If all you're looking for is a cheap price, then you should book with a volume-based outfit. But if you want a spectacular experience with expert guides whose key focus is your safety all the way to the summit, and to expose you to the habitat on Kilimanjaro, then Tusker's your sure bet.

EDDIE FRANK, Tusker Trail's founder, was born and raised in Africa, and has climbed Kilimanjaro 46 times over the past 37 years. He knows Kilimanjaro exceedingly well. Since his first climb in 1977, he has built Tusker Trail's reputation as the most experienced and qualified trekking company on Kilimanjaro.

Eddie believes that the only way a company can stay on top is to stay in touch. Too many adventure company owners have turned into corporate execs, and have lost touch with what got them there in the first place - their boots on the ground.

Eddie and his well-worn boots lead five charity fundraising climbs each year. By leading these trips, Eddie stays in touch with Tusker's clients, its guides and the community where we climb. Only by continuing to lead Kilimanjaro climbs, can Eddie keep informed on local conditions and continue to innovate better ways to run our trips.

In addition to our guides' expert medical training, we also put them through an annual 5-day Flora & Fauna course focusing on the five unique vegetation zones on Kilimanjaro. This education, along with their medical training qualifies them as the finest guides on Kilimanjaro.

Read more on Tusker's Guide Training Program

Since his first climb in 1977, Eddie has been innovating ways to climb Kilimanjaro more safely. Our summit success rate is 98%. Compared to the average of 40% for the National Park average, it speaks for itself. Eddie has succeeded in building Tusker's 18 guides into the finest medically qualified team on the mountain and our safety record is impeccable.

Tusker Trail was the first company to establish a Definitive Medical Training Course for our guides. Since then, some of our competitors have realized the value of medical training, and advertise that their guides are medically trained. However, if you dig deep, you'll find that none of this training measures up to Tusker's standards of DEFINITIVE MEDICAL TRAINING. We have found that simple FIRST AID is not enough.

With our smaller groups our climber-to-guide ratio is 2-to-1, and with larger groups the ratio of climbers-to-guides is 5-1.

Eddie has designed an intensive 8-day course that trains and certifies the Tusker guides in mountain medicine, emergencies and high altitude rescue. Only Tusker guides are permitted to take the course, and each of them must pass this course annually as a precondition for their ongoing employment. Each guide is certified as a HAFR (High Altitude First Responder). This is the only medical certification course specifically designed for guides on Kilimanjaro.