heber a few hours ago and gave non-written report on our trip. Peter and Patrik was affected by some low oxy saturation levels but was immediately OK after returning to lower altitudes. Per summited on the 10th of January and I reached the "cave" at 6600 meters (just before the canaleta). The conditions on summit day was very windy and the night following Per's ascend from the summit was quite rough.

The arrangements have been perfect and at least I am extremely pleased with the arrangements (will leave to P*3 to comment for themselves). Gabriel Moretta took very good care of us and had a very good plan for putting as many as possible on the summit - it is however hard to control reactions of ones body or the weather. For me it has been the experience of a life time.

Don't know what qualifies as a good picture but here is the obvious selection for me - Per with Gabriel at summit. More will follow!

Thanks for everything Harry! /Mats

------

Hi Harry!

I am very happy with the entire arrangement; hotel in Mendoza, guides etc. etc. Unfortunately though, I had to turn back from Camp 1 due to HAPE which was somewhat surprising to me as I have previously never had any problems at this altitude. However, this gave me the opportunity to try out downhill muleback-riding which gave me another good adrenaline kick (and a very sore butt...).

Regards

Peter

-----

Hi Harry
First of all, thank you very much for a great arrangement. Also I must give you highest point?s for your guide book it has been my friend for a couple of weeks. I have just arrived safely back to Sweden after some fantastic weeks in Argentina and on the moutain. I have given a verbal feedback of my experiences and in short I think that it has worked very well. All transports, meals, lodgings and people involved has been terrific in my view.

Our guide Gabriel Moretta has been very good, competent and he has become more of a near climbing friend than somethingelse (I have folowed him and the other guides to boulder in BC Placa Argentina and we have shared many laughs together). He knows the mountain and the people "working" there and he is a strong and hunble person (he is a person I can trust when needed). He had a very good plan that we delivered on with a few adjustments. We made Camp 3 to summit in 6 hours, spent one hour on summit and than 2 hours back down to C3, fantastic.

Once again, thank you very much Harry. It feels like I?m back in mountain mode after 20 years. I was a very active rock/ alpine climber in the past. I spent the summers in Chamonix, Verdon, Finale, Dolimiti, Salbitchen and I was in the Indian Himmalayas and Nepal (Island Peak) in the late 80?s.

Aconcagua has woken me up again.

My best regards to you Harry

Per

(Peter, Mats, Per & Patrik, private Aconcagua expdition)

Harry,

Just got back from Aconcagua.  Great trip, son and I both made it to the summit. A good job on setting things up.  Guide was great, provisions were good. As you know, quite an experience.  Will be looking for another summit in a year or so, maybe Elbrus.

Truly a great experience to share with one’s son.  I have attached a picture of both of us on the summit.  Date 1/3/10, 1430 hours. Our main guide was Juan Araya – great guide.  Monitored how people were doing, picked the perfect pace for success, and dealt with some of the group problems very effectively.  Perfect for us.

Junior guide was Fernando, don’t know last name.  His pace, when he led, was good.  He gave many of us personal attention, and was very much responsible for us getting to the top.  Helped with packs and equipment.

Plan on doing one or two more.  Will be in touch. Thanks for the positive experience.

Chuck and Wes Clements (Aconcagua 2010, group departure)

Hi Harry!

We got back from Tanzania a while ago, but hadn't gotten around to emaling you until now - IT WAS AMAZING!

We've had a hard time trying to describe everything to our friends here in Finland, there simple are not enough words for describing everything that we got to experience, it was a trip of a lifetime!

Well, to at least try to tell you something, we started our trip with the 5-day safari package, and it was great! Henry, our guide, had an answer for everything we asked and had an enormous knowledge of the animals and their behaviour, it was like being live in a national geographic program! So many thanx to Henry for everything! Also, it was really amazing to sleep in a tent (even though it was a really luxureous version of a tent) in the middle of Serengeti and waking up in the night to lions roaring outside. Amazing!

And then of course our Meru hiking! It was a really tough climb! And, since I am fairly afraid of heights, the parts where it was really, really steep was a bit difficult for me, but we made it to the top!! Attached you can see our summit picture! :) And we would not have been able to do this without Bruce, who is not only a terrific, kowledgable and professional guide, but he is really smart, funny and entertaining as well! You have a real gem there, his social skills are perfect in combination with his wide knowlegde of world affairs and we had many long and interesting discussions on the way up and down the mountain - which is a real plus as well, as hours flew by without really noticing it! And Bruce also checked our wellbeing, seeing to it that we ate properly and always checking up on how we felt and wether we responded to his jokes and stories while summiting. :)  So he is definitly a real asset to your company and we hope that he will be rewarded correspondingly and have a good future (of course we tried to reward him as well).

So let us just thank you once more for everything, we will definitly never forget our trip to Africa and our climb up to Meru!

Best regards,
Jennifer

Dear Harry,

There is not much I can add to Jenny's e-mail, but I can just say that I agree with everything Jenny wrote. Our trip exceeded all our expectations, which were not to begin with :)

It was definitely a trip of a lifetime and the motions from crazy happiness to sadness, from joy to despair, from astonishment to exhaustion due to all things we experienced during our time in Tanzania may somehow describe our feelings.

We will never forget the people we met, the nature and the animals we saw and experienced and the feeling of exceeding yourself when finally reaching the summit of Meru!

Special regards to Henry, Bruce, Faraja and Faustin and to our ranger Joseph and the lovely staff in Serengeti camp site.

And of course, kindest regards and Merry Merry Christmas to You Harry!!!

Heidi

(Heidi & Jennifer, Mt Meru climb + Safari, 2009)

Dag Harry,

Bedankt voor alle support.
Hierbij zoals beloofd een verslag van mijn ervaringen.

Eigenlijk was alles super! Het hotel was netjes, de ontvangst subliem (zo vriendelijk),

Het team was eveneens super. De gids, Alphani heel begaan en hij luisterde nauwgezet naar mijn voorstellen (qua eten en dagindeling) en alles ging zo goed dat ik zelfs de acclimatisatiedag heb overgeslagen. Ik was dan ook 24hr eerder in het hotel. (Perfect geregeld door mijn gids van aan de Horombo hutten. (extra nacht + pick up aan de gate)

Het was zeer geslaagd en ben ik eindelijk boven geraakt. Ik ben hier terug thuis zelfs door Gazet Van Antwerpen geinterviewd! :-)

Ik stuur je nog enkele leuke foto's door van de beklimming!
Neem ook eens een kijkje op mijn website...
http://wimdebacker.com/wp/?p=901

Bedankt Harry en tot de volgende.

Wim De Backer
St Niklaas, belgium (Kilimanjaro October 2009)

7 Summits
With our group of nearly 30, 15 being high school students, we could not have been in better hands with 7 Summits. With 8 guides and over 60 porters, our group had everything we needed. 

Bruce, the head guide was incredibly knowledgeable about the flora, fauna, cultural and geologic history of Kilimanjaro.  He and the rest of the guides were continual wells of information and happily spent time answering questions from the kids, ensuring a continual educational experience. 

Harry and his fiancé Ivana, the owners of 7 Summits joined the trek and made us all feel like we were folded into their extended family.  The porters all joined together to sing us into camp every afternoon and the entire group surrounded us with support, encouragement, and song throughout the trek.

Mike O’Toole, The Xpedition / Louisville, Kentucky

Kilimanjaro 2008 (All members went on safari and all members summited on a 10 day expedition)

Hi Harry

Just a note to thank you for arranging our amazing trip to Kilimanjaro and following safari. We all three of us made it to the summit with the help of Sabi, our guide, and George his assistant.

It was one of the hardest, but also one of the best things any of us have ever done.
Sabi said to say hello.
We have enclosed a few photos for you.

Thanks again for organising the trip.

All the best,
Alan, Kelsey and Chris (Kilimanjaro 2009)

HELLO HARRY ,

Thank you, four all what you do for us. Wath we do in Tanzania , in Kilimanjaro mountain , have been beautiful and for us is like a dream.
All the friends , people and our family , whant to see the movie with “ Kilimanjaro Expedition 2009 “.
If you cant and have time , send a mail to us , with a short movie with you , say something four cildren about how important is to do sports and to go in natures !!!

All the best , Ovidiu "Japan" Cismas (Romania), Kilimanjaro 2009

Hi Harry:

We are back from Tanzania.  It was wonderful!  We made it to the summit!   Both Tom and I are so happy that we opted to sleep in the crater. We met many people that either didn’t make it or were extremely exhausted with the midnight summit.  10 days also gave us the opportunity to see more of Kilimanjaro and enjoy nice afternoon climbs to places normally skipped. From the climbing the Lava tower to exploring the crater and ash pit, we truly experienced Kilimanjaro!

Our guide was Nteze and the assistant was Matthew.  They were both excellent.  We had only 6 others (8 total including guides, cooks, etc.) which seemed too few for the 10 day hike but they all of them carried some supplies – even the guide.   Each and every team member was great.  We did get to know them even though they did keep to themselves much of the time.    

When we returned to the Springland hotel, they were surprised that we invited them for lunch and drinks.  We figured it was the least we could do for them, plus it was a nice setting to show our gratitude and distribute the tips.

Hamisi, the cook, made sure that the food on the mountain was tasty and abundant. Our waiter, Zacharia, made sure we had enough of everything!

Thank you for helping us plan this wonderful vacation!  Your suggestion of the 10 day Lemosho with sleeping in the crater was a fabulous idea!

Attached are few pictures. Again, we had a wonderful time!   We are not mountain climbers, but would consider another non-technical trip in the future (or maybe we need to learn to climb!!)

Thanks again!!

Hi Harry,

Just a quick email to let you know that I'm back from Kili.
An exhausting and beautiful experience.

Thank you for organizing it. The climb itself was fantastic - guided by Babuu - who sends you his greetings...

Now that I see that I can handle the altitude (including a good night stay in the crater) - I'm eager to continue climbing the rest of the 7 summits. I thought of climbing Elbrus next...What do you think?

Well... thanks a million for Kili, and hope to climb again with you.

Looking forward to hear from you, Nisandeh

(Nisandeh Neta, 10 day Lemosho climb including Crater, 2009)

Hi Harry,

Hope all is well with you.

I have got back from Tanzania and it was the best trip that I have ever had in my life time!!!!!! Especially my time climbing kili and with the Amani kids!!.... Yes ..we made it to the summit ;-)!!!!!

The summit day was an absolute challenging experience but I am happy that I did it .but I think it will stay as a  once in a life time  experience ;-)!!!!well you never know ;-)!!!

I also would like to give you a feedback about the team. Harry, I can assure you that I could ve not got a better team especially the guide!!!!!! They were fantastic .absolutely fantastic!!!!! I would have not made it without Babu and Joseph. Babu was our head guide and Joseph was the assistant guide. They were absolutely amazing. I don t have anything bad to say about them. The porters were beautiful,polite and helpful. The chef cooked amazing food. I feel so bad though as he cooked as a fantastic swahili food after the summit day but Paul and I were toooooo tired to be able to enjoy it fully  ;-)!!!

Babu was amazing as a head guide, he would do anything to make our trip pleasant and enjoyable. He really took care of us and he kept making sure that we were enjoying our trip.
I nearly didn t make it to the summit due to the altitude sickness. I had breathing/lungs problem when I got to 5000 metres. Babu suggested me to go down when we got to Gilmans Point as I was kind of struggling with the breathing problem. But after convincing them that I didn t have any headache and other problems, he agreed for me to continue to the summit under his 500% supervision. He was walking with me slowly and patiently and constantly gave me encouragement words when I was about to give up. Seriously had I not had him as a guide I would have never made it.
I saw another guy who experienced the same problem as mine in a different group and his guide was walking far away infront of him and didn t help or assist him.

Not only on the summit day, every single day Babu was being very supportive and helpful. Joseph was also a fantastic assistant guide. A combination of them is perfect!! And they both have a good knowledge about the vegetation etc so they were able to answer our questions about the vegetation and the mountain. 
Since I have gone back to the Springland hotel, I have been recommending Babu as a guide to anybody who is interested in climbing kili.

Harry, thanks for your assistance in organizing this trip for us.

I attached some pics of our climbing trip or if you want to know about our kili trip just click on the link below, I have uploaded the photos on facebook and put some notes on some of them ( you don't have to have a facebook account to view them as it is a public link). You are more than welcome to upload some of the pics and these comments on 7summits.com!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=121819&id=674578141&l=92cc6392d8
Best Regards,
Yani

(Yani Fernandus, Kilimanjaro 2009)

Hi Harry

I'm so sorry it's been such a long time till I got the chance to write to you.  We got back in the first week of January and time has flown since then. So, just to let you know that we had a fantastic time in Tanzania. 
Our 5 day Safari was great. Omari our guide and our cook David were both great. Omari was good a guide not only with the wildlife, but also chatting to him about Tanzania as a country.  It's really good to be able to have a local guide so you can get so much more of a feel for the country. The food was brilliant.  They both did us proud

Springlands is a great hotel for pre and post climbing of Kili. We had a night before the safari, one before the climb and 2 nights after the climb there. The staff there are really friendly and so efficient and knowledgable.  Nothing is too much trouble for them. Everything is very clean, the food is good and the facilites are really very good for the price you are paying. 

Kilimanjaro - well, what can I say.  Our team were fantastic and we did it in 7 days instead of the 8 we booked.  Sabi our guide really was just amazing.  The best thing about him was that every evening he would come and sit and chat with us asking us how we had found the day. 

He would then tell us what the walking would be like the next day, but almost more importantly would help us mentally prepare for the day.  He would tell us how we might feel physically and how to approach it mentally. 

The pace that he got us walking at was so slow (Pole Pole!) that sometimes you felt we were tripping over our own feet.  However, this approach was totally the right way as neither of us experienced any altitude sickness on summit day from trying to over exert ourselves.  I got a small amount the day we went over the Lava Tower, but Sabi assured me it would be gone by morning and even though I didn't believe him, it was. 

On summit day Sabi set a nice and slow pace that suited us and meant that we were always able to get enough air in and didn't get out of breath.  It worked so well that we didn't need to stop at all on the way to summit and got to the summit first at 6am to see a beautiful sunrise with the glaciers pink in the light.  I really couldn't say more about how highly I rate him as a guide. 

George our assistant guide was great also and I think once his English is even better he'll make a very good lead guide.  Our team were fantastic, Chaffi our waiter who brought all the fantastic food from the chef was lovely.  The food was great - soup every night.  We owe a massive thankyou to the whole team who carried all our gear and themselves up the mountain, we really couldn;t have done it without them.

Please extend our thanks and best wishes to all the guys both on safari and the Kili team.  We loved their country and all the great experiences we had there will stay with us forever.

Many Thanks
Best Wishes
Anne

(Anne McCardle, Kilimanjaro & Safari 2009)

Harry,

Just a quick follow-up that Bob and I were able to summit on January 20, 2009 at approximately 2:00 PM.  I can not say enough about the group. The guides were excellent with good experience. The food was beyond expectation. 

I have included a few summit pictures.  I can give you the guide's first names or nicknames, Flavia should have the full names. 

There was Topo, the lead guide, Sebastian and Nacho.  Each was a certified mountain guide with the client's welfare first in their minds.  They were true professionals.  As far as food goes, steak and chicken at basecamp, need I say more!

We took your guidebook to high camp, but not to the summit as we not not want the extra weight.

Thanks for all your input along the way!

Good Climbing,

John and Bob Spinks (Aconcagua 2009)

Hello Harry.
How are you keeping. Well we hope. We are now back in Canada from our fantastic trip in Tanzania.
Thank you for every thing you did in organizing this trip for us that enabled my whole family to have a great time. The safaris were wonderful and very interesting and informative.

We could not have asked for a better guide and team to take us up Mt. Kilimanjaro than who we had. Bruce and his team were the absolute best. Though we have never had a guide before to compare, I will be very surprise to experience another guide and team that would even come close to that which we had. Bruce and his assistant guide Adam brought us up the mountain in a very professional way, that made the entire journey pleasant, even when the going was getting tough.

Bruce took us up to the summit via the Western Breach and showed us the Reusch Crater. We as a family will always be grateful to them for allowing us to conquer the Western Breach. Though tough, it was truly beautiful and ended up being voted the best day of the climb by my family, besides summiting the following day, we also appreciated the fact that it left us with only 1.5 hours to the summit as oppossed to 6 hours.
We look forward to doing another climb with you in the future. Would you have any suggestions as to which should be the next one to conquer.
Regards from all of us.
Tony, Adele, Carlos and Paul Vieira.

(later email) Just want to thank you one more time for giving us the opportunity to have experienced all that we did as a family and all the help before departing home that you gave that allowed every thing to go down as well as it did. It truly meant a lot to me to do the Western Breach and that Bruce allowed it to happen, we will never forget that.

We wish you the best on your current and future adventures and looking forward to following you through your web site.
Regards
Tony, Adele, Carlos and Paul. (Kilimanjaro & safari 2009)

Harry,

It has been a few months since we returned from Tanzania, but we still wanted to let you know we had a great trip!  We were so happy to arrive in Africa, just two days after our wedding.  The hotel was great and it really helped to take a day of rest before starting the climb - after all, it was a long flight from California. 

I was not expecting so much organization with the climb, but it was fine.  It was nice to have the logistics such as food, timing and camp setup, taken care of.  Our guide, Living, and assistant guide Costa were great.  I had some mild altitude sickness and Living helped me get through it.  They were also very knowledgeable about the mountain, and were fun to talk to.  We played a lot of cards together. 

The mountain was beautiful - as you said, sunrise over the mountain from Stella Point is a memory I will never forget!  We both summited and we felt great, especially once we got to Stella Point and we knew that we were almost there.  I attached some pictures.   

Erica and I did the right thing by adding a trip to Zanzibar.  That was definitely another highlight of the trip, and relaxing on the beautiful beach was even better after the mt. climb.  We stayed at Matemwe Beach Village - I would highly recommend that hotel to anyone else interested in visiting Zanzibar.  Very relaxing and great food. 

Thank you very much for helping arrange this trip for us.  We are glad we found your website.  I recommend you to anyone else

. Feel free to post my feedback/photos on your site if you like.  Also, if anyone ever wants to speak with someone who recently planned a trip through your site, feel free to put them in contact with us.  We would be happy to help answer questions (as we would have found that useful in advance).  We hope you are well, and thanks again! 

Best Regards,

Graham and Erica St. Michel

((Kilimanjaro 2008, on the summit with our guides Living and Constantin)

Harry, Our Kilimanjaro trip was amazing.

Bruce is truly a special person and a tremendous guide. We question whether we'd have had 100% summit success (13 people) without him leading the way. The amenities and services exceeded our expectations and we can't say enough great things about you, your various crew and trekking with 7summits.

My group is working on more specific feedback to better articulate our thoughts but I wanted to touch base before too much more time passed. Suffice to say, we really appreciate everything.

Thank you again for all your time and assistance.

Best, Jason Hanson (13 person, safari + Kili)

I would just like to take the time to thank you very much for organising our trip up Mt Kilimanjaro.

Matt and I were successful in reaching the summit as shown by the attached photo and I can't thank you and Living and the crew enough for all your assistance. We had some fun trying to get cameras to work up on the summit and managed the one photo thankfully.

I also wrote a poem for my friends and family back home. Thank you very much again and no doubt I will look to use your company again in future trips!

Kind Regards

Simon Tillmanns and Matthew Bruce

Kilimanjaro Poem, by Simon Tillmans:

The challenge was there, 5895 metres above covered in cloud
Unit and BruC were to do the guys proud

Their training was in question by those all around
The 71 kilometre Machame Route on damn hard ground

The Whiskey Route as its known
Not the Coca Cola or Ice Cream Cone

It started off trekking through the rain forest trees
A 1300 metre day ascent that the guys sweated out and was hard on their knees

Day two was a little easier up to the Shira Plateau
We were up with the clouds but the temperature was low

Day three led the lads up to the lava towers
The weather came in and we were trekking for hours

We reached 4600 metres that day
A day of acclimatisation and thoughts of come what may

But it held us in good stead for the next two days
We felt strong as we climbed Barrancau Wall and did more k's

We were eating 5000 calories a day
You would think it would be easy for these men of prey

And finally it was here day 5 at night
The wind was howling, the ice taking flight

We were woken at 11pm to make the summit by dawn
A full moon greeted us and the wind died and scorned

Our trek leader 'Living' was powering ahead
Whilst Unit and BruC still thought about bed

But they pressed on head torches alight
They were on a mission, tonight was their night

They trekked over snow, ice and rock
Wondering if the summit would ever give the key to the lock

And then at 6.45am they arrived full of emotion
They had powered up the steep ascent covered in sun lotion

The sun was rising, it was briskly cold
The Kilimanjaro Crater was worth what had been told

There were hugs, not kisses, all around
And the only photo taken was worth a million pound....

Cheers

Simon Tillmanns (Kilimanjaro 2008)

I just wanted to get back to you with some quick feedback.

Everything went smoothly with our climb, and the service was exceptional. Bruce was our head guide, and appeared to be by far the best guide there. He was very knowledgeable about climbing/altitude sickness/weather/medications/world affairs etc...

(From left to right

Dave - Luke's father who turned 65 this week and climbed like a champ
Luke who I've known for 22 years and we've discussed this climb for at least 10 years
Myself
Eric Van Trump a college roommate that I've known for 10 years)

The porters worked extremely hard for us. They were able to make some last minute changes in our climbing itinerary to accommodate our fitness level and allow us to get back in time for a 1 day safari. Thanks again for your help in setting up this trip for us. I would certainly use 7summits again if we do another climb in the future.

Sincerely,

Mike Perlmeter and friends, Kilimanjaro 2008

The trip was fantastic, certainly something unique that we will remember for a long long time. The experience was incredible, the hiking and climbing at times strenuous, especially on summit night.

The Springlands Hotel was very very nice, the Zara staff hospitality was excellent, we enjoyed the food and our stay there.

On the mountain our guide Saby and the porter/cook team was equally excellent. We never went hungry and they always made sure to go out of their way to make us comfortable. I can say we enjoyed even the food on the mountain - given where you are.

We also made sure to tip everyone as you suggested. Thanks for helping us organize this trip of a life-time. I've attached our summit picture.

Kindest Regards
Tony, Richard & Stacy, Kilimanjaro 2008

I am back at home after reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro on Wednesday morning at 06:30.

I decided to shorten the trip and summit with the rest of the people who where travelling the route and then exit the park on summit day as the thought of sleeping in a bed was too tempting to pass up.  The Springlands hotel was very good, quite happy with it after they supplied a fan to my room. The amenities were better than expected.

The guide - Rumisha, was excellent. I gave him a very good tip as I could not have asked for better.

Springlands helped me change my flight to get home early. Met the owner, she seemed very nice. Meals and drinks there were good. Considering I did not take any malaria medication, I was pleased to find mosquito nets and the sale of deet at the hotel. I am sure you already know all this and it simply reinforces your choice of hotel for clients.

I definitely learned a number of things to help with Elbrus this summer and your recommendation of 8 days was certainly understood. I didn't have any signs of altitude sickness, but did struggle sleeping at Barafu camp at 4600 as I was short of oxygen. Below this level there were no concerns. The summit attempt was quite difficult considering the lack of time aclimatizing and no sleep the evening before. I now understand taking 2 weeks to climb Elbrus.

Thanks for everything, I have sent a link through facebook with some photos from Kili.

Shawn Madore, Kilimanjaro 2008

We are back from Kilimanjaro!
Mike and I had a wonderful experience from both Kili and Safari trips. We both summited the Kili, even though I was sick (mountain sickness) at Lava Tower (but recovered within a day after taking diamox). Our guide is Living, Bruce's brother. Living and Zungu (our assistant guide) have taken such good care of us. On Summit night they were singing along, which was so energizing for us... Our summit night the weather was near perfect: close to full moon, clear night without much wind. We could not ask for more.

We totally enjoyed the safari trip too. We saw all big 5, but what we like the most is to witness massive number of wildebeests, zebras and gazelles spread throughout over such large area between the Ngorongoro Crate and the Serengeti. Tented camp experience at Serengeti was lovely. We also enjoy the hot-air balloon ride. It was not because we can see more animals, but having a nice view of Serengeti and to be able to see its vastness.

On top of the Kili and safari trip, we also made a connection with a visionary entrepreneur, Terevaeli Urio, the owner of Salzburger Cafe at Moshi. He has a dream to open a botanic garden and culture center near Kilimanjaro Airport. We don't know if we can really help him out, but we are going to looking into it.

Looking back to this trip, our first one to Africa, we are so appreciative to the service and support that you and your team at 7Summits have provided, worth every penny paid! You have provided the information that we need, answered all the questions that we could think of, and you were so flexible and accommodating in rescheduling our trip. As a result, this 50th birthday gift to me gave us a truly rich and meaningful experience. Thank you!

One more thing, do you know that our fabulous guide, Living, is so proud to work for 7Summits?

We would enthusiastically recommend 7Summits to everyone who wish to climb Kili, definitely to our friends.

- Jiahong

Michael and Jiahong Juda, Kilimanjaro & safari trip 2008

Hello Harry -

Hope you are doing well. It's been quite awhile since our African Adventure back
in October. I apologize for not emailing you sooner. Its amazing how time flies. Though we've viewed the 1,500+ pictures we took, we still have yet to organize them all (only organized the pictures from the climb. certainly one of the downfalls of the digital age). I did attach a couple shots from the summit though. To refresh your memory, we took the Lemosho route up Kili, and then spent 5 days on Safari before relaxing in Zanzibar.

First, let me just say - "Thank you" for organizing the most amazing trip!
Everything went smoothly - from the booking process, to the airlines, the shuttle service and hotel accommodations. I have no complaints. The Zara staff we dealt with were very pleasant and accommodating. As for the guides and porters I can't say enough good things about them. After reading some of the information on your website, we felt very lucky when we found out Bruce was going to be our guide. He's an excellent guide and his team of porters were no less than outstanding. They were a great group of guys who took good care of us.
We never felt as if we wouldn't make the summit under Bruce's leadership and his teams support.

As for the trip itself, it truly was a trip of a lifetime. The hiking and scenery up Kili was spectacular and we had really good weather most of the time.
We left Kosovo camp just after midnight under clear skies, arriving at Stella Point in time to witness a beautiful sunrise. After taking in some spectacular views for awhile we made the final ascent to Uhuru Peak. It truly was an amazing experience. One we'll cherish forever.

The safari portion of the trip was equally memorable for us. We started in the Tarangire National Park, then spent 2 days exploring the Serengeti, before making our way through the Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara National Park. Our guide Salum was incredibly knowledgeable about the wildlife. I can't imagine anyone knowing more, or being able to spot animals and birds the way he did. I can't say any park was better than the others, but the Serengeti because of its vastness was probably the most impressive. We were incredibly lucky too, as we got to see the Big 5. I'll send some photos once I sit down and take the time to go through them.

In regards to Zanzibar, it was a beautiful way to wrap up our adventure. Kicking back and relaxing on the beach, enjoying some cocktails and sun. Couldn't beat it ...

Thanks again Harry. I truly appreciate everything you've done.

Dave & Diana Griggs, Kilimanjaro & Safari 2007

"...Thus ended our first trip to Africa. I adored it and will definitely be back, though probably to South Africa, Botswana, and Kenya next time. If any of you are interested in doing what we did (either the safari or the Kili climb or both), I would highly recommend the tour company with whom we booked our trip. It’s called 7summits and can be found at 7summits.com. The prices are incredibly reasonable (we paid WAY less for our trip than most other trips of its type sell for), and the company owner, a guy named Harry Kikstra, is the most responsive person you’ll ever meet. He’s also an experienced mountaineer who takes pains to select high quality guides and use high-quality equipment, so you know going in that you’ll be well taken care of.

Thanks for reading this far, and, as they say in Tanzania, Usiku Mwema."

(Eileen Newhall, Kilimanjaro & Safari, 2007

Harry:

I meant to write sooner, but I wanted to drop a line and let you know that Nathan Horne's and my experience climbing Kili was phenomenal from beginning to end. We enjoyed our stay at the Springlands Hotel, and the service on the mountain was outstanding. The porters and cooks were very friendly and helpful, and our guide, Living Thomas, was excellent -- wouldn't have summited without him. I have already recommended 7 Summits to a number of folks I know who are considering a Kili climb in the next couple of years (and I have told them to insist on Living as a guide). I appreciate the excellent service.

I appreciate any thoughts you have and wanted to say, once again, that we couldn't have had a better Kili experience.

Eric

Eric G. Reeves & Nathan Horne, Kilimanjaro, November 2007

Harry, Thanks so much for your service, the execution was flawless. Add two very happy Kili summiteers to your logbook.

Living, our head guide, was fantastic. A real prodigy. I'll try to write more as I settle back in.Thanks Mike McQueen

I echo Mike's sentiments. We just had a wonderful experience and credit much of that to our Zara guides and the terrific staff at the Springlands Hotel. Thank you so much!!!!         Molly

(Mike and Molly McQueen, Kili October 2007)

When we were on Kili we had Bruce as our guide as promised. We were a party of 3 clients with the usual doubts and nerves of being at altitude for the first time. We felt a huge confidence boost for our safety when two people had to be evacuated because of altitude sickness from a huge expensive group from the US on the second day because, at the first sign of trouble it was Bruce that was called on to assess the situation and implement the evacuation. He is the youngest qualified guide on Kili and while plenty of guides can get a healthy person to the top, Bruce is the one they all rely on to get you down safely.

While on Kili and in the hotel in Moshi we spoke to a least 50 climbers who had attempted Killi and swapped stories. Amazingly only half made it too the true summit and of the ones who did all hated the experience but were relieved to make it. They spoke of headaches, sickness and extreme fatigue. One guy told us it was a 20 year goal to climb Kili and he hated every step but to his credit he summitted anyway. Some of them tried in 5 days. We took the climb over ten days. We loved every step, had no illness or headaches and I celebrated my 50th birthday on Killi. I am a bit overweight and fairly fit for my age .I had no problem at all with the climb as we took the extra time. The scenery on the mountain is spectacular and has every thing you could ever want to see. Take the extra days, enjoy the mountain and skip past the walking dead on summit day. I was passing guys half my age purely because we took the time to acclimatise properly. It may cost a little extra for the extra days but it is cheaper than going back and more fun that vomitting your way to the top

Thanks for a great trip to Kili, Harry. We all summited as you know and it was great to meet you in Amsterdam on the way back to Australia. Thanks for the tour of your city and It was good to see you in person. I am 50 years old and it was a great leap of faith on my part to send a heap of money to a virtual Dutchman. I will admit now I did Google your name first to see if you were real. You certainly drink beer like a real person and it was a pleasure to meet you.I will never climb Mt Everest myself but it is nice to tell people that I have a friend who has.

We had the trip of a lifetime and I had a 50th birthday to cherish forever. I think every human should be exposed to the Tanzanian people and their hospitality. If you do not come away changed for the better, you have no soul. They have so little but smile like millionaires. They share their culture, language and disposition so freely and ask only for asanti or thank you in return. We in the West have much to learn from the Tanzanians.

Jim & Nicky Fraser, Kilimanjaro + safari  September 2007

just wanted to let you know that we came back from our trip to Tanzania, Kilimanjaro/Safari couple days ago. The climb was the hardest thing I did in my life and I am very glad you suggest the 7 days since most people were doing 6 days. My wife did not made it to Uhuru Point since the Altitude sickness got the best of her the 3rd day (+ the pool at the hotel was more appealing...)
It was an amazing thing to make it to the top, beautiful scenaries from the first day to the top, very very nice.

The Kabila brothers were very professional and I was very pleased with the group, and their younger brother Chadrick who was a porter in the group went the extra miles to make sure i was well taking care.

The safari was very nice, (my only complaint was the food at the Safari, the lunch boxes after a while always the same thing, 1 egg, 1 or 2 fruit, 1 pancake and 1 muffins = 1 juice..) I think a sandwich would had be nice)

Again thanks for that great trip or shoud i say
"Tu me fouraii sana, I sante sana rafiki"

best regards

Ricardo Gomez (Kili & Safari Sept 2007)

Harry,

Thanks for setting up our trip to Tanzania. You hooked us up w/ the best guide on the planet in Bruce. That dude went above and beyond what we ever could have expected. He got all of us to the summit, and even offered to hang out w/ us on his day off and show us around Moshi. Everything you arranged for us worked out perfectly and I'd recommend 7summits to anyone.

A few of us are considering Acon in the future. We'll look 7summits back up if we pull the trigger on that one.

Thanks again,
Mike. (Mike Stolk, 8 persons, Safari + Kilimanjaro August 2007)

Harry and I completed our climb of Kilimanjaro and we want to take this opportunity to thank you for the very smooth way in which the whole trip went, from the initial emails regarding price and arrangements to the final bus ride to the airport.

The team that took us up was excellent and cannot be faulted in any way whatsoever. I would say in the main that this is due to Living Thomas our chief guide, who did an outstanding job in organizing the logistics and ensuring that we knew that our comfort and safety was his priority. His assistant guide Jeremiah is also an excellent asset to any team. The food exceeded expectations also.
We both reached the top in great shape and totally enjoyed the experience. Thanks again.When the feet get itchy again maybe we'll speak to you about Aconcagua...

thanks and kind regards, Andy and Harry (Kilimanjaro, Sept 2007)

Harry ~

I booked my climb of Kilimanjaro for the dates of June 25th – July 1st via the Lemosho/Machame route. I did summit on my 50th birthday and a full moon! My guide, Raymond Mandari, brought a candle up to the summit and sang “Happy Birthday”! It doesn’t get much better than that!

You were an absolute pleasure to book through and Zara was the best! As you know, my luggage did not arrive to JRO (Kilimanjaro). All of my climbing gear and personal items were in my luggage! Zainab Ansell took me to the gift shop at the Springlands hotel and had me pick out the necessary items I would need to get up Kili such as sunscreen, mosquito stick, toothbrush and toothpaste, etc. She footed the tab! Then she sent me to the rental shop where I was able to get most of what I would need to get up the mountain. A stranger at the hotel, who had just come off of Kili, loaned me the remaining items that I needed!!! I left for the mountain without any of my own gear as the airlines still did not know where my luggage was! On day 3 up the mountain, Zainab sent a porter to bring me my duffel bag that had arrived to the hotel while I was on Kili. The porter met me on the trail so I had all of my own equipment for the remainder of the climb. This takes customer service to a new level!!! My guide was so encouraging, especially on summit day! And one of my porters met me with tea and biscuits on the trail several times when I was quite fatigued. I am so grateful to Zainab and all of the kind people at Zara.

Thank you, Harry. You helped me to make another one of my dreams come true!

Best regards,
M.C. Reinhardt (Kili June/July 2007)

Just thought I would drop you a note to say we had a fantastic time in Tanzania. Myself and Nigel both made it to Uhuru peak and it was amazing.The program was excellent. I could not have asked for a better guide. He is really more my friend now. We are still keeping in touch. His team were perfect. I think in total we will have raised from Kili and Nevis over £2500, so that's not to bad. You can see some photographs and video at www.nickbegg.com

Thanks for organising such a great trip.

Best Regards, Nick Begg (Kilimanjaro 2007)

I am sorry that me going down caused you to miss your chance of summiting but the attention and care you gave to me coming down will probably be remembered by me more than any summit. Thank you as it meant a lot at the time and means even more now on reflection.

Thank you once again for a fantastic trip and all your support and encouragement.
Your friend Jim {Hugo}

(Jim was part of our excellent Elbrus North side team in July 2007)

Thought you would appreciate some feedback on our trip.

Tara, Melanie and I summited Kilimanjaro on July 10. It was an outstanding trip. The guide, Bruce, and assistant guide, Lavean (spelling?), were very professional and proficient. I enjoyed very much talking with Bruce throughout the trip and I believe Melanie and Tara did also. Our safari guide, Peter, was also excellent.

The amount of food available was unbelievable and very tasty. Having read some other accounts with other guide companies, I was not sure what to expect for food and water. We were never short of boiled water for our meals or for our water bottles.

The Impala Hotel in Arusha was a very nice place to stay. Thank you for that tip.

It was a very enjoyable trip and we all had a wonderful experience.

Sincerely, Chuck

(Chuck Connelly, climbed Kili with 7summits.com in July 2007)

What can I say? We have had a great experience working with you on our African trip. You were quick to answer our many questions and you were very honest. Thank you so much for dinner in Amsterdam, what a wonderful way to top off our journey.

After being in Africa, it's amazing things actually can run fairly smoothly. The African people are endearing and I miss them already. Got an e-mail from Beth at the Amani home in Moshi today. They are enjoying all the "stuff" we brought and wanted our home address so they can send us some drawings. I am thinking they have become our special project and look forward to many e-mails and letters back and forth. Thank you for suggesting them to us.

Keith and I are talking about Nepal in two years, your seed planting is working already...

(From Chris Palesh, who climbed with her husband Keith and his uncle Heinz; they celebrated her B-day on the summit which she shared with Heinz, in July 2007)

Hello Harry, thanks again for all your help and advise, Keith & Chris must have told you all the details at your visit in Amsterdam, We truly had a fabulous time, the Guides and assistant Guides, the cook and waiter and all the porters did a tremendous job,

I could not be more happy. Bruce must be the best guide on the mountain, he sure helped all of us to reach the top, some times the going was rough as you know. I certainly recommend you and your company to any one with pride.

Thanks again. Very sincerely

Heinz Maurer

Keith, Bruce, Chris, Fortunatus & Heinz back in our Springlands hotel

Left: Keith & Chris: We made it!
Right: Chris (52 years that day) & Heinz (68 years!): happy B-day on the summit, with guide Bruce

Paul Shaya, climbed Kili in 2007, a very last-minute and specialized trip :-)

 If you want you can put my name on any referral if needed, or post my picture if needed, 7 summits is a good outfit so I hope I can spread the word.

Paul Shaya

Thanks for setting up a great trip. We put 5 out of 6 on top and I got my third continental summit. Bruce was an outstanding guide and Zara put together a first class set up.
 
Once again, thanks for setting up a successful and enjoyable trip. I will be sure to turn on any climbers who are looking to do any of the continental summits guided to look at your site and get a quote from you first and foremost!

Regards, Ron Cerenzo

Ron Cerenzo, leader of a 6 person Kilimanjaro & safari group, 2007

It really helped that you were so flexible in the hotel arrangements and with the refund. The hotel was an oasis after our climb. I plan on doing a few more climbs so hopefully we can use you again. We are thinking of Nepal in October. Now we have two Trumbull's who are climbers, Lance and myself.

thanks again for everything
Kristi"

Kristi Trumbull, part of a 4 person team, Kili and safari, end of 2006

Thanks for reimbursing the money. It was a pity that we didn't get to do the balloon ride (due to the weather), but everything else was perfect so...

Thanks also for all the arrangements. Everything worked perfectly fine. and especially our Kilimanjaro guide and his team were fantastic. If you can do anything on the 7summits website to mention him and his team I'm sure he (and all the groups that end up asking for him!!) would appreciate it. Both my dad and I want to recommend him very much. He is good for basically any kind of group. Not only was he a great guide, knowledgeable about the mountain, all the flowers and animals but he was also simply a great guy to be around.

His name is Malisa and he had a team of 6 more persons when we were there. All of them were great and with fabulous service throughout the whole trip. We gave them about the tips that you mentioned on the website, a little more to the guide and the assistant guide (who both of them went out of their way to make our trip the best possible), and they were very happy with that.

I enclose some pictures from the trip. Our guide Malisa is the guy to the far left in a blue T-shirt in the group photo. I am very happy that you recommended the Lemosho route. Excellent views from the west, south and the east sides.

The Safari was great as well. 4 days was a suitable time. Anything less and you may miss out on Serengeti and anything more and you may get tired of more giraffs... and more giraffs... more thompson gasells... and more giraffs...
We saw all the animals we wanted to see (rhino, elephant, leopard, cheeta, lion, hippo, crocodiles, buffalo, wild beast, ostrich etc. etc.)

Thanks again Harry!!

Best Regards,
Magnus and Sven  (Kilimanjaro & Safari 2006)

Doug Thompson and Marc Reichel, Kilimanjaro& safari 2006

Forgive me for not getting back to you sooner. Our climb went very well. The weather was perfect. We had snow at the upper elevations, since we were coming up the shady side of the mountain. It made for some beautiful pictures. Most climbers coming up the other routes saw no snow.

The guide was good. We did struggle with communication at times, due to his limited English skills, but he more than made up for it with his great knowledge of the flora and fauna and his infectious smile. The food was very good. Bob and I think that not only did we not lose the normal two pounds a day climbing, but we may have gained weight on this climb. They even stopped and made us a hot lunch a few times.

We should have listened to your suggestion of a 10 day climb. We skipped a couple of acclimatization days early in the climb because we were feeling good, but we paid for it when we got to the crater. I took a little nap once we got to Crater Camp, even though I was afraid that I might never wake up, but felt well enough afterwards to take a day hike to the ash pit. I kept saying “this better be worth it” on the way up, since it was a bit of a climb, but once I saw the pit I realized it was well worth it. It’s a shame most climbers never see it. It’s quite impressive. We summited the next morning and hiked all the way out that day. We completed the entire climb in 7 days.

Bob and I had a few days before we had to fly home so we went shopping in Moshi one day. It was very amusing and a great way to take in the local culture. Then Zara set us up with a 2 day safari to Manyara Lake and NgoroNgoro Crater. All the suffering on the mountain turned out to be worth it because the safari was awesome! To think we were considering visiting Tanzania without going on a safari now seems ludicrous.

Bob and I very much enjoyed doing business with you and 7summits. We would not hesitate to use your service again. We plan to climb Aconcagua next January, so you may be hearing from us.

Danken U Harry. Oprecht, Cal

Cal Itzaina & Bob Wessels, Kilimanjaro 2005

Cyrus Moqtaderi, part of 6 person group, Kilimanjaro 2005/6

She sent a special 2email afterwards to recommend our guide Bruce (read more about him here)

Bruce is extremely personable, and has a good command of English.

He was unflappable in the face of difficulty: the bus broke down on the way to Lemosho, and we all had to be shuttled up to the trailhead. I thought at that time that we could have trouble accomplishing our goal, but Bruce made sure we got to the trailhead, and brought up the rear, escorting our group to the Big Tree Camp, where we arrived after dark, and from that point we were off and running.

At every break, Bruce checked with members of the party, to see how they were feeling. Members of the party were impressed with his knowledge of mountain safety and altitude sickness, as well as his knowledge of the flora of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

We hit a pretty good rainstorm on the way to Karanga Camp, and while we huddled in our tents drying out, Bruce and Faraja went around and dug trenches around our tents to alleviate flooding. He also came out and adjusted the fly on my tent, which was allowing water to leak through at one spot. The tents were always up and ready for us as we got to camp.

Bruce was willing to adjust the schedule when allowable. For instance, at my request, we slept in for an extra hour at Barranco Valley, after the exertions of the previous day. On our return from the summit, he allowed some of the party to rest a bit longer before breaking camp and moving down to Millenium.

Bruce arranged to have 5 guides working with our party on Summit day, and they each did a fabulous job, giving personal attention and encouragement above and beyond what was expected. My niece Macaire wanted to stop at the Crater Rim, but Bruce jollied her along, cajoling her and insisting that she would be sorry if she did not go all the way to Uhuru Peak, and he was absolutely correct. He did not have to spend that extra time and energy on Macaire, and it was awfully nice of him.

In fact, I can say sincerely that our expectations were exceeded, and delightfully so.

It was an awesome trip, Harry, and I wish I could do it again tomorrow. Please use my name to anyone who would like a reference, and thanks again for offering this trip at such a reasonable cost. The picture you have includes Bruce, Zia, Josh, Neda, myself, and Macaire. Zia and Neda are my daughters, and Josh is Zia’s long-time boyfriend; Macaire is my niece. It was really nice to be able to share such a fantastic experience with them. It was also fantastic to be able to summit a 19,340-foot peak with my other friends, most of whom are over 50 like myself.

I have included another picture, a summit photo. This one has (l.to r.) Josh, Zia, Hamisi, Sally, John, Neda, Bruce, Judy, and Macaire.

And, sorry to say, we gave the last T-shirt to Bruce….. but you can send us the Aconcagua Guide Book anyhow…. Some of us are wondering how we can possibly top the Kilimanjaro experience: perhaps you could assign Bruce to our climb?

Best Regards,

Judy Scavone

Judith Scavone and group, 13 persons, Kilimanjaro and safari, 2006

Robert Sattler, part of 13 person Judy Scavone group, Kilimanjaro and safari 2006

Thankfully we all managed to summit, more or less together. Summit night was incredibly difficult though, especially for myself as I had some bad nausea and sickness a few hours into the walk, which triggered a massive nose bleed and left me feeling quite empty. I was expecting to be turned around at that point, but thankfully the guide (Tony) took my bag and never even entertained the idea of going back down.

After a terrible night walking I started to feel better and caught up with everyone else as we
approached Stella Point, which I sort of collapsed on to! Then a can of Red Bull later, I was ready to go for the summit - and what an experience! The view, which was enhanced by the snow that had fallen that night, combined with my exhausted, drunken, hypoxic state left me giggling uncontrollably. Everyone else was absolutely exhausted, but determination got us all to the top, and we got the summit photo which is priceless.

The hotel at Springlands was excellent, and the lodges way were beyond our expectations, with all the staff very welcoming. The guides (Emmanuel, Tony, and Torima on the safari) and porters were brilliant and very entertaining characters. And the safari was the perfect end to a great trip.

So consider yourself recommended to anyone else that I find planning a trip. And we'll be in touch at some point to discuss Aconcagua....!

Many thanks and kind regards, John.

John Sadler and group, Kilimanjaro and safari, 2005

Joshua & Sandra Caballero, Kilimanjaro and safari 2005

“7 Summits.com does it again!

I have known Harry for a while now and have used his services on Elbrus and so when I started to plan my Kilimanjaro Climb for Peace trip – I of course, emailed Harry and had him put it all together. My climb was unique in that I had a team of people from various faiths and cultures spread out across 5 different continents and so having a professional company like 7 Summits.com not only helped me logistically but it gave me peace of mind knowing that Harry was there to take care of things in a professional and organized manner. Everything went perfectly and we all had an incredible experience!

I could have tracked down a local African outfitter myself – spent the extra time and money in doing the research…but why?! For Harry’s price is actually cheaper than going directly through the source! In fact, since the people at the African hotel/agency all knew Harry so well, they gave me an extra discount on certain things just because I was going through 7summits.com!
And so the moral of the story: book through 7summits.com, save money and time – and oh yeah, have an amazing experience as well!

Lance Trumbull
Founder and Leader
The Everest Peace Project
www.EverestPeaceProject.org

" Harry,

We just got in today from our climb and it was amazing! Sarah managed to get to Stella Point before the guide decided that she had had enough, but I continued on and summitted. It was great. The staff were all excellent and the guide definitely made the right decision by having Sarah turn around at Stella. I would like to commend you and the rest of the organization in providing us with an excellent experience. It was incredible. I was able to rent the stuff I was missing, and it all worked out great. We leave for our safari tomorrow and we have sorted out all the details of our flights.

I've definitely learned that I like mountain climbing and am looking for the next challenge. It may be a while from now (need time off from work and cash), but I'm thinking I'd like to try Aconcagua next...definitely with 7summits!

Thanks again for everything,

Mike. "

Mike Fenton, Kilimanjaro Kilimanjaro & safari 2005

“Hi Harry,

Just got back yesterday and yes we had a brillant time. (...) Our guide Freddie was brillant and the porters,cook and ass guide were excellent. We got very well looked after and ate like Kings. The Safari was the coolest experience ever and our guide Mohamed was a legend. All in all our African experience was one we will never forget. Thanks for putting it together for us, we will highly reccommend 7summits to anyone who asks.”
Regards Liam & Fran Lynch

Kilimanjaro & Safari 2005

" Hi Harry,
Dear Harry, So we are back safe and EXTREMELY happy with the services provided. Indeed, both of us summited on Dec 30 in a perfect weather: sunny, not cold at all and almost no wind. Except for the last 300 meters which are hard to climb due to altitude, the climb was very pleasant. We summited from Camp II (Nido de Condores) and we were back to basecamp to celebrate New Year. We were already ready for our first summit attempt from Camp II on Dec 28, but it was snowing that day and we decided to descend to basecamp. The next day on Dec 29, we came back to Camp II and the second attempt was the good one. This allowed us to finish the climb 3 days earlier than planned (..).

About the trip, everything was perfect. The food was the best we ever had during a mountain climb, people were very nice and helpful, we felt part of a family. All the place we visited were very clean, we ate all fruits and vegetables without getting sick, the tents were great. Our guide was the best we could have, very flexible but at the same very professional at keeping us safe, and he became a good friend after 2 weeks. His encouragements during the last part of the climb in the canaletta were greatly appreciated. Also, services provided at Puente del Inca were perfect and we liked the Hostel. So only positive points, I don't see any negative aspects in this trip, we would recommend it to anyone interested in climbing Aconcagua.
 

Thank you for organizing this trip for us, it is indeed a good start of 2005! I did not have time yet to sort my pictures, I might send you a few by the end of this week.
Best regards, Nathalie"

Nathalie Virag, Private Aconcagua climb, 2004/5

Jeff Chase, September 18, 2004

" Hi Harry,
I thought I would send a quick e-mail to let you know that my Mt Meru and Mt Kilimanjaro trip went perfectly. Well done to 7summits for an excellent trip. The good service provided by my guide, porters, cook, etc on the mountain made the climbs very enjoyable. I was expecting to lose weight on the trip but there was so much good quality food provided by the cook that I think I actually gained weight during my trip!

The most exhausting part of the trip was actually the flights to/from Australia! I safely made it to the summit of both mountains with no problems.
 

Well done again on organising the trip. I will certainly be considering 7summits for my next trip, Aconcagua probably in Jan 06. Here are a couple of photos from my trip.
Regards, Matthew Foote "

Matthew Foote, Kilimanjaro & Mt Meru, 2004

Just got down from the mountain today, did the decent in 1 day instead of the 2.
My guide and I were the first people to summit the mountain this morning. The trip was awesome, and I really want to say thank you very much for helping make this dream come true. I will try and put together a trip report soon.

Thanks Again!
Dan" 

Daniel Skempton, Kilimanjaro 2004

i would just like to thank you very much for the fantastic organisation you demonstrated for our the ELBRUS trip. The guys are fantastic and the atmosphere was really cool. Also it was really worth it to bring the skies. we skied from the saddle down to the barrels... it was really great! As soon as i get the pictures in a digital format I'll try to post them on your website."

Fabio Martinelli, Elbrus 2004

Michel Waechter, Elbrus 2004

Our trip was wonderful, both Kilimanjaro and safari (including days at Springland hotel). Also guides, cook and porters were very good with us. As you know local people and places are special! Moreover we reach the top of Kilimanjaro and it is really top of Africa.

Infact we see other mountains usually on top of Alps. On top of Kilimanjaro it is incredible especially the sunset and ice! I hope that in the future (when we save other money) we can come with you for Aconcagua expedition!"

Elena Campani, Kilimanjaro & Safari 2003

My trip to Elbrus was great! Everything was very well organized, Russian food tasty, professional and nice guides, and strong group (10 participants - we all made the summit of Elbrus, weather was windy and bit cold but tolerable anyhow).

So thanks for everything Harry!"

Mari H, Finland, Elbrus 2003

Patty Hill, Kilimanjaro 2002

(and yes, she treated us on a very nice meal when we returned to Anchorage! Thanks Patty :-)

"7summits arranged THE WORKS for us. More than two weeks of perfect arrangements, not only on the Kilimanjaro, but also during the safari trips: Excellent mountain guides, very pleasant porters to carry the heavy load (mind you, climbing the Kili is breathtaking by itself, I didn't fancy to also carry a backpack containing over 14 kilograms of warm sweaters, thermal underwear etc etc.)

Safari was great: An excellent cook, good 4x4, and more than enough sightings of wildlife. Even saw three rhino's.

The only disappointment was the time we spend on the borders of Lake Victoria, but unfortunately 7summits wasn't to blame here: We organized this part of the trip ourselves....."

PJ Willems, Kilimanjaro & safari 2001

Well, when I was at Mt. Elbrus I noticed that the other groups were staying at the same comfortable places, eating the same delicious food, having access to the same equipment and services, along with being guided in a very similar way. 

There was really no difference; except for the fact that they were spending two to three times the amount that I had paid! I used to believe in the old saying-"you get what you pay for". However, no more-for in this case I got much, much more.

For a very inexpensive price I got amazing service and was extremely impressed and happy with every aspect of the trip. And yes, I reached the summit! 

I would highly recommend 7 Summits to anyone interested in having an adventure of a life time."

Lance Trumbull, USA, 7summits.com Elbrus, August 2002

Thanks for everything. It was great." 

Kelly, Kilimanjaro & Safari 2002