Product Description

Talks about getting to Kilimanjaro from Europe, North America and Australasia.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #94156 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

From the Author
This the second edition of the bestselling guide to
Kilimanjaro. First published in 2003, this book quickly became the
established guide to those wishing to reach the summit of Africa's highest
mountain. You can read reviews of the first edition on Amazon (the first
edition had a blue cover) and please note: all of these reviews are
genuine!

For this second edition we have improved and updated the book in a number
of ways. As a result, this book:

* Is the only one with full descriptions of each of the trekking routes up
Kilimanjaro by somebody who has climbed all of them.

* The only one to include town and city guides to Arusha, Moshi and
Marangu, the three towns and villages that will be your base before and
after your climb.

* The only book with a review of the trekking agencies, both in Tanzania
(Arusha, Moshi and Marangu) and those tour operators in the
UK/US/Europe/Australia/New Zealand/South Africa. As it is the tour
companies and the guides they hire that, more than anything else, will make
or break your trip, this is a vital part of the book and should be required
reading for anybody before booking a climb. We do not accept sponsorship
and our reviews are completely unbiased and based on our dealings with the
companies and from readers' letters and recommendations.

* The only book with up-to-date and accurate maps and altitude readings
(other books are still using inaccurate and out-of-date maps and altitudes
that are widey accepted by tour operators and park officials alike to be
inaccurate).

* Full run-down of Kilimanjaro's nature including full-colour flora guide.

We also provide:
* A thorough health and fitness section to help you stay healthy in East
Africa, increase your chances of making it to the top and ensure you make
it back down again;
* Advice on how to book your trek and what to look out for in the agency's
contract;
* Comprehensive pre-departure information including advice on what to take
- and what to leave behind!
* Details on flights to East Africa;
* City guides to Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, the two cities that you are
most likely to fly into, as well as the newly-opened Kilimanjaro
International Airport;
* A thorough practical information section (including visas, currency,
budgeting, transport, food etc) on travelling around Tanzania and Kenya;
* Advice on how to look after your porters and crew on the trek;
* The most comprehensive sections on the history of Kilimanjaro and
Tanzania, and on the flora and fauna of Kilimanjaro(including a
photographic guide to the plants and flowers);
* A look at the culture of the local Chagga people who inhabit
Kilimanjaro's lower slopes;
* Photos and illustrations (from both contemporary and historical sources,
including some wonderful pen-and-ink sketches by the first Europeans to see
Kilimanjaro, way back in the nineteenth century).
* Over thirty maps covering every stage of climbing and descending from the
mountain.

. . . everything, indeed, to help you get from the safety of your favourite
armchair at home all the way to the very summit of Africa's highest
mountain. And no other guidebook can provide anything like that kind of
comprehensive coverage.

In addition, the book now has:

a full description of the Mount Meru trek, following recommendations by a
number of our readers that this should be included.

We also have worked closely with the Kilmanjaro Porters Assistance Project
(KPAP) to highlight the plight of porters and how trekkers can help to
alleviate their suffering.

And if that's not enough, this book is still the cheapest and, published in
2006, the most up-to-date available, with all the new park fees and
regulations included.

Customer Reviews

5895 Reasons to Read
Having just, successfully, undertaken the Rongai Route (up) and the Marangu Route (down) I can highly recommend this book to anyone planning to scale Africa's highest mountain.

Full of good tips and advice this book will be invaluable when preparing for your journey, helping you to ensure you have the right kit before you arrive in Moshi or Marangu.

Use the route guide to decide which is best for you - from what I have seen it is very accurate and well worth buying.

review of Kilimanjaro
Henry Stedman's book on Kilimanjaro was an absolutely invaluable text on our visit to climb Africa's highest peak. It includes lots of practical tips and recommendations that would be useful for the experienced and inexperienced traveller alike. The advice offered around planning a climb up Kilimanjaro was incredibly helpful: Stedman provides really clear comparisons of the different agencies available, which is useful if planning a trip from home, but nothing short of a lifesaver when negotiating the agencies trying to sell you a trek out there. Although we walked the main route on the climb, it was really interesting to know our options and certainly it fuelled enthusiasm to return to try some of the lesser-know paths in the future.

Henry Stedman's book also gives information about the surrounding towns in the area (e.g Moshi, Arusha and Marangu), and city guides to Nairobi and Dar Es Salam. It's great to have all that info compacted into one book, rather than needing a different text for different legs of the journey. The book comes into its own on the trek itself - the clear maps and route planning are invaluable, and Stedman provides useful tips on looking after guides and porters, and thinking about the ecology of the mountain.

The book brings alive the delights of spending four days walking up Kilimanjaro, and provides a wealth of information about the history of the mountain, local culture and customs, and the plants and wildlife you'll encounter along the way. There's a photographic guide to flora and fauna included which is really helpful for identifying the species you come across. Stedman is clearly someone with a great passion for Kilimanjaro and African culture and his humorous and encouraging style means that you can't help but feel passionate about it too. He provides some fantastic quotes and extracts that bring alive the trials and tribulations of Kili through the eyes of long-gone mountaineers - it can be really encouraging to read about others' experiences on the mountain- especially when you're half way up it!

In short, this is a compact and affordable text, that provides all you need to plan and enjoy climbing Kilimanjaro. It's a delight for a practical guidebook to be so well written, witty and informative as well - it really was our bible on the trip. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Louise Payne

Excellent
My husband and I used this for our climb up God's Greatest Mountain (to quote the author) this year. And it is a great book. Really helpful, really entertaining and really accurate. We can't recommend it highly enough, and from speaking with some of the guides who lead the tours, this is the book they use to learn about Kilimanjaro.