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About Altezza Travel
Who we are
We are a team of adventure enthusiasts who love everything about Tanzania. Our team arrived here in 2014, and we were immediately fascinated by this land. Since then, we have travelled it back and forth, making sure that all of its best destinations are included into our tours.
Most of our team members are staying here twelve months a year, deepening our knowledge of the country and making our adventure itineraries better. At all times we are keeping abreast the local developments in tourism, making sure that our team is the first to know about the openings of the new travel spots or the adoption of new regulations in the national parks. We love to keep a finger on the pulse of Tanzania travel trends, and offer the newest and the rawest impressions to our visitors.
Our only office is located right at the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, in the Machame area. Our local presence is exactly what makes it possible for Altezza to give accurate, competent and up-to-date travel advice to our clients and to ensure the highest comfort and safety standards in our expeditions. We are not a travel agency that simply resells travel packages - we are a fully licensed tour operator, which actually organizes and runs its own trips.
Also, we are proud to have special relationships with many hotels, lodges and providers of adventure activities (such as hot air ballooning in the Serengeti or diving on Pemba island). We know in person the key people in the Tanzania tourism community, and they help us to offer the best and newest of Tanzania to our visitors.
Altezza was started with just four people onboard and slowly, but steadily it evolved into one of the main tour operators in Kilimanjaro. Today we have over 250 people working for Altezza in our offices and hotels. Also, more than one thousand and five hundred field professionals - guides, porters, camp masters and cooks - are working on our Mount Kilimanjaro expeditions and in the national parks. Altezza Travel is proud to be one of the youngest and largest travel companies in the country.
What we do
We organize comfortable, safe and enjoyable Kilimanjaro climbing adventures and wildlife safaris in Tanzania. Our mission is very simple:
To make Tanzania a memory-making vacation destination for our adventurers
Here at Altezza we know that a trip to Tanzania is a special event for all - it takes more planning and more investment than most ordinary vacation trips. With this understanding in mind, we have set up our adventure planning crew. The members of our team are vastly experienced in organizing adventure trips all over Tanzania. They know every nook and cranny of the national parks, conservation areas and other interesting locations. Our consultants will help you to choose the right trip to make sure that you get the best of this country.
BASED IN TANZANIA
What we have
As said above, we are not a travel agency. In other words, it is not just a website, several computers and sales managers that make up Altezza Travel. As a licensed operator, we have more to offer. This includes:
Two hotels in Kilimanjaro (third under construction). We are, perhaps, the only travel company in the region to have its own hotels. Most of our Kilimanjaro trips start from here, making it very convenient for our visitors and managers alike. All our equipment is here, and, if you need anything for your Kilimanjaro adventure, it is certainly the best place to get it.
Excellent group equipment for the Kilimanjaro adventure. High-quality branded equipment and gear became a hallmark of the Altezza Travel Kilimanjaro expeditions. For our trips we are normally using the North Face VE-25 mountain tents. It is a standard option for the Mount Everest expeditions, where the conditions are much harsher than on Kilimanjaro.
Also, in cooperation with a team of UK-based outdoor engineers, we designed a special walk-in Kilimanjaro tent, which will become an excellent option for all those who love comfort. These tents are spacious enough to put a camp cot inside, and, though designed for three climbers, sleep two people only. Furthermore, the living and the dinner tents are connected by special tunnels. It makes climbing Mt Kilimanjaro during the rainy season way more comfortable.
Our dinner (or “mess”) tents are from the Red Fox outdoor equipment company. They are spacious, comfortable and provide good insulation against wind on the upper slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Branded personal gear for hire. Many Kilimanjaro hikers arrive at Kilimanjaro without a full set of proper mountain gear. It happens for different reasons - some simply want to keep the weight of their luggage minimal, others just don’t want to spend a fortune to buy all what is needed. Luckily, we have a solution for all - the first, and, to this date, the only rental shop of branded mountain gear.
Nowhere else are you able to find a proper Kilimanjaro outfit from Red Fox, The North Face, Zamberlan or Black Diamond. Here we have it in different sizes for all kinds of travellers.
The team of professional mountain guides. Here at Altezza Travel we employ the best mountain talents in the region. All our guides have Wilderness First Responder certifications, and they are employed by Altezza Travel full time. We regularly conduct professional workshops for them to hone their skills and make sure that they are always tuned to the most recent developments in international mountaineering.
Our guides are the reason why Altezza is often chosen to outfit media projects on Mt Kilimanjaro.
Large fleet of comfortable vehicles. As a tour operator we do many airport pick-ups, drop-offs and other trips. This is why we have ten comfortable and spacious Toyota Alphards, recently imported by us from Japan. We do not rely on the services of taxi drivers or transportation companies, and our dedicated transfer manager is making sure that all our cars arrive strictly on time.
Each car is equipped with Wi-Fi and always has free water.
Modern safari cars. We have our own safari cars and do not “subcontract” our trips to other safari companies. Not only does it help our team to get our expeditions under full control, but also this approach assures that our comfort and safety standards are met at all times.
Our safari vehicles were all produced in 2016-2023. Each car has a fridge with refreshment drinks, Wi-Fi router, comfortable seats and convertible pop-up roof.
All our safari vehicles are driven by the professional and knowledgeable safari guides with great knowledge of the National parks.
Our expertise
What sets our team apart and how do we make your Tanzanian adventure go hassle free? This is how:
The members of our adventure planning team make regular visits to Mount Kilimanjaro and safari parks of Tanzania. In other words, we have personally seen all the places where our customers will travel. Same applies to the hotels and lodges, which are included in our itineraries. Those which do not belong to our company are anonymously visited by our team members to check that the care standards meet our high requirements and ensure our guests a great stay in the future.
Our customers are consistently happy with our service. Every year we organize hundreds of Kilimanjaro climbs and safaris, and to date everyone has had a great and memorable experience with Altezza Travel. How do we know our clients consistently had a wonderful experience with us? Independent reviews from our clients on global travel sites!
You may read the reviews about our trips on this TripAdvisor page.
We love tech! Some of our team members have a strong computer background, and we are actively bringing technology to our trip management to offer our clients excellent experiences. For example, we use an automated system to determine the preparedness of every climbing expedition to avoid human error and we also track all of our climbing teams on Kilimanjaro with special GPS tracking systems for safety and record-keeping purposes. Further, we use modern software to ensure appropriate files to keep client information safe and up-to date.
We are one of the largest operators on Kilimanjaro. Leading over 200 climbing parties through different routes every year, we can confidently say that our team is one of the most experienced in organizing Kilimanjaro adventures of any level. We have experience leading solo treks or as many as 100-member expedition groups and are confident to handle a team of any size in between.
Safety and comfort of our Kilimanjaro trips
Safety is paramount for all our adventures.
Apart from being certified Wilderness First Responders, two times per year all our guides attend special Kilimanjaro proficiency workshops where they refresh their emergency management, wilderness guiding and camping skills. We invite world-class mountaineers to give lectures for our teams.
Our Kilimanjaro guides perform two daily medical checkups on all Kilimanjaro trips to make sure that acclimatization transition is smooth. Every climbing party has medical kits, oximeters and oxygen tanks. While the need may be rare, we have emergency preparedness protocols in place, up to even helicopter evacuations off the mountain and straight to the hospital, in the event of severe high altitude sickness.
The adventurers always praise our Kilimanjaro cooks. Our mountain diet is all about energy-rich and delicious meals, featuring soups, salads, beef, poultry, fish, a variety of garnishes, fresh fruits and vegetables. Vegetarian, gluten-free, halal and Kosher options are available.
We use only new high-quality equipment in our expeditions. Our hiking teams stay in sturdy four-season The North Face VE-25 (used on Everest expeditions) tents or in our extra-comfort Altezza Kilimanjaro walk-in tents. Those who do not have, or do not want to bring personal hiking gear may hire everything from us on the spot. All personal gear that we provide is new and from the best brands (The North Face, Mountain Hardwear and RedFox) only. Read more about our gear and how to rent with us here.
Altezza Travel is a KPAP Registered Operator
Altezza Travel is proud to be a recognized member of the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project (KPAP). This organization is part of the International Mountain Explorers Connection and it strives to protect one of the most underprivileged classes of the Tanzania society - porters. Most porters are from underprivileged backgrounds and come from remote rural areas in search of work. It is them who, quite literally, bear the heaviest burden on each Kilimanjaro expedition as they carry the equipment and gear up the mountain.
Not a single expedition on Mount Kilimanjaro could be organized without help of these exceptionally strong guys.
Sadly, poor treatment and underpayment of porters are widespread concerns for climbing expeditions. High rates of unemployment mean that those with little education or experience are desperate for work, and employers exploit this vulnerability in the porter community. Managers often hire porters for little pay, inadequate meals and insufficient equipment that make them susceptible to the extreme weather on the mountain. Porters may feel that they have to put up with this maltreatment without complaint because they are unaware of their rights.
This is precisely why KPAP was founded: the project outlines acceptable working criteria and conducts independent evaluations of Kilimanjaro trekking outfitters, scrutinizing their hiring process, working conditions and compensation on behalf of porters. Only companies that meet the standards may become KPAP certified. Travelers who prioritize ethical treatment and good working conditions for local staff should look for KPAP certification when selecting a climbing operator.
A KPAP certification means the operator values their employees, treats climbing crews and porters fairly and ensures that their trekking experience contributes to the greater good of Tanzanian society, not just the company owners or office staff.
Here at Altezza we are committed to our porters. Here are just a few of the ways we go above and beyond for our porters:
- On Altezza expeditions, each porter gets three nutritious meals per day and sleeps in a quality, well-insulated tent.
- As part of the climbing team, every porter attends a medical check-up twice a day to ensure their health and well-being throughout the climb.
- If a porter becomes sick, Altezza covers the costs of his treatment and other medical bills. This porter also receives full salary for the climb.
- Promising and motivated candidates are encouraged to become assistant guides and, in time (and subject to passing our training programs) may become full guides at Altezza Travel.
- Each and every member of our porter crew has his equipment checked by our office team before starting an expedition. We make sure that everyone, including our porters, has everything necessary for a safe climb.
- We pay our porters at the top end of the current rate for compensation, and never expect them to rely on tips as their salary. We are proud when our porters are able to afford school fees for their children and set aside savings for their future retirement.
KPAP periodically evaluates our climbs, making sure that our standards meet their rigorous criteria. There is a KPAP representative in each climb, making sure that our teams follow the requirements. You may read more about this organization and its mission on their website here.
Your financial protection
Your payment to us is always safe. If you are unable to travel to Tanzania for any reason, subject to our cancellation terms, we will always return your money. It is a fair bet on your side to ask us what guarantees we can offer. Some of them include:
Our reputation - we have been working in Tanzania since 2014, and every satisfied customer is an ambassador of our brand. Today’s travel market is extremely competitive, and a single bad recommendation can spoil years of hard work in a flash. We are obsessed with our image, and because of that we are committed to make sure that your experience with Altezza - including pre-arrival - is only positive.
We are one of the few operators which did not freeze the deposits during the COVID-19 crisis. The 2020 summer season on Kilimanjaro was completely lost due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Altezza Travel is proud to have returned all deposit payments to the clients who had to cancel their adventure plans and could not postpone for a later date.
We understood the depth of the crisis and the toll it took - for some of us the world turned upside down in a flash, and standard rules could no longer be applied. That is why we decided to be as flexible as we could and offered refunds to anyone who needed.
This policy is still in force and we will never freeze a deposit.
Comprehensive insurance coverage - our liability is insured for one million United States Dollars ($1,000,000) with The Heritage Insurance company, one of the largest in Tanzania, and is committed to indemnifying any outstanding refunds, if the unlikely need may arise. Know that your travel is safe with Altezza Travel.
Our adventure projects in Tanzania
Together with running hundreds of regular Kilimanjaro expeditions, we love making awe-inspiring projects. We have partnership projects with the Red Bull athletes, National Geographic editors, travel shows and off-the-beaten track travellers from all over the world.
Wings of Kilimanjaro 2019
Altezza Travel was privileged to be chosen as a local outfitter for the Wings of Kilimanjaro, the most daring project in Africa
In September, 2019 over twenty experienced paragliders from all corners of the world - from Canada to Australia - arrived in Tanzania to take part in the largest mass-paragliding event on the equator. Their goal was to summit Mount Kilimanjaro, and then to glide from Stella Point down to Moshi. It is an extremely audacious feat, requiring good piloting skills, navigation and proper physique. Because of the high risks involved, only experienced pilots were allowed to participate.
Much preparations preceded the event - before the participants landed in Tanzania, we had to secure the permissions from the Tanzania National Parks Authority, Kilimanjaro National Park Authority and the officials from Tanzania Civil Aviation.
In order to receive the flying permits, we needed to provide the detailed expedition itinerary and the flying plan, alongside with the full credentials of our pilots. It was essential to prove that the project was safe both for the participants and for the general public. With the both conditions ultimately met, the permits were issued to our company.
This expedition was one of the largest we have ever had - it took about two hundred Kilimanjaro professionals - guides, porters, cooks and camp-masters - to organize everything. Apart from carrying typical expedition equipment and supplies, the party had to take extra to provision the team for any possible delays, which could have been caused by the non-flying weather. The expedition took nine days, two of which we spent in the Kosovo camp waiting for the favorable wind.
It is also worth mentioning that the “Wings of Kilimanjaro” was not just for fun - each member of the expedition was expected to donate a certain amount to the construction and maintenance of a school for local children in the Tarangire area. It has been founded by the Wings of Kilimanjaro team several years, and these events are mainly focused on raising funds to continue its operations. The money is spent to pay teachers, construct new facilities, provide its pupils with meals, books and other education items, etc. Thanks to the Wings of Kilimanjaro many children, who otherwise would have never entered a classroom, received a chance to get good-quality education and a better life.
Altezza Travel was thrilled to be the part of the Wings of Kilimanjaro 2019 team, and to realize that our humble contribution to this project made a lasting impact on many young Tanzanians.
Angela Vorobeva Guiness World Record
We were lucky to be chosen to lead the expedition of Angela Vorobeva from Russia, 86 years old at that time, to the Roof of Africa. She became the oldest person to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Although her title was subsequently taken by Anne Lorimore (USA), Ms Vorobeva remains the oldest person to have reached the summit without supplementary oxygen.
Angela is a true legend - survivor of the infamous Siege of Leningrad during WWII, she has taken part in various adventures all over the world. She hiked in the Andes, explored the forests of Siberia, spent six months in Antarctica and she is not planning to stop.
Taking into account the vulnerable age of our trip participant, extra precautions had to be taken - instead of the usual seven days on the Lemosho route, we had to plan for nine. To the applauses and astonishment of everyone, Angela did miraculously well and reached Uhuru.
Valerii Rozov BASE-jump paragliding
Valerii Rozov is one of the most renowned Red Bull athletes in the world. He is the only person to have ever performed a BASE-jump paragliding act from the summit zone of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Altezza Travel was chosen to provide climbing support, logistics and secure the permits from the Kilimanjaro National Park Authority.
Before the jump, the project team made a careful reconnaissance of the summit zone, choosing the best location and analyzing the wind directions. Once the preparations were finished, unyielding Rozov plunged into the abyss, glided for several minutes at the unimaginable speed, and later released his parachute to land in the Barranco Camp. His achievement has not been beaten up to this date.
Stefan Siegrist highlining
Stefan Siegrist is the only person to date to walk a tightrope in the summit zone of Mount Kilimanjaro.
He approached us with his exciting idea in 2016. Here at Altezza Travel we love everything unusual about Kilimanjaro, and we were immediately fascinated with it.
The expedition involved much cooperation with the Kilimanjaro National Park Authority, whose officials and rangers provided invaluable guidance and support.
The result of our cooperation was stunning - Stefan was able to perform the act exactly in the summit zone, at 5500+ meters above the sea level.
Skyrunning on Kilimanjaro
Every year our company organizes several skyrunning expeditions on Kilimanjaro. The goal in these trips is to reach the top of Kilimanjaro and leave the park in less than 24 hours. The current record belongs to Ecuadorian athlete Karl Egloff, for whom it took 6 hours and 42 minutes to perform the feat. There are very few people in the world who can match his skills, but skyrunning is becoming more and more popular in general. Many fit tourists want to experience Kilimanjaro in this “off-the-beaten track” way.
Preparations for skyrunning trips are very different from standard mountain treks.Getting special permits from Kilimanjaro National Park Authority is necessary, and also all of the camps should be prepared in advance so that the athletes can make stops on their way to make some rest, eat and re-energize.
Furthermore, according to the Park rules, a professional mountain guide should accompany each trekker. No exceptions are made for skyrunners. In order to meet this requirement our guides are run on par with the most fit athletes. We have a team of guides with extreme physical fitness levels and great stamina. They are up for this type of work and can easily run abreast of the skyrunners.
The Prices for our adventure trips
The competition in Tanzania travel industry is very high - there are hundreds of local operators in the popular travel hubs of Moshi and Arusha. Dozens more open every year, and big international travel firms are establishing their branch offices here. It is not surprising - the popularity of Tanzania as a travel destination keeps rising, and tourism is quickly becoming a good choice for investment.
Here at Altezza Travel we aim to stand out from other companies. Our strategy is simple, yet effective - we import the best branded equipment and gear for our Kilimanjaro adventures, and we hire professional guides to lead our departures. We provide ongoing training for our guides to ensure they have the top certifications and training in their field. We also offer the newest and most comfortable safari vehicles in the country. Every day, we aim to deliver great service to our clients - from a delicious and nutritious menu on every mountain trek, to on-time transfers for all of our clients. We want to improve in every detail, no matter how small, in order to offer the best service of all tourism operators in Tanzania.
There is, however, one thing that we will never do to become more attractive to clients - we will never dump our prices. Why? because it will ultimately compromise the safety and comfort of our adventures. We are certainly more expensive than most of the local operators, yet the service we provide can only be matched by a handful of high-end tour operators, whose prices are much higher than our own.
It is not just the safety and comfort of our trips that make our prices higher. When travelling with Altezza, you can be assured of the following:
We are a fully compliant and transparent company - Altezza Travel regularly renews its travel businesses licenses. We also pay more than half a million dollars in taxes every year. Among other things, this money helps to build hospitals, schools, roads and infrastructure throughout the developing nation of Tanzania. While the taxes are steep, we will not avoid paying them and we recognize they go to support meaningful infrastructure throughout the country.
We take part in various social-responsibility projects and even spearhead initiatives which we are passionate about. You may read about our programs here.
We pay good salaries and wages to our local employees. In an attempt to reduce the costs of an expedition and offer a better price to a client, many tour operators cut salaries to their local staff. Having no other employment prospects, the hapless workers agree to work for any pay simply to make ends meet.
The salaries we offer are above the market median, and this is what attracts the best local talent from Kilimanjaro and all over Tanzania to join our teams.
Why is it a bad idea to book with cheap operators?
When booking with budget operators there is a chance of having some unwelcome surprises on the trip, such as: missing oxygen tanks (or may be there, but not functioning), a tent with holes that leak in the rain, meals served which are stale or repetitious over the entire trek. There is also a risk of getting duped by travel scammers.
Finally, by buying cheap tour packages, a tourist is making a direct contribution to the perpetuation of employee maltreatment in Tanzania. Companies save money and offer low-cost tours to clients usually at the expense of the low-wage workers, who due to poverty and lack of opportunities, will agree to work for any salary - or even tips only. As long as very cheap tours exist, poverty will continue to proliferate - book with Altezza and other responsible tour operators instead!
