Go, Go, Go!

The writer travelled with Mountain Expeditions, which leads trips up Kilimanjaro for £2,195 (R41,300) per person, including all food, transfers, permits and qualified leader.

Several SA-based operators offer such tours, including Climbing Kilimanjaro (climbingkilimanjaro.co.za), Adventure Dynamics (adventuredynamics.co.za) and Wild Frontiers

(wildfrontiers.com). All offer packages on various routes — some are harder, some less crowded, some longer. Do your research.

Prices vary between operators. A five-day trek up the popular Machame Route with Climbing Kilimanjaro starts at R24,549 per person, including return economy-class flights from Johannesburg. A six-day, standard package starts at R29,363pp.

Note that longer trips allow more days to acclimatise, which in turn gives you a better chance of reaching the summit.