General Information

Our walking and trekking trips typically include 5 - 8 hours walking per day over unmade, occasionally rough paths.  On our Mt Meru, Mt Kenya and Kilimanjaro trips there are typical height gains of between 500 - 900 metres per day, but on the walking trips, less.  This may sound a lot but realistically is no more than climbing one of the UK's bigger hills of around 1000 metres.  Trekking at altitude requires you to gain height gradually, so we do not walk fast at all with the guides ensuring we walk 'pole pole' ('slowly slowly' in swahili) - if you did get out of breath, it would probably be due to the thinner air!

You do not have to have super-fitness to take part in any of our trips.  However, it is much better to have a reasonable level of fitness for Kilimanjaro, Mt Kenya or Mt Meru, as you will enjoy your trip a lot more and have the best chance of summit success.

Nevertheless, to use the trip as an excuse and goal to get fit is brilliant, and if you are really keen and wish to specifically train to a high level of fitness for Kilimanjaro, then great! Cycling is an excellent way of training without the risk of impact damage and will tone up and strengthen leg muscles ready for the trip, as too will running if you are used to this 'impact' exercise.  All the muscles in your legs are important but the main area to benefit from some specific training is the thigh (quadriceps) muscles, and specific leg strengthening exercises can be done in gyms, on stairs and local hills.  These are used greatly in descent; coming off the summits of the big mountains usually has a short distance that is slightly steeper so puts more strain on them.

You do not have to do serious amounts of training to enjoy our trips and reach the summits of East African mountains, people successfully climb them having done little or no training - there is no technical climbing, and gradients are rarely steep on the routes.  The pace is very slow so it is not particularly taxing, and just going for a few walks of 2-3 hours length can be enough for some people, and if for nothing else but to ensure your equipment and clothing is up to it, worn in and you are familiar with it.  If you are not used to walking in the dark with a head torch, it is worth doing this a couple of times before the trip.  Just an hour's walk is enough to experience this and be more used to it for the summit night but if you do this, stay in areas you know well!

We recommend you do some training (which does not need to be extreme) for your trip, and there is really nothing better than going out for some walks during the three months before your trip, preferably in the hills.  This is exactly what the trip involves so is the best and most appropriate training.  Ascending and descending throughout the walks will work your legs perfectly and improve your aerobic fitness - often hill walking in the UK can be more demanding than an average day on one of our trips.

Start your training gradually with slow and gentle walks, with proper rest and recovery time between walks, and progressively increase the length of your walks and the amount of time spent on your feet.  With 4 - 6 weeks to go, it would be good to be up to walks of 4 - 6 hours each.  For the long summit day, when walking at high altitude is slower, reasonable fitness and determination are needed.  To better prepare, it would be good to include around 2 - 4 weeks beforehand, a couple of longer hill walks of 8 - 10 hours, especially if you can also find some scree to practice walking on.  With two weeks to go, ease back on training to very gentle walks to allow muscle recovery and to remove any risk of injury through last-minute training. 

The use of walking poles is a personal choice and mentioned in the equipment page.  Used properly, poles can make the walking easier as your arms will take some of the weight off your legs and feet as you walk, which also helps if you suffer from any knee problems.  If you have concerns about your legs, then take any supports you think you may require, and just Contact Us if you want to talk through your concerns.