The African programmes on this site fall into two broad families. The first is mountain ascents, led by Kilimanjaro — a high-altitude ascent to 5,895 m whose standard routes are walked rather than climbed. The second is wildlife travel: game drives, gorilla permits and river deltas, on itineraries that have nothing to do with altitude. They combine well, and they are priced, timed and staffed differently, so they are kept as separate programmes.
Kilimanjaro: choose the route, not the mountain
Kilimanjaro is one mountain with several approach routes, and the route and itinerary length are the main choices on the trip. Kilimanjaro and Nairobi airports are the common arrival gateways, with a transfer to Moshi or Arusha; each programme page states the arrangements for that departure. From there the paths diverge in length, scenery and how gradually they gain height.
The Marangu route sleeps in permanent huts — Mandara, Horombo and Kibo — which is unusual on this mountain and the reason it suits people who would rather not camp. The Machame route is camped throughout and approaches the summit from the south-west, taking in the Shira plateau and the Barranco wall on the way. The Lemosho route is the third option offered here and starts from the western side of the massif.
These are three separate products and they are deliberately not merged. If you are choosing between them, read the itineraries rather than the summit-day description — the final night is much the same on every route, and everything that actually differs happens in the days before it. The Lemosho page is currently a summary rather than a full day-by-day itinerary, so ask for the detail before comparing it with the other two.
Other African summits
Kilimanjaro is not the only guided peak in the region. The Mount Kenya climb is a genuinely technical objective rather than a walk-up, and it works well as a second East African mountain. Margherita Peak in the Rwenzori is a glaciated peak reached through the Rwenzori’s high-rainfall vegetation zones, which is exactly what makes it a serious undertaking. If you want the Rwenzori without the summit, Rwenzori trekking in Uganda covers the same valleys as a trek. In North Africa, Toubkal in the Atlas is a short-format high-altitude walking objective within a few hours of Marrakech.
Safari and wildlife travel
The safari programmes are organised by country and by ecosystem rather than by difficulty. Tanzania safari and Kenya safari programme cover the classic East African savanna circuits. Uganda safari and the more detailed Queen Elizabeth National Park and mountain gorillas itinerary combine savanna game viewing with primate tracking; gorillas and Mount Bisoke in Rwanda is the shorter, more focused version of the same idea.
Southern Africa runs to water and desert rather than savanna. Okavango Delta and Chobe is a delta-and-riverfront itinerary; Victoria Falls and the Cape links the falls with the South African coast; Namibia is a desert and coastline route. In the north-east, Ethiopia and Eritrea and the Dahlak Archipelago are cultural and landscape itineraries for travellers who have already done the well-known parks. Morocco itinerary sits with these rather than with the climbing programmes.
Preparing for an African ascent
Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya and Margherita are all high-altitude objectives reached from close to sea level, so aerobic base and steady walking economy matter a great deal. For the walking ascents, the endurance preparation notes written for Elbrus and higher are a reasonable starting point: they are about building the capacity to walk uphill for six to eight hours a day at altitude. They do not cover route-specific technical preparation, which Mount Kenya and the glaciated Rwenzori summit both require in addition; each programme page states what its own route assumes.
The catalogue also splits these programmes by activity rather than by country, so the same destination can appear in two places. A Kilimanjaro route is filed as a climb; a Serengeti circuit is filed as a safari; the Rwenzori appears as both a trek and a summit climb. That is intentional — it lets a buyer who has already decided on the activity avoid reading past a dozen programmes that are not it.
Combining a climb with a safari
A Kilimanjaro route and a safari can be combined in the same trip: the mountain and the parks are close enough that the combination costs a few extra days rather than a second long-haul flight. Because the two halves are separate products, you can pick the route that suits your acclimatisation and the park circuit that suits your interests independently, instead of accepting whatever bundle a fixed package imposes.
If wildlife is the whole point of the trip and no summit is involved, start from wildlife and cultural travel instead of this page. If you want to know who runs the mountain programmes, the guide records list named Kilimanjaro ascents by year.