Kilimanjaro: A Complete Trekker's Guide

Guidebook to all the possible trekking routes up Kilimanjaro (5895m), Africa's highest peak. Includes detailed information on getting there, local conditions, preparation, acclimatisation, descent routes, etc. Routes covered are Marangu, Umbwe, Machame, Lemosho, Shira, Rongai, South and North Circuit Paths, Mweka (descent) and Momela routes.

'The Cicerone guide is probably the most comprehensive on the market, featuring detailed historical, geographical and natural history information as well as all of the essential information on each of the ascent routes. Revised and reprinted in 2006 it is also bang-up-to-date'

(Adventure Travel Magazine / September - October 2006)

'I can't help but like a guidebook that warns you that your chosen challenge is "agonising" on one page, but quickly follows up with the promise that "for those who have the strength" the summit is "utterly breathtaking". It's as though scaring you and then encouraging you will leave you more motivated than a dry book which just gives the facts. It worked for me anyway.

Overall the book is well balanced; it is comprehensive while still compact, and it's a reference book that is interesting to read. The protective PVC cover is very practical, and I even have have evidence that the paper is beer resistant. On our February trip it came a close second to my hiking boots as 'favourite kit'.

It's worth getting well before your trip as it has a lot of really useful pre-departure information. I'd strongly recomend this book to anyone heading for Kilimanjaro and I'll be checking Cicerone for future trips.'

(Outsider magazine / April - May 07)

 

The following piece is not so much a review as a thought-provoking article currently on The Times' website:

Scandal of the Kilimanjaro sherpas

When porters die or their health is ruined, charity trekking becomes adventure imperialism

Lazing around this Bank Holiday, we should raise a glass to Atta Sherpa, the Nepalese guide who has just broken all records and reached the summit of Everest for the 18th time.

For while we battle with bedding plants, Atta dallies in the death zone, hoisting a constant stream of fat, unfit, oxygen-starved Westerners into one of the most hostile environments on the planet. However reluctant the lobelia, they cannot really compete with that.

We may mourn the vulgar circus that Everest has become - with wealthy egotists queuing like ants to conquer it - but we should feel justifiably happy for 48-year-old Atta, who is fêted as a result of his exploits on the mountain.

Well fed and well clothed, he and his colleagues are now recognised and recompensed for the unique skills they offer the developed world at play.

But there is a darker, hidden story to be told about mountain guides; one born of this burgeoning age of adventure imperialism.

To read the full article, follow this link:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/melanie_reid/article4003956.ece