Hike Mt. Kenya sometime between July 8th and July 24th

Hi, I would like to hike Mt. Kenya either leaving on July 8th or July 19th. I have one hiking partner but would like to join or build a larger group because more people makes for a less expensive and more enjoyable experience.

A) Is anyone already planning a trek for those dates and could my friend and I join?
B) Would folks like to join my friend and I for hiking?

C) For those of you with more experience, am I "behind" in scheduling a Mt. Kenya hike? I fly to Nairobi on July 4th for my first trip to Kenya/Africa. When should I realistically finalize my Mt. Kenya plans by?

You can even make your arrangements after you arrive in Nairobi - many people have done this. Lead time need not be long. The big question on my mind is whether you plan to use a guide. If you do, he will obviously need to be available for the day you start.

If you want, I can recommend you my own guide, an excellent young man who has led many foreign clients. We are not really supposed to promote tour people here but it will be allowed if you ask me.

Mount Kenya is one of Kenya's most experienced trekking and climbing operations with specialization in trips up spectacular Mt Kenya. Our routes and services are suited to everyone from the novice hiker to the experienced technical climber. We have a trip for everyone.http://www.midwaystoursandtravel.com
they will give you all the details you need.

i can recommend you to a guide who guided my friend from German in Jan
if you wish to contact him hear is his contact (mukuruma@yahoo.co.uk)

Same man I was going to recommend. A very good guide.

Thank you all for the recommendations.

What is a good price to pay per day?

That is going to depend primarily on the number of climbers in your group, the route you take (3, 4, or 5 nights), and your reliance on porters. The math can seem complicated but here goes:

15 months ago I paid about $550 to go up alone with my guide (John Mukuruma) and his porter friend Graham. We took the quickest route up and down (Sirimon) and did it in 3 nights. I guess that taking inflation into account, that would be about $600 now.

However, I booked the climb through an agent who I believe took quite a big cut of the money (how much I'm not sure). If you want to contact John or any other guide directly, you can realize some savings. Everything of course depends on your bargaining skills. You may well be quoted an even higher price to begin with but bear in mind that they are seeing you as a newbie who doesn't know what to pay.

The good guides deliver a terrific experience and I feel they should be paid well. That is another reason to book directly with a guide: the money you don't pay the middleman should in some part end up in the pockets of the men who actually take you up. (I have a suspicion that my lady agent didn't pay the staff all that well.) If you are a single customer, I think 3,500 shillings/day is the minimum reasonable rate for a guide and 2,500 for your porter - that is just my feeling, and bear in mind that they don't work every day. If you have friends along, the guides will definitely demand more but it will work out to less per climber.

A word on porters: They are not absolutely necessary and you can always carry your own pack if you are very fit. But a porter frees you to enjoy the trip more, take photos, etc. However, on no account do you need more than one porter per climber, at least if you are just doing the "easy" Lenana Point summit. You shouldn't let yourself be talked into taking on more porters.

So much for the human component. Now you add in the Mt. Kenya National Park fee. If you go to the KWS website you can see the fee packages for the different routes, but it works out to around $60-70 per day. You also need to cover the entrance fees of your guides/porters, which are fairly token as they are Kenyan citizens. The sleeping huts are US$10-12 per night for foreigners and around half that for the Kenyans.

Foodwise, I think they budget 500-600 shillings per day for your European diet, less for their own Kenyan food that they love so much. Finally, a few dollars goes for a jerry of kerosene that the porter hauls up to the huts for cooking.

All the major staging towns for the mountain can be reached from Nairobi by public buses. From there, you can opt to have a taxi take you to the gate (around 2,000 shillings I think) or just get on a cheap motorbike taxi like I did. Again, scope here for savings.

I hope this helps you in your calculations and negotiations.

I am going to do some hiking and camping too and am struggling with the question of bringing all my own gear. I read in LP that if you are hiking independently you will probably not have nights in a hut available. They say that these are reserved for tour packages. It would change my plans if I knew I had bedding and roof taken care of, and a local meal to buy. What are the chances of counting on that? are they better on other mountains?

My wife and I arrive in Kenya on July 6th and would be interested in joining you on either of the potential dates that you want to hike Mt. Kenya. Send me a pm if you are still looking for people to join you.

Andrew,

Re buying meals on the mountain, there is no restaurant-type operation that dispenses meals to passing climbers. It's either bring your own cook, or cook by yourself.

Re booking huts independently, I doubt what "they say" is true; it usually isn't. Email reservations@kws.go.ke and confirm it yourself. I haven't booked a hut myself so I don't know. If you can't, then you can still camp outside the huts. The lowest temperature you are likely to have to sleep in is -2C.

5 mg of valium helps you to sleep at the high altitude. The Everest climbers use it.

i know of a super guide who guides in mt kenya him self
you can try to reach him on this contact (mukuruma@yahoo.co.uk)

Christopher, I read through some of your other posts and it seems you simply joined a preexisting group. How did you go about finding groups? I think it'd be fun to join up with other travelers.

Hi Anne,

Sorry for the delay answering. I went up on my own with my guide, John Mukuruma, and one of his porters.

I spoke to John today and he wants to offer you a guiding package that seems reasonable. I suggest you talk to him directly at his Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/johnmukuruma.ndichu?fref=ts

If you have anything else you'd like to ask me I suggest you email me at haslettabroad@hotmail.com

Layhammer, I tried to send you a private message, but it said your private message was disabled.

All private messaging is disabled on Lonely Planet.

Annebonan,

Sorry, i didn't realize that feature was disabled. We'd like to connect to see what you are thinking on a timeline and hike details. Can you email me at jonagarr@gmail.com?

We'll be in the country starting the 2nd week in July, but we won't likely have email access for the next 6 days starting this morning. Thanks.

Take care