The money terms, written plainly and in one place
What you pay, when you pay it, how, what happens if plans change, and what is and is not included in the price you were quoted.
We would rather you read this before you book than discover it afterwards.
Kilimanjaro and safari bookings commit us to costs long before you arrive. Park permits are paid to the authority in advance and are not refundable to us. Camps, vehicles, crew and lodges are reserved in your name. That is why deposits are non-refundable and why cancellation charges increase as your departure approaches.
Everything on this page applies to every booking unless your written confirmation says otherwise. Where a lodge or a special-interest supplier imposes stricter terms than ours, we tell you at the time of quoting and those terms are stated on your invoice.
- 30% deposit to confirm, non-refundable
- Balance due 45 days before arrival
- Bookings inside 45 days are payable in full
- Prices are quoted and payable in US dollars
- Bank transfer preferred; card payments carry a processing fee
- Comprehensive travel insurance is a condition of travel
- One free date change, more than 60 days out
- Nothing is confirmed until you receive written confirmation from us
Deposit, balance and confirmation
A booking becomes a booking when the deposit clears and we send written confirmation. Until that point, dates, routes and lodges are held provisionally and can be lost to another party.
Provisional hold
—
On request
We hold dates and lodge space for up to 7 days at no charge while you decide.
Deposit
30%
To confirm the booking
Park permits, crew, camp equipment, vehicles and accommodation are booked in your name. Non-refundable.
Final balance
70%
45 days before arrival
All remaining services. We issue a reminder 60 days out and again at 50 days.
Late bookings
100%
At the time of booking
Any booking made within 45 days of arrival is payable in full to confirm.
Peak-season lodges
Varies
Stated on your invoice
A small number of lodges require full prepayment or earlier deadlines over Christmas, New Year and Easter.
We chase before we cancel. If the balance is unpaid 30 days before arrival and we have had no reply, we reserve the right to treat the booking as cancelled by you and to apply the cancellation charges below. In practice a message explaining the delay solves it.
For groups of eight or more we agree a payment schedule in writing at the time of quoting, usually a 20% deposit followed by two instalments. One named lead traveller is responsible for coordinating payment on the group’s behalf.
On confirmation: a dated invoice, your day-by-day itinerary, accommodation list, packing list, rental order form, arrival instructions and our emergency contact numbers. On final payment: a paid receipt and your permit details.
Accepted methods and the fees that come with them
All prices are quoted in United States dollars and are payable in US dollars. We do not add a margin to currency conversion; where a fee exists it is the one the bank or processor charges us.
International bank transfer
No fee from us
2–5 working days
Our preferred method. Your bank may charge a sending fee and intermediary banks sometimes deduct a handling charge. Please send the full invoice amount net of those, or add them to the transfer.
Credit or debit card
3.5%
Immediate
Visa and Mastercard through a secure payment link. The processing fee is passed on at cost and shown on the invoice before you pay.
Cash, US dollars
No fee
Immediate
Accepted at our Moshi office against a receipt. Notes must be series 2009 or newer, unmarked and untorn, as Tanzanian banks refuse older notes.
Cash, Tanzanian shillings
No fee
Immediate
Accepted at the prevailing bank rate on the day of payment.
Mobile money
Operator fee
Immediate
Available for small in-country balances such as gear rental and tips, not for main invoice payments.
Quote your invoice number as the payment reference and send us the transfer confirmation by email. Unreferenced payments can take several days to identify, which matters when a balance deadline is close.
Our banking details appear only on your invoice. We will never send you new bank details by message or ask you to redirect a payment. If you receive such a request, telephone our office before acting on it.
Even with the trip paid in full, bring some cash for crew tips, gear rental, drinks, souvenirs and your visa if it is payable on arrival. Small denominations are far more useful than hundred-dollar notes.
ATMs in Moshi dispense Tanzanian shillings and are generally reliable, though daily withdrawal limits are modest. Card acceptance is good at hotels and patchy elsewhere.
Included and excluded
Your written itinerary is the definitive list for your specific trip. The following is what a standard Kilimanjaro climb includes and excludes.
In every climb price
- All Kilimanjaro National Park entry, camping and rescue fees
- Government taxes and VAT
- Professional lead guide and assistant guides
- Cook, kitchen crew and porters
- All crew wages, park fees and insurance
- Return transfers between Moshi and the park gates
- Two nights' hotel accommodation in Moshi, before and after the climb, with breakfast
- Three cooked meals daily on the mountain, plus snacks and hot drinks
- Purified drinking water throughout
- Sleeping tent, foam mattress, dining tent, table, chairs and private toilet tent
- Pulse oximeter monitoring, first aid kit, emergency oxygen and stretcher
- Pre-climb briefing and gear check
- Summit certificate
Payable by you
- International flights
- Tanzanian visa
- Travel insurance, which is compulsory
- Crew tips, for which we give written guidance below
- Personal trekking equipment and clothing
- Equipment rental in Moshi
- Lunches and dinners in Moshi outside the climb
- Drinks, laundry, telephone and hotel extras
- Personal medication and vaccinations
- Extra hotel nights, early check-in and late check-out
- Portable toilet upgrades, private groups or single tents beyond the standard arrangement
- Helicopter evacuation and medical treatment, which are claimed on your insurance
- Anything not explicitly listed in your written itinerary
Charges depend on how much notice we have
Cancellations must be sent to us in writing by email. The charge is calculated from the date we receive that email, applied to the total trip cost, and includes the non-refundable deposit.
More than 90 days
30% of trip cost
Everything paid above the deposit.
90 to 61 days
40% of trip cost
The balance above 40%.
60 to 31 days
60% of trip cost
The balance above 60%.
30 to 15 days
80% of trip cost
The balance above 80%.
14 days or fewer
100% of trip cost
Nothing.
No show, or departure abandoned after it starts
100% of trip cost
Nothing.
Park permits are bought in advance and are not returned to us. Crew are contracted and turn down other work. Lodges apply their own cancellation terms which tighten close to arrival. By fourteen days out, almost the entire cost of your trip has already been committed.
Cancellation charges are usually recoverable under the cancellation and curtailment section of a comprehensive travel policy, where the reason is one your insurer covers. We provide a dated invoice, a cancellation statement and any supporting documentation you need for the claim.
If one member of a group withdraws, the charges above apply to that person’s share. Remaining travellers may also face a revised per-person price where the group falls below the size the quote was based on. We recalculate and show you the difference before anything is charged.
Postponement is usually better than cancellation
If your plans move rather than collapse, tell us early and we will almost always find a way to carry your money forward.
More than 60 days before arrival
One free date change to any departure within twelve months. You pay only the difference if the new dates fall in a higher-priced season or if park fees have increased.
60 to 31 days before arrival
A change fee of 150 US dollars per person applies, plus any unrecoverable costs already incurred with lodges or the park authority, plus any seasonal price difference.
30 days or fewer
Treated as a cancellation and rebooking under the scale above. We will still try, and where a lodge or the park allows a transfer we pass that flexibility on in full.
Other changes
Route changes, adding days, adding a safari or Zanzibar, upgrading accommodation and adding travellers are all normally possible without a change fee, subject to availability. We simply reissue the invoice.
Rare, and here is what happens
We do not cancel confirmed departures for commercial reasons, and we do not require a minimum group size for private climbs. If we cancel for a reason within our control, you may choose a full refund of everything paid to us, or a transfer to alternative dates with any price difference waived.
Circumstances beyond our control
Where a trip cannot proceed because of events outside anyone’s control, including park or route closure, extreme weather, natural disaster, epidemic, civil unrest, government restriction or airline failure, we will offer alternative dates or an alternative route of equivalent value.
In those circumstances we refund what we are able to recover from the park authority, lodges and other suppliers, less costs already incurred. We are not able to refund money we cannot get back, and we do not profit from a cancelled trip. Costs of this kind are exactly what the cancellation section of your travel insurance exists for.
Changes on the ground
Occasionally a camp, lodge or route section becomes unusable at short notice. We substitute the nearest equivalent at no extra cost to you and tell you as soon as we know.
How and when money comes back
Approved refunds are paid by the same method you used to pay, to the same account, within fourteen working days of us confirming the amount in writing. Bank charges on the return transfer are deducted from the refund.
Services you do not use
There is no refund for any part of the trip you choose not to use or are unable to use once it has begun. This includes descending early, deciding not to attempt the summit, leaving a safari early, unused hotel nights, unused meals and missed transfers.
This is not us being severe. A climb’s costs are almost entirely fixed at the gate: permits are per climber for the full number of days, and the crew is hired for the whole itinerary whether you walk it or not.
Early descent for medical reasons
If you descend early on medical advice, we arrange your transfer to Moshi and your hotel and we do not charge you for the arrangement. The unused mountain days themselves are not refundable, and the additional hotel nights are payable by you or claimable on your insurance.
Failure to summit
There is no refund or partial refund for not reaching Uhuru Peak. No operator can guarantee a summit, and any that offers to is selling you something it does not control. What we guarantee is a properly paced itinerary, a professional crew and a safe descent.
Price validity
A quotation holds for thirty days from its date. Once your deposit is received, your price is fixed and we absorb ordinary cost increases.
The single exception is a change imposed by government: if Kilimanjaro National Park fees, VAT or other statutory charges increase between your booking and your arrival, we pass the increase on at cost with documentation. This is outside our control and applies to every operator. It is uncommon, and it is usually announced with several months of notice.
Single travellers
Kilimanjaro climbs are priced per person and solo climbers get a private tent at no supplement. Hotels in Moshi and safari lodges do charge a single-room supplement, which is quoted separately and clearly on your invoice.
Group size
Per-person prices fall as group size rises because fixed costs are shared. If your group shrinks after booking, the per-person price is recalculated at the tier that then applies and we show you the working. If it grows, the price falls and we reissue the invoice in your favour.
Children and young climbers
The park’s minimum age for Kilimanjaro is ten. Reduced park fees apply to climbers under sixteen and are reflected in the quote. Safari lodges have their own child rates and policies which we confirm in writing.
Complaints
Raise anything with your guide or our office while you are still in Tanzania, when we can usually fix it. If something remains unresolved, write to us within twenty-eight days of returning home and you will get a considered reply from a director, not a template.
Not a fee, and not optional in practice
Tips are not included in the trip price and are not paid to Africamaze. They are given directly to your crew on the last morning, and they form a meaningful part of the income of guides, cooks and porters. Everyone expects them and everyone appreciates them.
We pay our crew above the industry minimum and we adhere to porter load and wage standards, which you can read about on our porter pay page. Tips sit on top of that, not instead of it.
Customary amounts, per climbing group per day
- Lead guide: 20–25 USD
- Assistant guide: 15–20 USD
- Cook: 12–15 USD
- Porter: 8–10 USD each
As a rule of thumb, budget between 250 and 350 US dollars per climber for a seven or eight day climb in a small group. Two climbers sharing a crew tip more each than a group of six.
Practicalities
- Bring cash in small US dollar notes, or Tanzanian shillings
- Your guide will explain the crew list and the customary split at the briefing
- Tips are usually given at a short ceremony at the last camp or at the gate
- Amounts are entirely at your discretion, and nobody will pressure you
We cannot take you up the mountain without it
Your policy must be in place before you travel and must cover trekking to at least 6,000 metres by name. Many standard policies do not.
Trekking to 6,000 m, stated explicitly
Emergency medical and hospital treatment
Helicopter search, rescue and evacuation
Repatriation
Cancellation and curtailment
Baggage and personal equipment
Send us your policy number and your insurer’s twenty-four hour assistance line before your climb. We keep both at our Moshi office for the duration and our office is the point of contact if a claim needs to start while you are on the mountain.
Booking and payment questions
How much deposit do you need to confirm a booking?
Thirty per cent of the total trip cost. It is non-refundable because we use it immediately to secure park permits, crew and accommodation in your name.
When is the balance due?
Forty-five days before your arrival date. We send a reminder at sixty days and again at fifty. Bookings made inside forty-five days are payable in full at the time of booking.
Is the deposit ever refundable?
No. It is spent on your behalf as soon as it clears. It is, however, usually claimable under the cancellation section of a comprehensive travel insurance policy, and we provide the documentation for that claim.
Can I pay by credit card?
Yes, by secure payment link, with a 3.5% processing fee passed on at cost and shown before you pay. Bank transfer avoids the fee and is our preferred method.
What currency do you work in?
United States dollars, for quoting and for payment. We accept Tanzanian shillings in cash at the prevailing bank rate on the day.
Why won't you accept older dollar notes?
Tanzanian banks routinely refuse US notes printed before 2009, and notes that are torn, marked or heavily worn. It is a local banking rule rather than our preference, and it applies across the country.
Can I change my dates after booking?
One free change if you tell us more than sixty days before arrival, moving to any departure within twelve months. Between sixty and thirty-one days there is a 150 US dollar per person fee plus unrecoverable supplier costs. Inside thirty days it is treated as a cancellation.
What if I cancel because of illness?
Our cancellation scale applies regardless of the reason, because our costs are the same either way. Illness with a doctor’s certificate is one of the most commonly accepted grounds for a travel insurance cancellation claim, and we supply everything your insurer asks for.
Do I get a refund if I don't reach the summit?
No. The cost of a climb is committed at the gate: permits are per climber for the full itinerary and the crew is engaged for the whole week regardless of how high you go.
What if I have to descend early?
We arrange your descent, transfer and hotel at no charge for the arrangement itself. Unused mountain days are not refundable and additional hotel nights are payable by you, or claimable on your insurance.
Do you require a minimum group size?
No. Private climbs run for a single climber, and we do not cancel or merge confirmed departures. Per-person prices are lower in larger groups because fixed costs are shared.
Is travel insurance really compulsory?
Yes. It is a condition of travelling with us and we ask for your policy number before the climb. The requirement exists because helicopter evacuation and hospital treatment at altitude are expensive and are not covered by the price of your trip.
How much should I budget for tips?
Between 250 and 350 US dollars per climber for a seven or eight day climb in a small group. Your guide explains the crew list and the customary split at your briefing.
Could the price change after I book?
Only if the government raises park fees or taxes between your booking and your arrival, in which case we pass the increase on at cost with documentation. Everything else is fixed once your deposit is received.
Do you charge a single supplement?
Not on the mountain, where solo climbers get a private tent at no extra cost. Hotels in Moshi and safari lodges do apply single-room supplements, quoted separately on your invoice.
How do I know a payment request is genuinely from you?
Our banking details appear only on your invoice and they do not change. We will never message you new account details or ask you to redirect a payment. If you receive such a request, telephone our Moshi office before doing anything.
If any of this is unclear, ask us and we will put the answer in writing
We would far rather explain a clause now than argue about it later. Write to us with your question and you will get a plain answer from someone in the Moshi office who can also amend your invoice if needed.
Also worth reading
- Prices and departures, for what a climb actually costs
- Altitude and safety, for the insurance and evacuation detail
- Licence and insurance, for our own registrations and cover
- Porter pay and load limits, for where the money goes
A real office, a real licence, and terms you can read in five minutes.
We are a Tanzanian company licensed by the Tourism Agents Licensing Authority, based in Moshi, and you can come and sit in our office.