Kilimanjaro Trip Leaders & Guides

19.5b SamiaSamia Asidamu, Senior Mountain Guide and Trip Leader

Samia has been climbing Kilimanjaro and guiding safaris longer than African Environments has even existed having summited the mountain first in 1981. In 1999 Samia won a Kilimanjaro competition climbing the mountain in record time of 18 hours, from Lemosho to Summit!

He is an extremely experienced mountain guide who will do almost anything to ensure his clients are safe and happy. With literally hundreds of safaris under his belt he knows the Parks of Northern Serengeti like the back of his hand and is a fascinating companion any journey. Samia has traveled to Poland and America and has a great sense of humour!

Bonaventure Kivuyo, Senior Mountain Guide and Trip Leader

Bonaventure is an experienced and enthusiastic mountaineer and has been with African Environments for many years. He takes his job very seriously and always ensures that the safety of his clients is his priority. He has a long history with guiding luxury Kilimanjaro hikes and has a high success rate, however, previous to working in the tourism industry Bonaventure also worked as a photographer, which comes in handy now for our social media platforms!

When not mountain guiding or leading cultural walks Bonaventure is kept very busy with his family of six children.

Benhadad Mality, Senior Mountain Guide and Trip Leader

Ben is a natural leader and loves to get involved with planning and leading trips on the mountain. He is also well equiped to guide on safari and has also experience in leading filming groups while in Tanzania.

When Ben was in school he originally wanted to a priest, however, he then realised his passion for wilderness and knew he wanted to guide people through their trip in Tanzania. He then went on to study French and can now lead our groups in French, English and Swahili. He is one of our best Trip Leaders and we feel very lucky to have him on board!

James Kivuyo, Senior Mountain Guide and Walking Safari Trip Leader

Starting his career with us as a cook on trips up Kilimanjaro, James quickly rose to the position of Trip Leader. After spending years climbing the mountain as a cook, he had a natural knack for guiding groups seamlessly as he knows Kilimanjaro very well. After guiding on the mountain for a few years, he soon became one of our main guides for Walking safaris in the Serengeti, where he was trained to walk in the wilderness, read the animals and use a rifle.

His natural, easy charm and killer smile are always a winner with the guests!

Noel Mbwambo, Senior Mountain Guide and Walking Safari Trip Leader

Noel or “Mchili” as he is known, is a gentle soul who has an encouraging and caring nature. Noel has been guiding with African Environments on Kilimanjaro for over 10 years.

He is one of our main guides on Kilimanjaro, but recently Noel has spread his wings and has been enjoying the many cultures of Tanzania where he has been leading Walking Safaris with the Hadzabe in Eyasi and Maasai in Ngoronogoro.

Elias Msemo, Senior Mountain Guide and Trip Leader

Elias is from the Pare tribe and grew up in the Usumbara Mountains, so is very used to the mountainous forest environment. He moved to Arusha with his sights set on being a Kilimanjaro Guide – which he succeeded to do. He has now been climbing for over 20 years so knows the mountain like the back of his hand!

Elias loves to joke around and share his stories that have accumulated over the years of climbing the mountain but also takes his job very seriously and ensures the safety of his clients is his priority.

Leonard Solomon, Mountain Guide and Assistant Trip Leader

“Leo” is a confident and natural leader, we look forward to seeing him rise to the status of Trip Leader very soon. With almost 10 years experience working on Kilimanjaro and assisting on safari expeditions he is a well-rounded guide.

Wines Temu, Mountain Guide and Assistant Trip Leader

Temu, although better known at Wines, was born and raised on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, and is a very personable guide who knows the mountain like the back of his hand. Speaking six languages; Chagga, Maasai, Kiswahili, English, French and a bit of Chinese, and having studied at Mweka Wildlife College in Tanzania, Wines loves the outdoors and being in the wilderness. Wines (aka Cheetah) is someone you’d like on your trip! Running regular marathons, enjoying scuba diving, and keeping fit by cycling often, Wines has many hobbies that he enjoys in his spare time, when he’s not climbing mountains or out in the bush!

Boniface Nkunda, Mountain Guide and Assistant Trip Leader

Boniface is one of our youngest rising stars! He has no end to his enthusiasm for the outdoors.

An experienced mountain guide, “Boni” is also just as comfortable leading walking trips in Ngorongoro as he is on Kilimanjaro. In his spare time he likes nothing more than adventuring around Tanzania.

Innocent Mmary, Mountain Guide and Assistant Trip Leader

Innocent was promoted to the role of Assistant Trip Leader in 2014 and is proving his passion and professionalism. “Inno” is a level headed and eager young man whom we believe to have a very bright future ahead of him.

Emmanuel, Walking and Safari Guide

Emmanuel originally joined African Environments as a porter on the mountain, where he would help carry equipment up and down the mountain on trips. He then started to learn on the job and spent a lot of time with the guides on any trip he went with. After showing a lot of intuition, he started to learn solar wiring skills and soon got promoted to mountain crew. He spent a few years as mountain crew, where he soon landed the opportunity to be Assistant Guide – he absolutely shone. He now is a Junior Guide on the mountain as well as on Safaris, where he is continuously learning on the job.