You can go to Everest Base Camp or Kilimanjaro on your own, directly with a local agency. Many people do. My tours, though, start from a different idea: a small group, accompanied by someone who has walked that route before.
How it works
The services at the destination, meaning the guides, porters, accommodation, transport and permits, are provided by a local partner agency in that country. I accompany the group for the whole tour, as group leader.
What a group leader does
In short: gives you the information you need, from their own experience of that route. What tomorrow holds, how long the day is, what to put in your daypack, where it is worth stopping, what you can eat at altitude. These are things that are hard to learn from guidebooks and easy to learn from someone who has been there.
The difference from going alone
I have seen it many times: better organisation and better conditions, both on the trail and in the lodges.
Why 6-14 people
Because beyond a certain number a group is no longer easy to manage. In a small group the pace can adapt to the people, and everyone gets the attention they need.
How I choose the local agencies
Based on the experience I have already had with them. I work with agencies I have been in the field with, and whose way of treating people I have seen, including when something does not go to plan.
If you are coming alone
Most people come alone. And most leave as friends. The long days of walking, the evenings in the common room and the moment you reach the destination together bring people closer faster than anything else.
Before departure
We do not meet for the first time at the airport. Before leaving we have online calls and a WhatsApp group. And, ideally, we do two or three hikes together in Romania, depending on everyone’s availability. It helps you test your gear and get to know the others.
The mistakes of people who go alone without experience
- They carry too much weight.
- They start too fast. They push hard in the first hours, then slow down because they are tired.
- They reach the lodge very late. And in the busy season, whoever arrives late can lose their bed.
There is nothing wrong with going alone if you have the experience. But if it is your first trek at altitude, a small group and someone who knows the way make all the difference.
