Adventure Alternative Reviews

I only have good things to say about Adventure Alternative. Gavin, the owner, is very knowledgable and gets personally involved in the trips they’re selling. It’s a caring company — they care about their clients, their staff, and the communities in which they operate. The trek I went on was the best trip I’ve ever made. I could’ve been pushed further, but am happy they took it relatively easy on this as one of my earlier treks. Nice to see I’ve got more to give for future treks/climbs. The guides and porters were excellent, all from the same area, and so knew each other and Gavin. They were knowledgable, fast, strong and trustworthy. I will not hesitate to use Adventure Alternative again. They are good guys (and girls) and that is vital to me, and very personable. Encountered some other trekking companies, but they seemed really militant in comparison. Adventure Alternative is highly professional, but also relaxed and good humoured. When we finished our trek we were happy and relaxed, whereas participants from the other company seemed stressed and almost destroyed. I know which company I’d rather go with. Gavin has also set up a charity called Moving Mountains, helping the communities in which he operates. Now that’s really impressive and good hearted in my eyes. Just one more reason why I’d choose Adventure Alternative for any adventures I might go on.Will definitely use Adventure Alternative in the near future again.

If you’re wanting to climb Kilimanjaro – look no further than Adventure Alternative!

We wanted to say a huge thank you to Adventure Alternative for helping us with the lead up to the trip, Gavin & Chris were so helpful, assisting us with navigating Covid and providing us with all the information necessary to prepare for the climb itself.

But we really wanted to pass on a huge thanks for having such an amazing team here in Tanzania. Castro and Richard have been a fantastic ground team. But the guides and porters that we were so blessed to have met and had the luck to climb kili with are without a doubt amazing!! Without them we would have not been able to make it up to the summit, we grew so fond of team and the amount of care and attention that was given to us was indescribable.

The team really went above and beyond for us and wanted to credit them for their hard work! Romli, Lipiman, Commander, Fraterin, Kichwamoto, Edward, Ndekx, Emanuele, Heaven and Aron were half the reason why we loved Kilimanjaro so much and will hold a soft spot for us always.

Thank you to everyone who made our experience so amazing and thank you to the amazing crew at Adventure Alternative!!

Hi Andy, Gilbert and the Kenya team,

Gilbert has just dropped us off at Wilson’s and I wanted to write immediately to say thank you all for making our trip to Mt Kenya and Embu very memorable. We had a fantastic time on Mt Kenya. Cyrus was a wonderfully supportive guide – we have a new nickname for good time keeping in our family, namely ‘Cyrus time’, which means on the dot, or possibly 5 minutes earlier than agreed. His attention to detail in organising all the logistics for us here has been excellent. He didn’t bat an eyelid at my rather crazy idea of doing the climb with a 10 year old (Jessica) and it was his commitment to the whole team (us, cooks, porters) that ensured the entire family got to the top for sunrise. The cooking team, notably Paul, were also great, producing wonderful vegetarian food for us at every meal, having tea and popcorn ready for arrivals. We also enjoyed hearing Jackson’s stories of skiing off the top in the days when the glacier was rather larger. He was also a great support on summit and descent day, helping Jessica smash her PB for kilometers walked in a day to make it all the way to Meru Bandas for a hot shower! My legs have yet to totally recover from the last day (!), but Gilbert and his family’s hospitality in Embu aided our speedy recovery and really enriched our time here, though I have to admit it has been pretty intense for my kids! It is all very well to see life in slums on TV but a whole other thing to see it in real life. We couldn’t bring the Black Cats a winning streak but it was great to see them in action. Finally thank you for making all the logistics work for us, it has been seamless. I have one item to add to your excellent kit list, namely some of those teabag type hand and feet warmers for summit morning, and possibly a hot water bottle for the cold nights! (Though Cyrus’ adventure alternative plastic bottle was an excellent hot water bottle!) So, thank you again for giving us a memorable time here in Kenya; I have already recommended you to a friend, and Rosie (aged 12) is planning her return as a volunteer…! Alice, Luke, Max, Rosie and Jessica

Hi Andy, I have arrived back in Adelaide after a great African visit/holiday etc.

Firstly, I want to express my appreciation and thanks to all those who helped me get to the top of Mt Kenya and down safely. It was a fabulous trek and reasonably challenging for me but Cyrus was great and walked slowly with me all the way. He was well supported by the other members of the support team – Jackson, Daniel and chef Agostino. They fed me very well and I take my hat off to them for their encouragement and support.

Secondly, after visiting the Embu rescue centre with Gilbert, I have offered to support the Moving Mountains project by way of providing some financial support so that Gilbert can get some of the younger lads onto the soccer/football field. I will do that directly through the Moving Mountains website in the next day or two.

Thirdly, I thank Kelly for getting my to and fro from Nairobi. We had a few problems getting stuck in mud on the way out of Embu but we made it to the airport in time so hats off to Kelly also. Thank you again for a very memorable and rewarding trek. Regards John

We are just back from an amazing trip to Upper Mustang . This is our third trek with Adventure Alternative and it didn’t disappoint. Our guide Jangbu was fantastic, he was everything you need. Excellent English, informative about Mustang , extremely Organised, quietly being the scenes checking flights,hotels ,tea houses etc ,tweeking the trip to our needs, and also very easy company and good fun. Our Porter Bikash was the loveliest young man,he started the day with a smile and that’s the way he ended it …. and so so helpful. There are so many memories of this trip but I think the highlight for us was Lomantagne and then riding up to the monastery and climbing into the caves. We would strongly recommend this adventure to anyone who wants a taste of Tibetan couture .

Just a wee note to say thanks for getting my “missing bag” up the mountain for me. What initially from my perspective looked like a disaster at the start of my trek turned out to be the most fantastic 3 wks I have ever spent anywhere so far. The whole trek just blew my mind away, from the culture, scenery and mostly the people, esp the sherpa’s & porters used by adv alt. I dont think I could praise enough the likes of Pasang, Jangbu & Geljun who looked after us at times above & beyond the call of duty.  Please pass on my sentiments to all of the crew out there.

I have just returned from Everest Base Camp with two friends. I just wanted to say that we all had a fantastic time – it was truly an amazing journey and a wonderful experience.  The staff that Adventure Alternative employ are second to none – happy, helpful caring and informative. We were fortunate to have Tshring and Lopsang both truly amazing guys, together with five porters , one for each of us. It’s nice to know and reassuring that the company pay above “normal wages” and that each porter carries one bag. We all saw too often how much other porters carry and for much less. It was hard enough doing the trek with our day sacks let alone having to carry around 20kg each step of the way.

Mark and I had a great time, we are very grateful to Stoyan and the Adventure Alternative team for their organisation of this trip. Mark and I got sick on the Sunday but Stoyan was able to amend the itinerary so we were able to recover all day before our last day up in the mountains. The accommodation was great throughout, it was varied and comfortable, we’re just sorry we didn’t get the night in the hostel at the edge of the lake but I couldn’t have gone up a flight of stairs that day never mind a mountain! Our driver Nikkolai was super too, very helpful and very professional. It was my sons toughest ever challenge so I was very proud of him. I would heartily recommend this trip, it’s a week-long and every day is filled with wondering views and challenges – and great food and wine! Whenever Stoyan eventually makes it over to Northern Ireland, let me know because Mark and I would love to meet up YIT (yours in travel!) Peter Jack

I wanted to send along a couple of quick notes on how much we enjoyed our trip to Kilimanjaro. Castro was an incredible logistical organizer – – he diligently checked some important points of equipment (e.g. size and type of water bottle), the attention to detail was very much the difference between summitting and being taken back to base camp early.

Our guide Romli was fantastic, fun to be around and taught us about the country and the stories of the porters, a good manager of his team and staff, and most importantly, an expert on the mountain. There wasn’t a moment where he wasn’t putting our interests first. He was very attentive – when I started to become a bit hypoxic from lack of oxygen, he quickly dropped me from the summit and made sure I slept at 3100m that night. I thoroughly appreciated his leadership in making this climb as rewarding as it was!

The team were respectful and good humoured, became like a surrogate family for our week on the mountain. We were very happy with the high quality of the materials used at the camps – especially the thick sleeping mats, and the delicious food and fruits.

I wanted to send along a couple of quick notes on how much we enjoyed our trip to Kilimanjaro. Castro was an incredible logistical organizer – – he diligently checked some important points of equipment (e.g. size and type of water bottle), the attention to detail was very much the difference between summitting and being taken back to base camp early. Our guide Romli was fantastic, fun to be around and taught us about the country and the stories of the porters, a good manager of his team and staff, and most importantly, an expert on the mountain. There wasn’t a moment where he wasn’t putting our interests first. He was very attentive – when I started to become a bit hypoxic from lack of oxygen, he quickly dropped me from the summit and made sure I slept at 3100m that night. I thoroughly appreciated his leadership in making this climb as rewarding as it was! The team were respectful and good humoured, became like a surrogate family for our week on the mountain. We were very happy with the high quality of the materials used at the camps – especially the thick sleeping mats, and the delicious food and fruits.

I’d like to express my huge gratitude for the immense opportunity you’ve given me on the Bushmills Trek. The last three months have been a roller-coaster of challenges set in unbelievable locations that I’ll be talking about for many years to come! The memories of the people that we’ve met and breathtaking sights witnessed along the way will certainly stay with me forever. I feel incredibly privileged not only to have visited Africa and the Himalayas, but also to have been invited into the homes of the local people and gain a genuine insight into their culture…….I don’t think it gets any more authentic that that! The only slight problem I’m left with now is having to decide where to go next!

Myself and 2 friends undertook a trip to Aconcagua in February 2017 with Adventure Alternative. At the time of booking there was not a trip available for the dates that we required but after talking to Gavin (director) he provided a new date that was suitable for all parties. We saw a number of other companies were providing the date we needed but it was apparent that Adventure Alternative were head and shoulders above the rest. Our trip went of without a hitch and was flawlessly organised and executed. Our guide Greg was fantastic in terms of personality and experience and was a genuine pleasure to be around, though he does need to work on his singing voice! The trip was a success with many of us summiting despite recent snow fall and no injuries reported. I would and plan to use Adventure Alternative many times in the future. I cannot recommend them highly enough.

On behalf of Derek and I, we just wanted to drop you a short note to say an incredible thank you for our trip to Nepal. It is slightly surreal being back in the office this morning after seeing some of the stunning scenery in Nepal, not to mention the effort involved in procuring said scenery !! We also would just like to say a special note of thanks both to Jangbu and the porter he arranged, Bikas. Jangbu’s combination of being not just a fantastic guide but also a thoroughly decent/likeable bloke added massively to the overall experience (not sure he fully understood my Glaswegian accent at all times mind you). Bikas ability to never stop smiling lugging 25kg up and down hills will also live long in the memory. Overall we could not have been happier with the pair of them. If we recommend to friends or return again ourselves you will certainly be our first port of call. Thanks and regards, Ricky

I am still coming to terms in my head about all that happened on the trip, it really was a life changing experience for me.  I really enjoyed even those times when my diaphragm would not expand for me to take a deep breath and the tiredness was so great I could not take another step. I want to say that the porters were absolutely fantastic, and very supportive, I don’t think I could have made it without their support. It is an experience I will never forget, and I feel  jealous that I won’t be able to join you on mount Everest. The whole of the Himalayas, witnessed by me in Indian movies as a child is an amazing place, thousand times better than the movies! Seeing you at base camp was surreal, but memorable. I loved the whole trip, all the people I met and I will definitely do it again, I think for me slow and steady did win the race, however on any future trip, I will improve my fitness, if possible. It will be a while before I go back though, because there are too many other exciting things to do before then. Many, many thanks for making this a great trip, and I look forward to travelling with you again.

Just dropping a mail to sincerely thank you & your company for the trip to Mt Toubkal. It was a fantastic experience that I thoroughly enjoyed all round. It was my first trekking trip abroad so I was not sure what to expect. The hospitality, local knowledge, food, guidance, training & courtesy we received was top class. Give a shout out to your employees Rosie & Chris who offered a professional response to any queries I had prior to the trip. I would recommend Adventure Alternative to anyone wishing to go on the trip of a lifetime. You can quote me on that! It was a pleasure to meet yourself in person & hope our paths cross again. Thanking you.

I thought Adventure Alternative was brilliant. Before I left I emailed them a couple of times about kit and AMS tablets and they (Andy MacDonald and Chris Little) replied very quickly with sound advice. On the ground in Tanzania Castro was very helpful.

I thought the food was exceptional, given the circumstances, and he said that he particularly favours getting Amini as a cook/porter as he’s so good at making the food – I thought it was lovely that he went that extra mile with little things like putting bits of green pepper in the omelette each day to make it a bit more interesting.

So, all in all a great experience and a good company. Worth double-checking their kit list again yours too as they tend to supply mattresses so there’s no need to take a sleeping mat.

I thought Adventure Alternative was brilliant. Before I left I emailed them a couple of times about kit and AMS tablets and they (Andy MacDonald and Chris Little) replied very quickly with sound advice. On the ground in Tanzania Castro was very helpful. I thought the food was exceptional, given the circumstances, and he said that he particularly favours getting Amini as a cook/porter as he’s so good at making the food – I thought it was lovely that he went that extra mile with little things like putting bits of green pepper in the omelette each day to make it a bit more interesting. So, all in all a great experience and a good company. Worth double-checking their kit list again yours too as they tend to supply mattresses so there’s no need to take a sleeping mat.

The Kilimanjaro climb is a once in a lifetime adventure. It waz brilliantly organised by adventure alternative team. Evertyhing was designed to make it as comfortable as possible from the arrival in Moshi to the departure day. The 7 day trek on the mountain is a great experience, the last day is really hard and nobody’s sure to get to the top (I did not) but the whole experience is fascinating and the nature and views are amazing.

This message to THANK YOU and all the Adventure Alternative team for the organisation of our trip to Kilimanjaro. Thank you for organising the trek even if we were only 2. Everything went really well and smooth from the very 1st contact to the end of the trip thanks to your professionalism and reactivity. I wish to say thanks to Castro in Moshi for the local organisation and the good care he took of us as soon as we arrived in Moshi until our departure (also for organising the relation with the bus company allowing me not to be stuck in Moshi on my leaving day 🙂 Thanks to Lipman and Kamande for taking care of us on the mountain, allowing us to go as far as we could and bringing us safe back from the trip. Thanks to the cook and porters (what a job!).

I wish Adventure Alternative a long life and will definitely recommend your organisation around!

We started out with a charity climb of Mt Kilimanjaro for Alzheimer’s Australia NSW. There was a group of 18 people to start ranging from early 20s to 64!

Then 5 of us moved onto a post climb safari in Ngorogoro, Lake Manyara and Tarangire which AA head office set up for us. It was nice having the same operator covering both so they knew the drill and made the transition out of Moshi so simple.

We did our own thing for a couple of weeks then met up with another AA team in Kenya for a Masai Mara safari with just my husband and I.

Adventure Alternative from the main office were only too willing to give oodles of guidance and answer an array of silly questions over the past 6 months. On everything from altitude advice to which camera lenses to pack, they answered everything.

The crew on Kili were great. Because of my injury I could go up ok but down was a nightmare. I couldn’t get down quickly enough and the mountain crept in. My body just wanted to shut down and sleep but Kamanda wouldn’t have a bar of it. I was pretty convincing I thought, “just 5 minutes sleep and I’ll be good to go again” I pleaded, but he kept me going with very calm but strict orders. He even gave me his sandals for the trip down when my feet couldn’t fit in my boots anymore. Pete and I also had a really great experience with a porter named Manus. If you’re looking for an up and comer, he was great, personable, eager to help, always on the front foot…

The safari in the crater etc was good. I think we found the setup of the Kenyan one a little better though with separate guide and driver to help with alertness on the long drives.

I was originally so sad that I wouldn’t have time to visit Moving Mountains to learn and see more about the charity arm, but having Kelly in the car with us was perfect. Pete and I got to ask all the questions we wanted and learn all about what Moving Mountains does there. We talked the whole trip to the Mara. We also found him very knowledgable about all things Kenya. We quizzed him on politics, logistics, religion… You name it, and he had good solid conversation on each of them. We were really impressed.

Kamau, the driver, was also awesome. He tried so hard to find things for us and was super chilled with a sly sense of humour. He was gutted he didn’t spot is a leopard but seriously tried harder than any other safari driver I’ve ever had. There were a couple of technical problems but they acted like total pros in how they dealt with the obstacles and were even sorting things out at 3am to make sure we had as minimal impact as possible. They really did a good job, I’d go with them again in a heartbeat.

My daughter her husband and myself climbed Kilimanjaro with adventure alternative and we all made the summit on the 29thSept. We had an amazing trip, it wasn’t easy and if it was there would be no challenge .Many thanks to our guides and porters for the way they looked after us without their help and encouragement we would never have made it. We met a young man Kelly from Kenya he is living proof of the wonderful work Adventure Alternative does. He went from street child to the director of the company, and his enthusiasm is just a joy. Castro our main contact, like all the staff were so helpful, they really made the whole trip a lot of fun!!!!!!!!!

My daughter her husband and myself climbed Kilimanjaro with adventure alternative and we all made the summit on the 29thSept. We had an amazing trip, it wasn’t easy and if it was there would be no challenge .Many thanks to our guides and porters for the way they looked after us without their help and encouragement we would never have made it. We met a young man Kelly from Kenya he is living proof of the wonderful work Adventure Alternative does. He went from street child to the director of the company, and his enthusiasm is just a joy. Castro our main contact, like all the staff were so helpful, they really made the whole trip a lot of fun!!!!!!!!!

I just wanted to say a big WOW, WOW,WOW about our experience on the Masai Mari safari. It is one that both myself and Ryan will never forget. Our experience is hugely down to Kelly and Kamau who were truly amazing from start to finish. They met us at the hotel and Kelly had the biggest warming smile and welcomed us with open arms. The journey to the safari was long, dusty and tiring but Kelly’s infectious laugh kept us smiling all the way through. We were so well looked after throughout the whole trip.

Kelly’s knowledge of Kenya was incredible and we kept saying how lucky we were to have the two of them as throughout the whole safari, and even going through the local Villages we were being educated on everything. It really helped to make us understand everything we were seeing and doing. The safari was busy with many tours however having the private tour with Kelly as our tour guide we felt unbelievably privileged as he continually explained about the animals movements and behaviours so it helped us to appreciate everything so much more.

Can I just say as well that Kelly is an absolute credit to the company. We found out all about the staff, how Gavin set up the company, the company morals and everything you guys do with moving mountains. He cannot speak more highly of everyone and the company. It really makes me want to book more trips with you guys, and I hope that one day I will do. Not only did we find out about the company but he taught us all about Kenya and the history, the people, the traditions and was also teaching us words. Not that I ever got them right, but we laughed-a lot!

This was certainly a holiday of a lifetime and the best experience by far! I cant wait to go on another trip with Adventure Alternative.