Kilimanjaro Ecosystem
Mount Kilimanjaro features a diverse range of ecosystems due to its varying altitudes and climatic conditions. The primary ecosystems include:
1. Cultivated Land:
At the base of the mountain, you’ll find agricultural areas where crops like coffee, bananas, and vegetables are grown.
2. Rainforest:
This ecosystem is found at lower elevations, typically between 800 to 2,900 meters. It’s characterized by dense, lush vegetation, high humidity, and a rich diversity of plant and animal species, including monkeys, birds, and various insects.
3. Heath and Moorland
Above the rainforest, from about 3,00 to 4,000 meters, this zone features heather, giant lobelias, and other unique plant species. The climate is cooler and wetter, supporting a different range of wild…
The weather on Mount Kilimanjaro varies significantly with altitude and time of year. Generally, the mountain experiences two main climbing seasons: the dry season (January to March and June to October) and the rainy season (April to May and November to December).
– *Lower slopes (up to 3,000 meters)*: Temperatures can range from 20°C to 30°C (68°F to 86°F) during the day and drop to around 10°C (50°F) at night.
– *Mid-slopes (3,000 to 4,000 meters)*: The temperature can drop to between 5°C to 15°C (41°F to 59°F) during the day, and it can approach freezing at night.
– *High altitudes (above 4,000 meters)*: Expect much colder conditions, with daytime temperatures around 0°C to 5°C (32°F to 41°F) and nighttime temperatures well below freezing.
The Popote Advantage
We have served over 10,000 customers from USA, Europe, Australia and other countries since 2011. We urge you to read our fantastic testimonials so that you know you we always have your backs. We guarantee a safe and flawless trip that you won’t forget!
See what others saying about their experience
ExcellentBased on 491 reviews
Verified
SquiddieJ2024-07-05Brilliant Kilimanjaro and Safari adventure with Popote, trip of a lifetime! We booked a 2-part trip with Popote after reading the positive reviews and we can’t speak highly enough of our experience and the whole Popote team. Our trip started with a Kilimanjaro summit adventure on the 6-day Marangu Route with head guide Dulla, assistant guide Nemes, cook Samwel, waiter Francis and amazing team of porters Emmanuel, Bernardi, Beatus and Zilla. What a team - I cannot recommend them all highly enough. Their kindness, knowledge, good humour, hard work and dedication made us feel so supported and reassured on the mountain - and we successfully summited thanks to this amazing team! After a day of relaxing in Moshi, we started a 4-day safari trip to Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro and Tarangire National Park with the wonderful Ray who was a brilliant guide from start to finish. He was incredibly knowledgeable and kind throughout and helped us to see so many incredible animals! A big thank you to Dada Cynthia and Sabino as well for all of the support in planning and managing our trip - communication was excellent in the weeks and months before our trip. All the hotels booked were of a very high standard and all logistics were taken care of - including our dietary requirements as we are both vegetarian.Verified
Alberto R2024-04-24If you want to reach the highest spot in Africa, you better call the best operator! It’s not easy to describe Popote in only one review, but I’ll try: I did the 6 days Machame Route to climb Kilimanjaro with my friend Marco last year, in May 2023. We were looking for a local company and we easily founded Sabino and his crew, with a background of successful experience and a very fair price, so we made the deal. They were super available for every question we made, and also when I faced a problem: my flight from Italy was cancelled and rebooked the day after. They didn’t hesitate to send Aloise and Cynthia at the airport to pick me up and take me at the very well organised Lindrin Lodge in Moshi, where my friend and our guides were waiting for me. At the Lodge our main guide Stanly did a detailed check of our gear, providing us immediately what we were missing. We started our journey with him and the second guide Innocent, and we quickly connected with them, explaining us the secrets of the marvelous surroundings of Kilimanjaro, teaching us the best songs (to improve our hiking performance), and let us time to record our experience with the cameras. They made sure of our physical and health conditions day by day, also using a pulse oximeter to check the oxygen level in our blood. The next five days were incredibly dense of experience, and we could admire unique panoramas, changing every day, autochthonous animals and plants (Calabass Money, Jackal, Antilops, Pimbi and more) and we were also able to take some very interesting Swahili lessons! (a year later I’m still thinking about President Kiduku and Mzungu Kichaa). But what made it different was the crew: Ali the Chef, preparing us all types of delicacies you can imagine (one day he made a delicious honey cake, I still don’t know how), Jhonny Malongo, setting up the tent daily, Ouamari and all the other porters that made our successful climb possible. We were very lucky with the weather (despite the rainy season), except for the day before Uhuru Peak, when we faced a whole day of relentless rain, but the porters were impeccable and unstoppable although the very wet conditions of the trail. The day after, rain had disappeared and we finally managed to reach the Uhuru Peak, still by thanking all the team for the big effort that made it possible. But the Popote treatment didn’t end on the Highest point of Africa, because "popote" in swahili means everywhere: so the next day we were guided by Innocent in Moshi town, eating typical Ugali and walking through the fruit markets and the streets, and in the last evening having dinner with Sabino, sharing stories like you do with a long-time friend. Like I said at the beginning, it’s not easy to resume Popote in a single review, but I tried to make my best! I also share here some pictures to help me in that. I’m sure me and Marco made the best choice. Thank you Popote and I hope to see you soon! Asante sana, Popote!Verified
Cheung2024-04-13No Regrets with Popote If I can give this a 6 star review, I totally would! We arrived in Tanzania on our wedding anniversary and were greeted by Cynthia at the airport and taken to our hotel where there was a beautiful surprise waiting for us. We met our guide, Mohammed, the day before the hike for a briefing. He was kind, encouraging, and incredibly knowledgeable. He checked our clothing and decided that I needed an extra jacket for summit day, which we rented for an additional USD 15. Joachim gave us a walking tour of Moshi and helped us find the Parish Priest so we can go to a Catholic Vigil Mass and get a dispensation for missing Sunday Mass on our 8-day hike. We started our hike on 1 Oct with Mohammed as our Lead Guide and Nelson as the Assistant Guide. Brian, Zila, Ayubu, Fanuelly, Emmanuel, Felix, Shukuru, Dickson, Tony, Ramadhan, Ben, and Husseini were the most amazing, encouraging and kind porters. They would come back for our backpacks and walk with us and remind us to drink water when they were carrying our day packs for us. Also, I have no idea who to credit for this, but we always had these amazing camping spots where we didn't feel crowded and had amazing views. Jafari was our chef (and magician). How he managed to make us popcorn and pizza in the middle of nowhere, I will never know. We went on a 3 day safari with Said, who's command of English was amazing, he even reminded us that the wildebeest was not to blame for Mufasa's death, it's all on Scar. He was able to point out and explain interesting and amazing facts about every animal you can think of. This was truly an amazing 2 weeks in Tanzania. Asante sana to everyone at Popote :)Verified
Colleen F2024-04-07AMAZING trip of a lifetime Our family of four embarked on the best adventure we have ever done . We did the Machame 7 day route and summit Mt Kilimanjaro on New Year’s Day . Fifteen of the most wonderful people took care of us for a week attending to all our needs. We honestly cannot say enough kind words and thanks to our guides Stanley and Innocent. They kept our comfortable pace for 7 days Sharing stories and snacks during our long days of climbing and getting to know one another made the days even better. At the end of each day our base camp tents we are all set up and warm water to wash was waiting for us. Our cook Joseph made delicious meals for our family and we enjoyed trying new dishes we had never had. The communication between Sabino and Cynthia the months prior to our trip was exceptional and very timely. We can’t say enough about Popote African Adventures and HIGHLY recommend this company To our crew Stanley, Innocent, Joseph, John, Dickson, Magaka,Livin, Abdul,Aron, Ramadan, Gustaf, Elia, Ali,Ibrahim,and Hamza. You made our trip the absolute best. We appreciate all that you did for us and can’t say enough thanks.Verified
Larry W2024-02-15Lemosho route with Popote My daughter (30 yo) and I (66 years old) made an ambitious spur of the moment decision at Xmas 2023 to try and climb Kilimanjaro the following month. We consequently frantically looked for a suitable company to lead us up the mountain on short notice. We selected Popote based on their timely and comprehensive proposal, responsiveness to queries and their excellent reviews on various platforms. That they were a Tanzanian owned company was also a big positive. This turned out to be a great decision. Our Kilimanjaro team was led by Dulla who impressed us from Day one. I think he knew every rock on the mountain having climbed it 200 times over a 20-year period in various roles from porter through to his current position as lead guide. He was totally committed to getting us up the mountain successfully and safely and left nothing to chance, be that checking our oxygen saturation on a daily basis to gauge how we were responding to the altitude or keeping a close eye on how we were handling the daily treks. All this influenced his planning for how we would tackle summit night and ensure success. Dulla was ably supported by his assistant guide Godfrey who was so friendly, knowledgeable and helpful to us, Mister G is a real Dulla of the future. What can you say about our tireless porters who carried, all the gear, food, tents up the mountain on a daily basis and had the camp ready for us when we arrived. They really are our heroes. Then there was Pendeal who managed to have a functional toilet on the mountain as well as doing a porter role. He also often came out to meet us when we were a kilometre or two from camp to help carry our day packs, all with a big smile on his face. Nothing was too much trouble. Every morning, we were greeted with a knock on our tent and a hot cup of coffee and tea by Francis who also served us our meals in the mess tent. Our meals were quite amazing and plentiful considering the lack of facilities our great cook, Fadihl, had. We absolutely loved the soups. The group was our dream team, and we would never have made it to the top without them. Indeed on summit night, because they had done so much for us, we were determined not to let the team down so there was no way we were not going to make it! Thanks again to Popote and our team for an incredibly rewarding week, we still can’t believe we made it to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro! We cannot say enough positive things about them. Our team really was the best! A big thank you again to Dulla, Godfrey, Fadihl, Pendael, Francis, Zilla, Yahya, Abdul, Thobias, Hakim and Daniel.Verified
Guillaume C2024-02-05Ascent Kilimanjaro - Magnificent experience!!! Great experience with POPOTE AFRICA!!!! To recommend without hesitation!! Super guides, professional, smiling, very helpful. Many thanks to GODWIN and NEMES!! Top team of porters too!! A big thank you and congratulations to CYNTHIA, very welcoming and professional. We had a great stay, wonderful memories thanks to POPOTE AFRICA. Good luck to everyone !! Charlotte & William Great experience with POPOTE AFRICA!!!! To recommend without hesitation!! Great guides, professional, smiling, very helpful. Many thanks to GODWIN and NEMES!! Top team of porters too!! A big thank you and congratulations to CYNTHIA, very welcoming and professional. We had a great stay, wonderful memories thanks to POPOTE AFRICA. Good luck to everyone!! Charlotte & WilliamVerified
Johanna R2024-01-24Best experience with Popote Africa: Kilimanjaro Hiking (Machame Route) + Safari in Tarangire and Ngorongoro From the organization in advance, to the hike and the safari, everything was perfect! My partner and I decided to climb Kili quite spontaneously (1 month) before we started our trip. A friend recommended Popote Africa to us - and it was the best recommendation! Even before we left, Sabino (head of Popote Africa) answered all of our questions about our trip via Whatsapp 24/7 in no time at all. We therefore felt comfortable with Poptoe right from the start. We were picked up on time on December 24th, 2023 from Kilimanjaro Airport and taken to our lodge. Due to a flight delay of a whole day, Sabino offered to climb Kili on the day of our arrival (you can really arrange everything with him in no time and spontaneously). We chose the Machame route beforehand because this route takes you through 5 vegetation zones (rainforest, moorland, steppe, volcanic landscape/mountain desert and glacier) and you reach the summit in just 6 days. Our guides were Thaddäus and Max. Both were super funny and, above all, experienced mountain guides! We had so much fun with them and they told us so much about Africa. In addition to our guides, we had a waiter, Sisu, who is so nice and always brought us food to the dining tent, as well as 8 porters for the tents. They were all super cool! The hike itself was really a great experience and I would recommend it to everyone. But in my opinion the hike should not be underestimated. You walk for 10 hours on the first day and the following days vary from 4-8 hours. You don't need any real mountain experience, but you should be pretty fit (you should go running regularly a few weeks beforehand). It is really important that you are in good health, though. Because of the altitude and the short time, it's really easy to get altitude sickness. Unfortunately, I got pretty sick at 5,000 and had to throw up several times (even though I was completely healthy). Unfortunately, it can happen to anyone (regardless of age, gender, etc.). It's just important that you walk really slowly (pole, pole) and drink lots of water and maybe take an extra day to acclimatize (we should have done 7 days instead of 6). Our guides did a health check every evening (measured oxygen) and checked our well-being, which is why I felt very good despite the altitude sickness. However, I had to turn around just before the summit because I was afraid that I might become dehydrated. Max went down with me the next day. I had arranged with my boyfriend that he would climb the summit and he showed me some really great photos. He said it was the best experience ever. We always had enough to eat, but you should always take your own cereal bars with you and ideally have some for the whole team so you can distribute them. I would really recommend the hike, even if you don't make it to the summit. With Popote Aftrica you just feel really well looked after! After that we went on a 2-day safari to Tarangire and Ngorongoro. The two animal sanctuaries couldn't be more different. While in Tarangire you can see lots of trees and elephants, Ngorongoro consists of a huge crater in which the Big Five peacefully reside on a huge green treeless meadow. I would also recommend both areas. HAKUNA MATATA!Verified
Jane P2024-01-20Our safari was over the top! We booked our safari with Popote based on our neighbor's experience of going with them to climb Kilimanjaro a few years ago. Our trip could not have gone any better! Every detail of the planning was handled with courtesy and efficiency; not a single hiccup in 2 weeks! Cynthia arranged the itinerary, guides, hotels, tent accommodations, drivers, etc., and we were extremely happy with the results. Our guide, Said, made our trip a once-in-a-lifetime experience. He knew so much about the animals, and I loved that he knew the name of every bird we saw (almost 100!). I still can't believe he never once got the Land Rover stuck in the mud that they call roads. We had hot lunches during our safari, and the food was delicious. Said bent over backwards to make sure our trip was a huge success. We spent a lot of time talking about African culture, and he taught us some Swahili. I would HIGHLY recommend Said and Popote if you want your trip to be truly memorable.Verified
Arin2023-12-15Everything you can ask for, and more I climbed Kilimanjaro via the Machame route in December 2023 together with Popote. We were three climbers supported by a team of around twelve people. The first day I was welcomed at the airport and transported to my hotel by a genuinely nice guy. We spent a few hours in the car taking a detour through local villages because of an accident blocking the road but it made the first encounter with Tanzania even more interesting. At the hotel I was greeted by our guide and some other people from Popote and we proceeded to our climbing briefing that included important info and room for questions. After the briefing was done one of the guides helped me go through my packing to make sure I had everything needed for the climb. The six days climbing up, and finally reaching the summit would never have been possible without the encouragement and support from the guide, chef, waiter, porters, and office staff. I can strongly recommend choosing Popote for your Kili climb!Verified
Emily L2023-11-12Once in a Lifetime Experiene - Machame Route, Mt. Kilimanjaro We climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in September 2023 and had an absolutely amazing experience with Popote! We did the 7-day Machame route and our whole team (5 of us) made it to the top with the support of our amazing guides and porters. We also did a 3-day safari after which was the perfect addition to our trip! While planning the trip we had a lot of questions and we really appreciated how responsive Sabino and Cynthia were! They answered our emails within 24 hours every time and gave great detail. Our climb itself was challenging but so much fun! Our guides - Stanley, Jackson and Felix - we're incredibly kind and really really helped everyone reach the summit. As did our amazing team of Porters including the hilarious Nico! Special shoutout to our Chef Joseph! We love Popote Africa Adventures and I would recommend them to anyone looking to climb Kilimanjaro or go on Safari in Tanzania!
