Mt Meru Tickets and Tours

3 Days Mount Meru Guided Trekking Tour

To do: Mount Meru

After our safari with Suricata, which had already completely blown us away, we planned to climb Mount Meru with the same company. At first, we treated it almost like a bonus. Something along the lines of: we're in Tanzania anyway, so why not climb a mountain too? We knew Mount Meru would probably be a great experience, but after the safari we'd just had, we honestly thought we'd already seen the highlight of our trip. Mount Meru proved us wrong. Our little mountain family consisted of Daoudi (lead guide), Zakia (assistent guide), Gasto (the cook) and Julius (the fixer). We were joined by one other traveller who had also booked through Suricata, a few hikers from other companies, and an armed ranger. Apparently, altitude sickness wasn't the only thing we needed protecting from. The first two days are almost suspiciously pleasant. They are simply beautiful. Kilimanjaro sits on the horizon for much of the route, the scenery keeps changing around you, and the walking is comfortable enough that you start to become slightly overconfident. Mount Meru waits patiently for day three to correct you. Summit night starts at 11pm. This time it is just you and your two guides, walking into complete darkness with only the small circle of your headlamp in front of you.The trail itself is actually fine. It is well made, not particularly slippery and there is not very technical. What makes the climb difficult, though, is that you are high up, climbing fast, in the middle of the night, and your body is becoming increasingly confused about why you are doing this voluntarily. I run marathons and my boyfriend is an experienced mountain climber, so we both arrived with a decent amount of confidence in our fitness. However, we both struggled, nausea included. During the climb your world becomes very small. You stop thinking about the summit, Tanzania or anything remotely inspirational. You just look at the feet in front of you. One step. Another step. And repeat. Then, about six hours later, everything suddenly makes sense. You reach the summit just as the sun begins to rise over Tanzania. Kilimanjaro sits in the distance and the landscape seems to stretch endlessly below you. It is one of those moments where your brain becomes very selective with its memories. The nausea? Forgotten. The exhaustion? Apparently irrelevant. All the moments where you questioned why you thought climbing a mountain in the middle of the night sounded like a good holiday activity? Gone. Standing there, watching the sun come up, you would do it all again. Of course, reaching the summit does not mean the day is finished. We chose the three-day itinerary, which means that after reaching the top, you descend all the way back to the gate on the same day. There was a short stop at hut 2 for food and what I would very generously describe as a power nap, before continuing the descent. On paper, this sounds slightly insane. In reality, the euphoria from reaching the summit somehow carries you down. There is also a four-day option, where you spend the final night at hut 1 and walk down to the gate the next morning. The huts were another pleasant surprise. They were clean, well maintained and honestly just as good as many of the mountain huts I've stayed in across Europe. You sleep in bunk beds, usually four people to a room, and after a full day of hiking they have everything you actually need. By that point, luxury is very simple. A mattress and something horizontal for sleeping. But as impressive as the mountain itself is, the thing we remember most is the people. Because Daoudi, Zakia, Gasto and Julius did much more than simply guide us up Mount Meru. Gasto somehow managed to serve genuinely great food every single day. Which is amazing, considering we were halfway up a mountain. Every meal was better than we expected and exactly what you needed after hours on the trail. Then there was Julius, the person who seemed to make everything happen without ever making a big deal out of it. Water bottles were filled before we were even properly awake, packed lunches were ready to go, and all the little things you normally only notice when they are missing were already taken care of. Zakia was 23 and the only female guide we saw on the mountain. She set the pace of the group with almost ridiculous consistency and kept a close eye on everyone throughout the climb. She would quietly check in with people one by one, making sure nobody was struggling more than they were letting on. Calm, steady and always paying attention. And then there was Daoudi. It is hard to know where to begin with him, because he somehow seemed to be on top of everything at once. From the very start, he made sure our rental gear was sorted, explained exactly what to expect and kept us updated throughout the entire climb. The moment someone started struggling, he noticed. And somehow, he always had a solution ready before you even had time to ask. What stood out most was how calm he stayed, no matter what was happening around him. Even during six hours of climbing through the night with tired, nauseous people questioning their life choices, he remained kind, professional and completely in control. By the end of the climb, it no longer felt like we had simply booked a tour. It felt like we had shared a proper adventure together. And that is probably the biggest compliment we can give Suricata. We booked Mount Meru thinking it would be a nice addition to our safari. Instead, it became one of the highlights of our entire trip. Tanzania managed to impress us twice. Once from the window of a safari jeep. And once, very slowly, step by step. Asante sana.

3 Days Mount Meru Guided Trekking Tour

3 day wonderful trekking & adventure experience.

Our three-day Mount Meru expedition as a couple was a perfect experience. We enjoyed the quiet forest trails, changing landscapes, and beautiful mountain views. We passed through forest, rocky trails, and beautiful high-altitude landscapes. The final climb was challenging but it was a great achievement. A great experience for anyone looking for a shorter trekking adventure in Tanzania

4 Days Mount Meru Guided Trekking Tour

4 day Mount Meru Trek

Fantastic experience. Suricata were first class from booking through to actual trek. Special mention to guide Modest and porter/waiter Zacharia. Push to summit was difficult but paced expertly by Modest to our capabilities and ably supported by Zacharia. The views from the top were amazing and worth the effort. The accommodation is basic but the food served was exceptional. None of this would be possible without the other porters. .