Why climb with Duma?
Excellent service and deep experience in the adventure trekking industry.
Duma Explorer offers superior service, route planning, and high-end equipment to ensure your trek is hassle-free and that you’ll summit successfully.
Duma started out as a Kilimanjaro trekking company, and has been leading climbs up Kili and Meru for almost twenty years. Mountaineering support remains a key part of our business. With our long history of arranging treks, we know how to support you to summit successfully and safely, and to also have an enjoyable and rewarding hike getting there.
Duma’s mountain crew totals about 150 people, including guides, assistant guides, cooks and porters. Many of our guides and cooks began their careers with us as porters. Our mountain guides each have a minimum of seven years experience hiking Kilimanjaro, while most of our porters, assistant guides and cooks have been climbing for at least five years. When a porter retires, they usually move into other positions within the company. Our teams work well together, and members are cross-trained in various aspects of mountaineering operations. (Many of our safari tented camp staff are also former mountaineering staff; having long-term staff has been instrumental in Duma’s success in providing excellent customer service.)
We take safety seriously. Guides carry a pulse oximeter and emergency oxygen on every climb. All guides are trained to detect early signs of altitude sickness. Duma's chief guides and most assistant guides are Wilderness First Responder certified. Many of our cooks and porters have first-aid training.
During a Kilimanjaro climb, you’ll hike with at least one head guide, an assistant guide, a cook, and several porters. The average crew to climber ratio is 5.5:1. To ensure that you have the most support when you need it, we schedule one licensed guide for every two climbers. During the summit climb, we send additional support staff, so the ratio is usually one to one. Please note that small climber groups may require more crew.
As climbers and former porters ourselves, we know that good gear is essential. Duma uses high-end mountaineering equipment to ensure that you are comfortable and warm during your Kilimanjaro climb. Tents are rated for use in harsh environments with sub-zero temperatures and strong winds. Our equipment is carefully checked and cleaned after every climb and replaced regularly. We provide a private toilet for all climbs.
During the climb, Duma porters will transport your gear as well as the food and equipment from camp to camp. We use large waterproof bags to store your personal gear and our equipment to protect it from the rainy weather on the mountain.
We provide cooked, warm meals and drinks for each breakfast and dinner, with a mix of cooked or freshly packed lunches. We can customize your meals to cater to different dietary needs, and regularly provide vegetarian and local cuisine options. We filter all drinking water using First Need water filters. We supply all of your drinking water needs and you can refill your bottles in the mornings and evenings.
With decades of Tanzania tourism experience among our staff, we pride ourselves on our long-standing reputation for providing high-quality travel experiences to our guests.
