Kandoo Adventures Reviews 1,195

Another great trip with Kandoo!! Very knowledgeable guide and a well organized trip from start to finish. Always plenty of healthy meals and snacks to keep us fueled for hiking.

A well guided and supported climb of Mount Kilimanjiro, Machame Route, September 2023. Guides, Chef and Porters were all fabulous in their support. All 10 of our group made it safely to the top!

This was my first trip with Kandoo, having come across them via a quick Google search, where they seemed to offer the best value Kilimanjaro trip (compared to other companies I had already heard of i.e. G Adventures, Explore, Intrepid etc.). Trying a new company for the first time can be slightly daunting but the 'risk' absolutely paid off - the itinerary and pre-departure tips were thorough, we were met on the ground in Tanzania by local representatives every step of the way, and the trip itself was incredible. Our Kandoo mountain guides were exceptional, and the level of attention and care on the mountain from the food to the sanitary conditions to the health checks went well above my expectations. Trip of a lifetime and would definitely use Kandoo again.

What a trip! Exhausting, but amazing. Alex, our Guide, went out of his way to make our trip enjoyabe and informative. He was great. Communication from the start when I booked was very good. I was picked up on time at Cusco airport, the hotel was great - very clean, good food. All transfers were great, and the Inca Trail itself - Wow! If you're travelling solo, it's worth paying for a supplement as I would't have wanted to share a small tent with a stranger! We had 3 course meals with a great chef and amazing team. Will definitely use Kandoo again. Thanks for everything!

You can’t find a better adventure travel company than Kandoo! From the guides, to the porters, to the cooks, to the office staff, everything is top notch! I have done the Machame Kilimanjaro trek and the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, and both were absolutely incredible! They take care of everything, from the time you step off the plane to the time you leave to go back home. I felt incredibly taken care of and had a marvelous time! The guides know so much about your destination, the porters make sure that your camp has everything you need, and the FOOD! Oh my! I still don’t know how they make such incredible food on a camp stove. I will definitely book another adventure with them. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Fabulous trip with my daughter. Failed to get up Kilimanjaro in 1980 and 2007 with other adventure companies. Finally scratched the itch and both managed to summit, me aged 60 with metal hips. August and Justin were the finest guides I can ever recall in decades of travelling and probably would have carried me up there themselves if needed . The team of porters and cook were as professional, exemplary and kind

Kandoo were excellent from start to finish. The UK team were informative, patient and responsive with a big helping of enthusiasm!

Our trip guides were brilliant, Meshack and Aman, made us feel secure and safe, were very friendly and helped us in every respect. They provided guidance on all aspects for every part of our trip and we are sure that's what helped us get to the top!

The food was amazing. Our chef Reggie was a wizard in the kitchen and the quantity of food always exceeded what you could eat, but along with excellent quality and great variety, even providing a celebratory sponge cake after summiting!! He was a lovely easing going guy with no doubt a few helpers, but his food was hotel quality, and at that height.

The whole team were very friendly and gave us the view of having a real team spirit. The porters are super athletes, quite literally, and our tent, loo and waiter porters were excellent. Richard, our waiter was always making us laugh and was always on the ball and attentive to what we needed.

We would highly recommend Kandoo and would have no hesitation in travelling with them again.

We had the best Tanzania experience possible with the help of the Kandoo team. The booking staff in the UK dealt with our constant (covid) changes and allowed us delay (3 years!) until it was possible for all climbers to join. They also answered a ton of questions.
I was delayed in my arrival to JRO and without my bag. Highly recommend AirTags! I let the Moshi team know my situation and was picked up at the airport without issue and my fears calmed by our guide that my bag once it arrived would be brought to me on the mountain. I had it by the second day and was so thankful for their hard work to get it to me. While on the mountain, we all ate very well, were well cared for and looked after. Our guides Filbert & Edward kept a record on how we were feeling, hydrating, and sleeping. Their expert advice ensured we would all successfully summit.
Freddie, our camp manager, scouted out the best camp sites and made sure everything was ready upon our arrival. He went out of his way to keep trail dust/dirt out of our sleeping tents by cleaning off our gaiters & boots before we entered.
Our waiter Emmanuel worked hard to ensure we had everything we needed for our meals, daily snacks and hydration. He gave us hot water for our nightly Nalgenes to slip in our sleeping bags and helped add to our Swahili vocab. Anton Nikus, our camp chef provided the most nutritious meals that were not only healthy but delicious. Plus a summit cake!! We all had zero problem maintaining our appetite despite the altitude. All the porters were very helpful, friendly and would go out of their way to help you. I know we would not have been so successful without the Kandoo team.

Our follow-on safari with tour guide Jimmy, was fantastic. He pointed out the different animals on the game drives and provided details about each park. He also provided us with delicious lunches. Although I’m sure certain animal sightings are luck, Jimmy seemed to know just where to look. I can’t recommend Kandoo Adventures enough and will definitely use them when traveling to Peru.

Climbed Kilimanjaro from the 25th and summited on the 31st August.

We did a fair amount of research searching for a provider and Kandoo exceeded high expectations.

Our guides Raymond and Godfrey were both exceptional, well informed, welcoming and good fun.

How our cook Coleman was able to provide 3 excellent, tasty, plentiful and nutritious meals each day, at increasing altitude remains a mystery to the group (he catered for one vegetarian in the team also).

The sleeping bags we hired were fit for purpose and provided excellent warmth on those cold nights.

One of our fellow travellers had used Kandoo 2x previously and I will certainly be using them again.

A terrific experience.

Kandoo is First-Rate! Our Kilimanjaro trek and safari planning began in early 2019 with a June 2020 anticipated date...ffwd to August 2023. The whole team made the experience one to remember. All the UK-based folks kept us updated and informed; the entire Tanzania-based team took care of us like family. From Filbert our Lead Guide (and Edward the Asst. Guide) who kept us on track (literally) and introduced us to "adventure chairs" IYKYK; to Freddie our camp manager who always found the best camping spots and made sure we went in to our tents with clean boots; to Emmanuel our waiter with whom we loved playing the 'guess the soup' game; to Nicas our cook who managed to bake us a cake to celebrate all of our group summitting. I don't believe we would have made it without all of them and the porters looking after us. After summitting, two of us went for a 3-day safari, and again it would not have been as enjoyable or successful were it not for Jimmy our guide. On the last day, in the last park, near the end we still hadn't seen a lion (simba) up close. Jimmy's spider-senses started tingling and he pulled a U-turn on the vehicle trail and retraced our steps. Sure enough within a minute or two we sighted a single female lion. He turned off the engine and we watched in silent amazement as she coolly walked over to our vehicle, laid down within 10 feet of it, gave a big ol yawn, then got up and walked away. This particular trip was once-in-a-lifetime, but when my adventure friends and I are looking for the next place to explore, Kandoo will be the first company we think of to help us get there.

From the moment we booked with Kandoo the customer service has been amazing. We climbed Kilimanjaro and had a 3 day Safari afterwards and it was all amazing. The staff have all been brilliant particularly Joan and Shelley on the phones. The guides and porters went above an beyond to keep us comfortable and get us up to summit (all 4 of our group made it). Our lead guide August was amazing, super helpful and supportive. Our camp manager Crispin was great and helped keep our morale up. Marini our waiter was always happy and cheerful, full of jokes! August the chef cooked up amazing meals, especially considering we were half way up a mountain!

Overall everything was top notch, highly recommend Kandoo.

We're even thinking about booking Machu Pichu next with them!

There are hundreds of companies you could climb Kilimanjaro with - but I’m SO GLAD we picked Kandoo (actually my husband did!)

PRICE: They offered us to pay in installments which is so incredibly helpful for trips that expensive.
They also gave us guidelines on how to tip and when so it was made easy for us.

SERVICE: we decided to climb Kilimanjaro for our honeymoon. We did mention this to them, and the company made sure all the hotels we stayed at knew about it. Some did towel arts, others offered us a private dinner with a show, every gesture went straight to our hearts!

FOOD: the food we had on the mountain was more delicious than our picnic food during the safari - can you believe it? Our chef August was fantastic. We never ate the same meal twice. He baked us a cake to say congratulations for summitting. When I told him crêpes are my favorite food, he made them every morning (including summit morning) to please me. He really went above and beyond, always with a smile.

THE CLIMB: our lead guide was called August, our assistant guide Godfrid. They were both incredibly friendly and knowledgeable. On the mountain they would stop randomly to tell us about endemic plants of Kilimanjaro, good spots for pictures, we talked about history, politics, music and so on. On the summit day, they even sang to distract us, they looked after us, carrying our bags, feeding us, taking pictures on our behalf so we would struggle less. Our campsite manager, Crispin, cleaned our shoes and dusted off our trousers every day. On the first day I stained my trousers with chicken juice and he cleaned it for me before we arrived at the next camp. The private toilets were also a life saver, super clean and handy to not have to walk for a few minutes at night to go to some stinky place. Extra added luxury!

THE PORTERS: we were told that Kandoo adheres to Keep Up which is a local NGO that ensures a more fair treatment of porters on the mountain. Giving them enough food, limiting the weight they can carry, avoiding corruption and mistreatment. This was important to us and we could see our porters being always cheerful on the climb, unlike other groups where they looked a lot more struggling.

THE SAFARI: our guide Toni was very knowledgeable, and told us about the pitfalls of the parks’ marketing (there was only 16 rhinos in Ngorogoro crater so the chances of seeing one are slim). He knew all sorts of plants, animal fun facts and all, we felt in good hands. The car had WiFi which was an extra bonus and it was spacious.

Overall our trip with Kandoo has been incredible, they went above and beyond at every step of the way, and I’d definitely travel again with them if I can. Having met with other climbers, I know we did not all have this 5-star treatment!!

First trip with kandoo, Kilimanjaro and safari!
The entire experience exceeded our expectations, wonderful staff and service every step of the way!
The sleeping bags you can hire are amazing, 100% recommend! We heard lots of people in other groups complaining they were always cold at night! Not us!

Can’t wait for the next trip with kandoo!

This is now my second trip with Kandoo Adventures and once again they've exceeded my expectations. From our guide, Simon Puma, to the Chef, Carmelo, to our Porter crew everyone was outstanding. Simon supported, cheered, cajoled & entertained us. He was the kindest paparazzi you've ever met (amazing photos). Simon's knowledge of the trail, history, archaeology, flora, and fauna was outstanding. Not only was he a great guide but he was a great host. Carmelo must be a magician because the tasty food that he created on the trail is worthy of a 5-star chef. Our porters, there are no words for their ability. Not only did they carry all the necessary gear but they beat us to the sites every day, set it up, and always greeted us with a smile. Imagine, cheering for us when they did all the hard work!!!! I highly recommend Simon, Carmelo, Raul, Sebastian, and the whole crew. Kind, caring, and very professional.

I did two trips with kandoo .. Kilimanjaro and machu pichu.. I am extremely happy with them .. guide , food , accommodation everything is excellent Will highly recommended them and certainly looking forward to more trip with them

Highly recommend Kandoo 110%!
We did the 8 day Lemosho route - with our Lead Guide, Robert and additional guides, Edward, Ladi and Kelvin.
Each one of these amazing guides were critical in my success of reaching the summit - from daily health checks, to offering to carry my day pack on several different days, to letting me know it was ok to go more pole pole than the rest of the group, to cheering me on and giving continued encouragement - even when I felt like I could could not go on, to singing songs to us to keep our spirits up. to getting to know each of us on a personal level and spending individual time with each of us - on the trails, and in the camps - they all made us feel very safe, very comfortable and for me, made me believe in myself. Summit night - Ladi was my hero - he stayed with me the entire accent and decent - kept encouraging me and letting me know how great I was doing. He sang to me - which kept my spirits up, he made sure I took breaks and also enjoyed the scenery, rather than just looking at the ground as we were walking, he fed me a snickers bar to give me energy and shared a Coke with me, also made sure I was drinking my water. I believe he went above & beyond for me - and I will forever be so thankful and grateful for his support, guidance and friendship.
I have to give a shout out to all the porters too - they were awesome! I was just in awe at the role they played in our trek - From the gear they broke down each day, carried (ON THEIR HEADS), beat us to the next camp, and had everything set up before we got there.. WOW! and then when we arrived, we were always greeted with warm smiles and high fives.. and someone always came and brushed/dusted our boots off. A personal shout out to Dowdi - he not only broke down camp each morning, carried gear, helped get the next camp set up - he would then back track on the trail to come find us and then offer to carry someones day pack the rest of the way. He did this every day of our trek!
Our chef - Mambo - WOW!! He far exceeded our expectations of what we would eat on the mountain!
I told my daughters, this was a one and done trip - but because of our amazing guides, chef and porters, I will definitely do this trek again - and most definitely with Kandoo.

We have just done a 6 day trek and climbed Mount Toubkal and had 2 vibrant days in Marrakech. It was my first trip organised by a travel company and I thought Kandoo were excellent. The admin team in the UK were brilliant setting up the trip and reminding us of all the things that needed doing. The itinerary for our trip was great, trekking through fantastic Berber countryside and heading over a few cols to get us used to the altitude for the summit day. The team on the trek with us were great and really looked after us. A fab cultural and mountain experience. Loved it.

We climbed Mt Kilimanjaro in July - we chose Kandoo - and from the outset, they were really helpful, from correspondence with the office in UK - they quickly answered all of our queries, gave advice and booked and arranged any additional requests we made.
Once we arrived in Moshi, from the start we felt supported, Kandoo representatives organised a walking tour in Moshi, the accommodation was suitable for what we needed before and at the end of our trek.
Our guides (lead guide Abraham - and the three other guides, Innocence, Joffrey and James) were all amazing, we felt very safe in their hands, and I am certain that I would not have made it up to the top on summit night without their moral and physical support. They were encouraging and supportive for the whole trip. The rest of our support team consisting of porters, cooks, porters with responsibility for tents and (toilets) such as Lukas were amazing, James our cook provided delicious meals that could have graced any restaurant - and one of the highlights of meal time was Nelson bringing the food to us, there was always time for laughter, no matter how tired we were. I can't thank them enough for the whole experience.

We also went on Safari - and wow, this was amazing. Our Guide Dhily was really knowledgeable, and he seemed to know exactly where to go to help us see the wildlife. He was extremely friendly and helpful and went above and beyond to make sure we had a great experience. The highlight was seeing a Leopard really close, and also a cheetah in full sprint. The accommodation booked was great, particularly the tented camp. The morning view was a giraffe right outside our tent! All in all, an amazing trip - made all the more memorable by the people who helped us each step of the way.

Had a fantastic trip to climb Mount Toubkal in Morocco with Kandoo Adventures. Logistics all sorted efficiently. Staff very friendly and helpful. Food absolutely excellent. Fresh salads and fruits every day and all carried on the mules. Amazing.

I cannot praise Kandoo highly enough, from the first phone call all of my questions were answered by Shelley who has first hand experience of the mountain which I found very useful
From day 1 in Moshi when we met our guides { Robert ladi Edward Kelvin } you could tell you were in good hands they were funny knowledgeable and very experienced in the way they briefed us daily and kept spirits high throughout.
The food was amazing and just kept coming so thank you to{ marine and Mamba } for keeping us topped up and strong.
Between Kandoos team the porters and the travelling companions i had the pleasure of spending 8 days with it made my experience one big fun filled adventure which i absolutely loved .
Thank you all
Terry Isle of Wight