Our Background
Kilimanjaro Trek is a trading name of Adventure Alternative and is an independent travel company which was started in 1991 by adventurer and mountaineer Gavin Bate, and developed during many years of organising and running expeditions around the world. It is now an established company with an emphasis on responsible travel and a high level of knowledge and experience.
Our main office is on the north coast of N.Ireland but we also have a company, Adventure Alternative Tanzania, with an office, stores, campsite and a guesthouse in Moshi right next to Mount Kilimanjaro.
Over several decades Gavin invested money into setting up local companies in our most popular places like Tanzania and some of the staff have been with us ever since that time! We plough profits back into providing training for our local guides and cooks, drivers and porters so that they can have a long term career with us.
We believe that this attitude and the loyalty it brings is a big part of what being responsible means, plus our groups have a more enjoyable holiday. In fact the feedback we get always mentions the professionalism and friendliness of our staff, most people describe it more as a family than a company!
This business model has won us several awards and also some interest from the academic sector. We do re-invest profits but we also take an interest in our staff all the way along the supply chain and this attitude came from Gavin’s experiences while travelling and working as an expedition guide for many years, mostly in developing countries. We also have a very active charitable arm called The Moving Mountains Trust, which the company fully supports by offering free staff time, logistical & planning support, alongside direct financial support as the company covers many of the charities overheads.
Safety and Care
Our staff are medically trained and experienced in first aid and health and safety, and the guides receive specific training in altitude-related illnesses and how to cope with an emergency. The staff all carry mobile phones and satellite phones if necessary. On the mountain trips we carry pulse oximeters, oxygen bottles where necessary on the higher mountains and first aid kits which are regularly checked and replenished.
We work hard to ensure that all of our staff adopt high levels of sanitation and hygiene, especially with regard to food and water. Food is stored and transported carefully, and bought fresh from local trusted suppliers. We always check the restaurants and lodges that we use for their standards in food hygiene. Drinking water is provided from the kitchens boiled, treated and strained and we promote a policy of not buying and using disposable plastic bottles.
For school and youth groups and volunteers we always provide training in health and safety prior to the trip, and general advice on how to manage yourself personally while on a visit abroad. This is then emphasized again on arrival in country and our staff are always careful to ensure that people are looking after themselves. They have a long experience of looking after foreign groups and understand the pitfalls of travelling abroad for the first time.
CLIENT CARE
When we start corresponding with people about their trip we aim to make sure the group works well together and our staff are well experienced in managing all types of people and keeping everyone happy and satisfied. Nobody feels anonymous and our staff in the main office and in the regional offices communicate all the time about upcoming groups and personal preferences.
For mountain trips we have clear guidelines on client:guide ratio and we follow the established guidelines of professional organisations such as the UIAA and Mountain Leader Training. Climbing teams will have the opportunity to meet in the UK for some specific training prior to their trip if they wish to have it, and we often manage individuals and small groups through a training programme to achieve a particular aim. For example someone wishing to climb Mount Everest may wish to have a five year plan in preparation for that trip.
For school and youth trips we provide a higher number of logistical staff and also male and female pastoral care staff with specific experience and qualifications in looking after young people. These might be teachers or youth workers, social workers and of course medical professionals. Volunteers and charity groups and school groups are all provided with personal care and training in preparation for their trip.
Many of our trips are scheduled for groups, but we provide just as many trips for private groups who have preferences for dates or itineraries. A large part of our time is spent creating these bespoke trips, for which is there is no additional cost. We find this is especially useful for charities, since we do not impose contractual conditions for this service.
We’d love to hear from you
Be it an enquiry, feedback, or just a simple message to say hi, we want to hear what you have to say!