Introducing Daniel
Welcome to a special bonus episode of The World Vegan Travel Podcast, your passport to exploring the world through a vegan lens. I’m Brighde, co-founder of World Vegan Travel Tours, and today, we have something extra exciting in store for you.
Our mission has always been to inspire and guide you on your journey to exploring the world as a vegan. In our regular episodes, we’ve shared personal vegan travel experiences, highlighted incredible journeys from fellow travelers, and delved into enlightening conversations with individuals and organizations deeply committed to spreading veganism and advocating for the rights of all beings in travel destinations around the globe.
But today, we’re bringing you a little something extra – a bonus episode!
Today, we have a fantastic treat in store for you as we embark on a journey to Tanzania, the land of breathtaking landscapes and incredible adventures. I’m your host, Brighde, and this episode is all about inspiring you to join us in August next year for a truly unforgettable experience.
But before we dive into the interview, let me introduce our remarkable guest. Joining us today is none other than Daniel Kyara, the owner of Sisi Trekking, our trusted partner in Tanzania for our upcoming vegan group tour to conquer Mount Kilimanjaro.
Today’s episode is not just about sharing stories and insights; it’s about inviting you to be part of something extraordinary. Our vegan tour to Kilimanjaro in August 2025 is a journey of a lifetime, and we want you to come along. So, as we chat with Daniel, we hope to ignite that spark of adventure in your hearts and inspire you to join us in August next year.
In this episode, Daniel Kyara, owner of Sisi Trekking and our partner for the Kilimanjaro vegan group tour, shares insights and advice. We discuss the various climbing routes, physical preparation, essential gear, and acclimatization strategies. Daniel also highlights the best time to climb and addresses common challenges.
We touch on cultural and environmental considerations, safety measures, permits, and responsible travel. The role of guides and porters is emphasized. We conclude with Daniel sharing memorable summit moments, inspiring you to join our vegan Kilimanjaro expedition.
Get ready to be inspired, informed, and excited about our upcoming vegan group tour to Mount Kilimanjaro. Let’s jump right in!
In this episode we discuss:
- Exploring Tanzania, a land of stunning landscapes and adventure, as we embark on a journey to Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa.
- Learn about Daniel Kyara, the owner of Sisi Trekking and our trusted partner in Tanzania for the vegan group tour to conquer Mount Kilimanjaro.
- Insights into the preparations needed for the Kilimanjaro vegan group tour, including climbing routes, physical conditioning, essential gear, and acclimatization strategies.
- Important considerations such as cultural and environmental awareness, safety measures, permits, and responsible travel, ensuring a meaningful and responsible expedition.
- Hear Daniel share inspiring summit experiences, encouraging you to be a part of our vegan Kilimanjaro expedition in August 2025, promising a journey of a lifetime.
Learn more about what we talk about
- Five Days Marangu Route
- 7 Days Lemosho Route
- Zanzibar Beach Holiday
- Environmental & Community Outreach
Other World Vegan Travel content connected with this episode
- Tanzania
- Kilimanjaro Full Moon Summit: Vegan Trekking & Wildlife Safari Adventure
- Namibia – There’s something for everyone! | Marike & Diaan Hoffman | Ep 109
- Vegan Photography Trips in Botswana | Jennifer Hadley and Sharon Doak | Ep 108
- Bucket-List AFRICA: Vegan safaris and literary adventures
Connect with Daniel
Transcript
Brighde: Hello, Daniel. Thank you so much for joining me on the World Vegan Travel Podcast.
I am so happy to have you on the podcast all the way over from Tanzania, where you currently are. Thank you so much for staying up late to talk to me. I really appreciate it. I’m really pleased to talk to you today about climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, which is a fascinating adventure to have and we will talk more about that, but tell us a little bit about what it is that you do in the travel space.
Daniel: Okay. Thank you, Brighde. Thank you for having me on this podcast. My name is Daniel Kiara from Tanzania. I’m the owner of Sisi Trekking Tours and Company Ltd. With Sisi Trekking, we do trekking of mountain Kilimanjaro. Also, we do safari, Serengeti, Goro Goro, and Manyara. Apart from that, we’re doing an environmental clean-up
and
community outreach.
We help some school students who are less privileged. We go to the orphanage, apart of the safari, and other things. We doing environmental to grow trees, to clean the National Park.
Brighde: Seb and I were so grateful to you, Daniel, and at the time we first met you, which was now, I think, maybe, eight years ago, a long time ago now, and it was the first time that we had been to Tanzania, and you helped us climb Mount Kilimanjaro, and you did not own Sisi Trekking at that point. You were our incredible guide, and you were just so amazing with what you did. And when you told us that you had set up your own trekking business, some of our travelers who came with us to Rwanda, actually came and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro afterward with you, and they said they had an amazing experience.
Daniel: When we met together, I was working as a guide at a company in Moshi. Now I am an owner of Sisi Trekking Tours and Safaris. I have a lot of experience in being a guide, and now to am a tour operator. So the most important is to help each other. To be a company tour operator is to help others. I learned some different things before being a guide. Because when you are a guide, you’re supposed to be a porter for a few years, and then to become an assistant guide, and then to be a guide. The old system, when I was starting, I was happy to be a tour leader, to help others, because I have a lot of friends. A lot of the youth around me, live in poor places. When I decided to have a company, it was to just help each other.
Brighde: Something I’ve noticed about so many of the people that we, at World Vegan Travel; when we work with people in Botswana and people in Tanzania like yourself, is, just how determined they are to try to support their local communities. It’s really admirable and important. So, I know that you have catered for vegans on your treks, you helped organize a tasty menu for us when we came and trekked with you many years ago. And all through Sisi Trekking, you also put together tasty menus for our travelers, but something that’s quite interesting is that Sisi Trekking and World Vegan Travel are collaborating on a vegan trek up Mount Kilimanjaro for next year, and it’s pretty exciting. So, would you mind telling our listeners a little bit about this itinerary, and what makes it special, then we’ll maybe answer some questions that people might have about this trip.
Daniel: When I met with you, it was the first time to met with you, since you climbed eight years ago. We did not know about vegan travel, about vegan food. With you, I learned a few things about veganism, and I worked with that till now. In Tanzania, we have some different menus with vegetables because when you talk about the vegan, it’s very important to have a vegetable. Yeah. With Sisi Trekking, we provide a lot of vegetables and other stuff like what a vegan is supposed to have. We have fruits here, we have vegetables here. So, when we meet with you guys, we can do better with vegan travel. For us, it’s a fact that most of us, you know, come from Tanzania. So most of us, eat meat, a lot of meat. But with you, I learned a lot because even, I reduced the number of eating meat. Sometimes when you eat meat, you feel like you’re lazy. Something like that. So, with Sisi Trekking, when you have a plan to come, we can give them good and delicious food coming from vegan.
Brighde: Absolutely. And listeners, whether you decide to join World Vegan Travel on their trek up Mount Kilimanjaro next year or if you can’t make it for some reason, the dates don’t work with you, but you still want to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, then I absolutely recommend Sisi Trekking to you. They have got now considerable experience in hosting. One of the interesting things about the trek that World Vegan Travel and Sisi Trekking are doing together, is, we are doing the 8-day Lemosho route, which is different from the six-day route that Seb and I did with you six, eight years ago. Can you tell me why you and Seb decided to choose this route?
Daniel: When you were choosing the Lemosho route and base. First of all, you have enough time to acclimatize. Also, the route is not too tough compared with the six days. And also you have a good view of the Lemosho route. And it can give you the possibility to be at the top, to be at the summit of Kilimanjaro, Uhuru there, because you have enough time and enough days.
Brighde: Yes. Yes. I think that’s a really interesting point because for listeners who don’t know, eight days is the total time that it takes to ascend and descend. And it’s quite hard because the altitude can impact you. But if you go up more slowly, you’re not so tired, and you have the time to acclimatize and get used to the increased elevation. So you’re less likely to get sick, you’re less likely to have headaches, and you’re more likely to be able to attempt the summit. So, can you talk us through, please, what it is that people can expect, like, what is a day in the life of trekking Mount Kilimanjaro like?
Daniel: When you’re using the Lemosho routes, during the days, the routes are not too steep, and it can give a possibility to be there, and all the routes are short. It takes three hours, four hours from one camp to another camp which helps you to have enough relaxed sleep, and rest, to continue with the other days. And with the Lemosho route, you can have a good view when you climb the Lemosho route. You see a good view.
Brighde: Yes, so can you tell us a little bit about what the accommodation is like when you’re climbing Mount Kilimanjaro because I think most people have heard that you camp, but I think a lot of people don’t understand that it really is camping. The tents, the dining room, the bathroom, and all of these things are packed up. Can you talk a little bit about what that’s
like, please?
Daniel: For the accommodation of Mount Kilimanjaro, we use a tent. And apart from using the tent, in that tent, we have a bed, something like a bed. not a mattress put in the ground. But we put a bed on the inside the tent, and with one client, we can have three porters. Also, we carry a private toilet, which is really helpful for most of the clients. Inside the tent you sleeping two people, or one person, it depends. We have a big mess tent. Depending on how many clients we have to provide with that mess tent. And also, we have a kitchen, we have a cook and other people, and also staff on the way, going to Kilimanjaro.
Yes, for listeners who might not understand, like, a mess tent, I guess, is the place where travelers can relax a little bit, have their dinner, relax in case it happens to rain, play cards in the evening, I guess, and just chill. You mentioned that you have porters joining us. I remember that for just me and Seb, we had a huge team of porters. It was quite surprising. And I imagine that if we run our trip together, we will have a huge number of porters joining us is that right?
Daniel: It depends on how many are you. If you have ten, or twenty clients, divide by three, apart from the chef and then the guide. So the porter will help you to carry your stuff. You guys can work with your day pack. Inside the day pack you have the water inside. So with that water, it really helps for the drought. Even the food, for eight days or ten days. Also, the guest cooker. So, the porter is really helpful for most of the clients. We call them a “warrior”. Yeah.
Brighde: They really are. They are so good. And it’s always so interesting listeners; because you leave the camp in the morning with the guides, and then they pack everything up, and then very early in the morning, they overtake you, and then they are at the camp with everything set up, including all of the tents when their travelers arrive in the afternoon, in the evening. They work so hard. I imagine that our travelers can carry the things in their day pack themselves, maybe a few snacks or a water bottle and a rain jacket in case it rains and things like that. Are the porters carrying a suitcase or a backpack? How are the other personal belongings of each traveler carried?
Daniel: Your client is supposed to carry a daypack. Inside of the daypack they are supposed to have a snack, water, and a camera. Also, the rain stuff, because it’s very important, because when you climb Kilimanjaro. sometimes the rain comes. We call it, changing like a chameleon. So the duffel bag, or the suitcase; we call it a duffel bag because the suitcase is difficult to bring up the mountain. So inside that duffel bag, the porter put a plastic cover to protect from the rain. So with one duffel bag, we carry one porter. The rest of them, carry some other stuff on the way to climbing Kilimanjaro.
Okay. Thank you. That’s really helpful. And, something that’s interesting, is that after the camp has left for the day, there is no trace of anything left. Is there? There’s no trash. Because it is a national park, so everything has to be left very pristine. There are some communal toilets if you don’t have your own private toilet, like a portable toilet, that can be brought with you. But otherwise, it’s really just a clean site every time the camp is set up, correct?
Brighde: In Kilimanjaro, we have a system of, “Trash in, Trash out”. So every day after leaving the camp, the porter makes sure that we have the trash. So we wait for the trash, and then the porter carries it until the end of our trip. So that’s why you see Kilimanjaro is looking clean because of that. We have a system of, “trash in and trash out “. Yeah, it’s really incredible just how clean and pristine it is. So listeners, if you can sort of imagine this, you know, getting up every day and having a tasty, energy-giving breakfast, and then trekking all day and hanging out in the evening, and getting to know your fellow travelers. I will tell you Daniel, that was a very hard night for me. I will tell you a funny story. I don’t know whether Seb would appreciate me telling you this story, but, and I’m curious because you can tell me if it will be different for our travelers, but; we had dinner the night before. We arrived at camp, I think, maybe five, four o’clock or five o’clock. We had dinner, and then you told us, “Okay, Brighde and Seb, you have until 10 PM to rest and to sleep before starting for the summit”. And I’m very sad to say that I did not sleep a wink of those four hours because Seb was snoring. I think when you are at increased elevation, you are more likely to snore. Is that right? So, I didn’t sleep at all, and then we started the trek up. Maybe you can describe the terrain of that final push to the summit because it’s not the same as before that time. There is something special on that summit day.
Daniel: When you take six days, it’s a long day. Remember that, you come from Barranco, you skip Karanga, and then you go to Barafu because you take six days. Our trip takes eight days. So in this time, when we take eight days, we have a good time to arrive at our base camp. We mean Barafu camp, which is 4,606 meters. So in that time, nowadays, we have lunch at Barafu. In your time, you don’t lunch, because you coming straight from Baranco, go away, go straight to Barafu. So, nowadays, we arrive there around 12 or eleven-thirty, and we prepare for lunch. After that, we have lunch in a bar, in a base camp, and we sleep, and after that, around 5 o’clock or earlier, it depends, because most of the time, we can share Sometimes we have you start, we have a dinner earlier or late, depending on you guys. After dinner, around five, you go back, you give a briefing, and then you go back to sleep. Depending on how the client is feeling. And then we can have a good time. We can start around 11 or 12, depending on how the client is.
From there, when you start at 11 p.m., we take six hours, or more than that, to be there.
Sometimes we sing a song to help motivate them to be there.
And when you reach the top, we have a signboard. It depends on what time, maybe earlier, because we prefer to be at the top around 6 o’clock, which is sunrise. Take a photo, and you do something at the top there, take a picture, and after that, we come back. It depends. When you come back, you come back to the same Barafu base camp. It depends, because some other clients have a problem with knees, it’s difficult for them to go quickly going down.
Brighde: I remember, Daniel, you were absolutely instrumental in helping me personally get to the summit. I remember there were many times when I thought I wanted to quit because it was hard for me, and we’ll talk about some strategies on how people can prevent what happened to me. But it’s really like gravel. So it’s like you take three steps up and, then you sort of go back down. You slide down one step because of the nature of the volcano. It’s like that. And I remember you had to really help me dig deep to try to get to the top, partly because I was just so tired because I hadn’t adjusted well; because I’d done such a short trek, and when we actually got to the top, this doesn’t usually happen to me, but I remember I was just so surprised that I managed to get to the top and just accomplished this feat where throughout the night, I just felt desperate that I would never have be successful. And then getting to the top was really an emotional moment for me. I will never forget that. So if we were talking about the kinds of fitness level that people would need to have in order to be able to do this trip over the eight days, what do you think they would need to be able to do to be successful?
Daniel: The thing is to listen for your guide. Other things, you take advice from your guide, what did he tell you? Drinking, eating, getting some rest, and also, don’t give up. You know, most of the clients, sometimes they give up on going up. So, the other thing is motivation. Everything must be put in your mind. Yeah, to say, I’m doing it. It really helps for most of the clients. You don’t need to walk too fast. You know that slowly, not too fast. Most of your time you should be behind the guide, the lead guide, to arrive at the camp safely, with no problem.
Brighde: Yes. Yeah. It’s, it’s really interesting. It’s so funny that just slowly, slowly is so helpful. When Seb and I trekked where we lived, we lived around a lot of mountains, and whenever we went uphill, we went really slowly. We go so slowly, that we never get breathless. And when we never get breathless, it means that we could just keep going for a really long time. So very often, people will overtake us, and five minutes later we will overtake them because they are just likepanting and really tired. So, yeah. So what should people physically be able to do, in order to do this trek? You talked a little bit about how they can be successful on the mountain. I’m just wondering what would be the minimum level of fitness that they would need in order to be able to do this trek.
Daniel: Some need to do some exercise, little exercise. I think in the country where you coming from. I saw your country has some hills or mountains. You can can do a little bit. Even a mountain. They can do a little bit of a marathon or go upstairs to make their muscles fit because sometimes the muscles, sometimes are exhausted. Sometimes it’s tight, tight muscles because so many people didn’t do enough exercise. And apart from that, even you can go to the gym. You can do that. The other guys go to the swimming pool to find out the breath. Yeah. And I know that when you climb Kilimanjaro, some of you guys come from, not in the country you are coming from. Some others don’t have a hill. So maybe you can do a marathon around your site. We can take one hour, two hours. Which is really enough, Yeah.
Brighde: Yeah. Yeah. For most people who have a bit more than a basic level of fitness, it’s really helpful. And yes, I think there are probably lots of training programs that you could follow, but yes, your suggestion of climbing any hills in the area where you live and even carrying some sort of load, even though you won’t be carrying a lot, that would be really helpful, and the stair master at the gym, you know, when you’re climbing up the stairs, and just improving your cardiovascular and strength.
Let’s talk about safety first of all. How is it that we can stay safe on the mountain?
Daniel: We have a guide, which is the doctor, the mountain doctor. After dinner, we check the others with a pulse oximeter to measure your body. The other thing, is we can ask your client where they’re coming from because they have advice from the doctor. If there’s anyone who has had a problem before, maybe you can take extra care with him or her. And also it’s very important to everyone before coming to Kilimanjaro, to check their body.
Don’t worry about when you come to Kilimanjaro. We have a doctor who will advise you. All taking care of you. Apart from that, we have a rescue team from Mount Kilimanjaro. And the other thing, we have a helicopter for rescue. If the client has a bad condition, we can call for the helicopter to take you, but it depends on your insurance. We have a helicopter here in Kilimanjaro.
Brighde: Yes. Exactly. Daniel, I always recommend our listeners to get travel insurance. And what we’re talking about here is emergency evacuation, and probably wanting to make sure that the insurance will cover something like this.
What is the summit? The
Daniel: height?
The height is 19341 feet.
Brighde: Okay. Okay. So it’s pretty high. So people will want to make sure that they have emergency evacuation insurance for that. Because, for example, I guess, if they were to slip and break their leg, for example, they would probably need to be evacuated by helicopter, I guess. And, whilst we’re taking every measure to avoid getting acclimatization sickness because we are hiking up slowly, we can never get alleviate it completely. It can still happen. So what practices do you have in place in case someone does have moderate altitude sickness?
Daniel: If you have a problem happening in 4, 000 meters, we bring it down. When you go down 3, 000 meters, the client feels much better, and before that, because this happens, it comes and goes. Even when you feel a headache, something is up, it’s normal up to Kilimanjaro. And to feel nauseous, sometimes it’s normal, so the thing is, that’s why I tell you that we have a doctor who is taking care of and advising you up Kilimanjaro. So, we will see, if he feeling no good, we can advise him or her to go down, or we can advise him or her to get some rest, and we’ll see what continues. Because of the problem of Mount Kilimanjaro, the problem of altitude, sometimes happens very suddenly, and then it goes very suddenly. So we need to rest, and then after that, we can give you an answer if you go up or we go down. When you get some rest, you can have some drinking or take some sweet things. Because sometimes if you feel dizzy, I think your sugar is low. So maybe you can take a little bit of juice or something like that, and you can take a little bit of rest, It helps.
So travelers need to follow the advice of the mountain doctor. Right. I see. Yeah. Okay. Interesting. And do you also carry oxygen on the climb, or not? Is that just for Everest kind of treks?
Daniel: We get oxygen which is very important up the mountain of Kilimanjaro. Even in the National Park, they provide oxygen during the camps. They have some oxygen.
We carry oxygen, we provide oxygen.
Brighde: Okay. So you talked a little bit about how you, the guides are key to helping to motivate our people as they are doing that final climb when they leave at like 10 or 11 o’clock and arrive at the summit just before sunrise, before cloud cover, covers up the view. you are also motivating and can help us keep going.
You
talked a little bit about how people can do some physical preparation before the trip. Is there any mental preparation that people can
Daniel: do?
The mental preparation the people can do, I say it’s like a determination. Everything is put in your mind, because everything comes with your head, with your mind. So when you prepare, it’s good to put everything in your head. Sometimes your body is tired, but you are mentally fit. So that’s why I say that determination is one that is key for the help of the client. Yeah.
Brighde: I think, I mean, I’m imagining that, maybe, having a mindfulness practice would be helpful and to really putting themselves into situations where they have to be tough and draw on that strength and positive self-talk and all of these kinds of things would probably be helpful. Okay. Okay. So, something I’m curious about is the kinds of things that our travelers or any traveler going up Mount Kilimanjaro, what is it that they need to bring with them on the trip to be successful in terms of equipment or clothes.
Daniel: Right. In Kilimanjaro, we have some good equipment like a sleeping bag. We need to have a thick and thin jacket, point shoes, a good trousers. And we advise you not to take cotton. We have some t-shirt which is easy when you get wet. It’s easy to dry. So we need to have good hiking shoes, enough socks, head torch with a battery. Also, you need to have walking poles, sunglasses, sunscreen, and a medical kit. Also, we need to have thick and thin gloves to help us during the hiking.
We are supposed to have that. We need to have a balaclava.
Brighde: So there are a lot of things that we would need to bring from home, like clothes items, the thermal underwear that you talked about, and socks and things like that. People can hire some things as well. They can hire some walking poles, and some other basic equipment too, if they need to. Correct?
Daniel: Yeah.
You can hire gloves, you can hire a sleeping bag. But I advise you don’t need to hire a thermal fleece or thermal underwear, which is very important for your body. But the jacket, you or something else, you can hire that. Yeah.
Brighde: Right. Yeah. Yeah. It helps save some money for sure. Okay. Fantastic. And, I know that Mount Kilimanjaro, is the world’s largest freestanding mountain. It’s a very important mountain for the people in Tanzania. Are there any sort of cultural considerations or environmental considerations that travelers should be aware of to make sure they are doing the right thing in this special place?
Daniel: In Lemosho, you can see the culture. Also, the hut is a cultural site. And also, we have some rocks, like a zebra rock. You can see when you climb Kilimanjaro. Also, the forest, is a cultural site, because the forest is very important to see, as you see Machame there. So the waterfalls, some rocks, yeah, the clans, you can see that as a culture.
Brighde: Something I’m curious about, Daniel, how many times have you reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro?
Daniel: Oh, it’s many times, it’s like close to 100 times. Close to 100 times now.
Brighde: Wow. Okay. That’s amazing. Do you have any interesting stories to share from that time?
Daniel: I have a fun story about the mountain Kilimanjaro. I remember the beginning of climbing to the summit. When you climb Kilimanjaro, in that time, you don’t have enough equipment. I remember my shoes were broken. So, when I climbed Kilimanjaro, there was a lot of snow. I used to sleep through most of my time.
Brighde: Wow.
Daniel: When I used to sleep, sometimes it was difficult for me to move with the clients. What I’m doing, which is a fun story, I take off my shoes, and I take off my socks. And yeah, I wear boots and then I wear socks on the outside of my boots. So, socks, it’s like track shoes to help you not to slip, which is a funny story.
Brighde: Do you remember my experience with shoes? Do you remember what happened with my boot?
Daniel: I don’t remember
Do you
Brighde: remember that, Daniel?
Daniel: I don’t remember that.
Brighde: Okay. I will share this story because it’s quite a funny one. So when Seb and I decided to go to Tanzania, we were living in Bangkok at the time. We had lived in Bangkok for several years and we went, we had hiking boots and we had only used them a few times. They were very, very, good boots, but I hadn’t tried them before going on the trek because I’d only used them two or three times before, so they were like new. However, something that’s interesting about living in a very humid environment like Bangkok, is that it makes the glue In the shoes break away. So literally within maybe three kilometers of starting the trek, the sole of the shoe started flapping.
So this was of course a huge problem because I had literally just started this trek. So we got some tape. And we taped it up.
Daniel: Remember that, yeah.
Brighde: Then we got to the first,
Daniel: I remember that
Brighde: Of course, it made the soul a little bit slippery, like you said. We arrived at the first camp, and somehow, one of the staff, had like a special needle and special string, and they could sew up my shoe, they did an amazing job. And then in the meantime, you were able to contact your colleagues in the office, and they found a pair of shoes that I could use, and they basically came and brought them up for me. It was incredible. So I could still be successful.
Daniel: It’s a funny story.
Brighde: Do you have any other interesting stories that might help those planning their Kilimanjaro expedition? For example, my advice would be, to always check your shoes are in very good condition before going.
Daniel: Even myself, I need to advise my clients some support to make sure that everything, every staff is in a good condition, especially their shoes, even the bag. Sometimes when we meet, you come here to Tanzania, and sometimes you see that thing is broken, same as you. And the other thing, when you climb Kilimanjaro, you’re supposed to put everything in your mind. Don’t be scared, of everything you put in your mind, and also to feel headache and nausea, that is normal to feel on the mountain Kilimanjaro. Also, even when to feel nauseous, and feel like you want to puke, sometimes it’s helpful for the client. When you puke, you feel much better. Yeah. So the thing is, most of the problems come because of the altitude. Just wait and see, just relax, your guide is taking care of you. We are not a doctor, but we meet with different problems, with different clients, which helps you to have enough experience.
Absolutely. So, you’ve taken so many people up the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, and I know I was so happy that I was able to do it even though during the night I didn’t think I would make it. For me, it was one of the hardest things that I’ve ever done, but I was just so happy that I had actually been able to do it.
Brighde: And the fact that I had been able to, with the support of you and Seb, I was able to make myself do something that was incredibly hard, and it really has left a lasting impact on me to know that I can do difficult things. I’m curious, Daniel, what are some of the things they say are so special about doing a trip like this?
Daniel: Most of my clients take eight days to be at the top. And many people who take eight days, are very happy with the eight days because they give you the possibility to be at the top.
Brighde: Yeah. Yeah, and of course, you know, you can also explore Tanzania before or after the trek as well, because, you know, one of the things that we’re doing on our trip, is we’re doing a safari for one day before the trek starts, but, you know, you can relax and enjoy the incredible beaches of Zanzibar afterward.
Tanzania just has so much for everyone. It’s so amazing. So we talked a little bit about how porters are such an important part of the experience. You know, they’re basically making the trip happen. People cannot climb Mount Kilimanjaro by themselves. They must be with a support team, correct?
What are some of the things that climbers can do to make sure that the porters and guides have an easy time of it?
Daniel: Obey each other, respect each other, and be kind to each other, which is really helpful for the guys.
Brighde: In Tanzania, usually, when people go trekking, tips to the porters and the guides are not included. But in this case, the trip price that our travelers pay will have tips included because that can be quite a lot of money when there are so many people to tip. And you want to tip them well. Seb decided to include the tips. And I know Seb is always very generous with tipping. So I’m sure the porters would be happy with that.
Daniel: in Kilimanjaro, I know that we have a salary, but as you know, it’s not enough salary for the crew. But, tipping is one of the good things to show your kindness to supporters. And with the tipping, it’s really good if all the teams come together. Maybe one of the clients or two of the clients. And separate to them, which is very, very good for the porters.
Brighde: Absolutely. Something I’m curious about, Daniel, is, the regulations that help keep guides and porters safe on the mountain. For example, I don’t know, but I imagine that there are some, rules that tour operators need to follow to make sure that the guides and the porters are safe and healthy. Are there some rules about that and can you share them?
Daniel: We have some rules to follow about the porters. First of all, to make sure that they have enough food, they’re eating, they have breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and they sleep in a good place, before starting Kilimanjaro, you need to have a final checkup for the crew to make sure that they have enough and good staff equipment to climb up the mountain. And the other thing is about the salary, to make sure that they have a salary after finishing the trip.
And we have so many rules to make sure everything is going smoothly and happy and clean.
Brighde: I can imagine that if those rules were not followed, then maybe you would not be licensed to take travelers up the mountain. I imagine if the rules were broken often. Amazing.
So listeners, I really hope that this conversation with Daniel has inspired you to consider Tanzania as a destination, and has made you decide if you want to join a Kilimanjaro trek with World Vegan Travel. And I’ll talk a little bit more about the dates and the details with that. Or if you can’t make the trip with World Vegan Travel, you contact Daniel at Sisi Trekking, and he will help organize a vegan Summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. So the trip that we are doing is happening next year in 2024, from the 12th to the 23rd of August. And we’ve actually timed that trek for a particular special event that’s happening on the summit day. Can you tell us about that, Daniel?
Daniel: We climb to the summit on the full moon. It means that we can walk on there without using a head torch. It’s really light, you can see the light all the way up the summit, that we mean about the full moon. So, we can go there, which is really good, amazing, when you climb there. You can switch off your head torch, and then you can walk with that full moon. And it’s really incredible, really amazing when you climb up there with a full moon.
Brighde: You and Seb worked together so that our travelers would be climbing the night of the full moon. That’s really fun. So it’s the 12th to the 21st, 3rd of August, 2024. There’s a minimum group of 10 people and a maximum group of 20 people. If you are traveling by yourself, and, you want to have a tent to yourself, that’s possible, but there is a single supplement there of 750 dollars, and the total price is 9, 000 dollars, we have an early bird pricing that is still available. The trek itself is 8 days long, but the trip in total is 12 days, 11 nights. We talked about how we have the safari day beforehand, and then we have a party when we get down, and then off the mountain. And yeah, it’s just going to be a really amazing trip that’s, I think, going to be so rewarding. So, if travelers are interested in checking out this trip with World Vegan Travel, they can go onto our website. We have the trip on our home page there. And if people don’t want to travel with World Vegan Travel, then they want to contact you, Daniel. What can they do? How can they contact you?
Daniel: You can go through my website, www.sisitrekking.com. You can find me also in Instagram, Sisi Trekking dot com. Also with a Facebook, Sisi Trekking Tours, and Safari. With that, you can meet me or even my WhatsApp number, plus 2 5 5 7 8 7 8 0 4 4 20.
Incredible. Incredible. All right. Daniel, I want to thank you so much for being on the podcast and talking about Mount Kilimanjaro with our listeners today. I am so happy and grateful. Thank you so much.
