Arusha, Tanzania · Since 2008
The people behind the trips
Since 2008, Trust Tours & Safaris has guided travellers to the roof of Africa and across the plains of Tanzania — always from our home in Arusha, always with our own crew. We stay deliberately small, so the person who plans your journey is the one who sees it through.
- Est. 2008
- Founded in Arusha, Tanzania
- Nominee
- World Travel Awards, 2023 & 2024
- Zanzibar · Nairobi
- Offices across East Africa
- TALA 014216
- Licensed Class A operator
Who we are
A small Tanzanian crew that runs its own trips — start to finish.
Trust Tours & Safaris is a licensed tour operator based in Arusha, Tanzania — not a reseller forwarding your booking to someone else. The crew that meets you at the airport is our crew. The guide on the summit push is our guide. The cook at camp is on our team.
We’ve kept the company deliberately small since 2008. It means we can’t take everyone — but the travellers we do take get our full attention, and so much of our work still comes by word of mouth from people we’ve guided before.
Whether it’s your first time at altitude or your fifth safari, you’re dealing with the same people from the first WhatsApp message to your summit certificate or last game drive.
Founder & lead guide
Ombeni Kiware
Ombeni Kiware grew up in the shadow of Kilimanjaro and founded Trust Tours in 2008. He still leads from the front — shaping each route, meeting the travellers who book it, and standing on the summit beside them.
Around him is a close team of Tanzanian guides, drivers and cooks who return season after season. It's why a Trust Tours trip feels the same whether it's your first or your fifth — and why so much of our work comes by word of mouth.
“When you message Trust Tours, you talk to me — not a call center. We keep the company small so every trip gets our full attention.”
What we do
We don’t hand your trip off — we run it
Many operators sell the trip and subcontract the actual climb or safari to whoever’s cheapest that week. We don’t. From the plan to the plate at camp, it’s our own team — and that control is exactly why we can stand behind every day of it.
- 1
We plan it with you
Every itinerary starts as a conversation, not a catalogue. Tell us your dates, your pace and your budget, and we shape a day-by-day plan around them — then keep adjusting until it fits.
- 2
We drive you ourselves
Airport pickup, park transfers and every kilometre between camps are handled by our own team — so the person at the wheel already knows your trip.
- 3
We cook for you on the trail
Hot, fresh meals cooked by our own camp crew, every day on the mountain — with dietary needs catered for. Eating well is half of how you reach the summit.
- 4
We guide you to the top
Guides who have stood on Uhuru Peak and the crater rim hundreds of times, pacing you pole pole so your body has time to adjust to the altitude.
How we work
Three things that never change
You talk to the owner
Message us and Ombeni answers — the same person who plans your route, books your camps and briefs your crew. Nothing is outsourced to a call center.
Our own crew, every trip
Guides, porters and cooks who work with us trip after trip. On the mountain your health is checked twice daily with a pulse oximeter, and emergency oxygen is always packed.
Licensed and accountable
We operate as a licensed Tanzanian Tourism Agent (Class A, TALA License No. 014216) and follow Kilimanjaro National Park crew welfare requirements.
On the mountain
Safety and comfort, built into every climb
Altitude is the real challenge on Kilimanjaro and Meru — not the terrain. The way we climb is designed around getting you up safely and bringing you down well.
Twice-daily health checks
On Kilimanjaro and Meru we check your oxygen saturation and pulse morning and evening with a pulse oximeter, so the first signs of altitude sickness are caught early.
Emergency oxygen, always packed
Bottled oxygen travels with every climb as a precaution — standard kit on the mountain, never an upsell.
Paced for the summit
Our guides climb pole pole — slowly — giving your body the days it needs to acclimatise. Reaching the top is about patience, not speed.
Crew who return season after season
The same guides, cooks and porters work with us trip after trip — not day-labour hired at the park gate the morning you arrive.
Our crew
Looked after, so they can look after you
A climb is only as good as the people carrying it. Our guides, cooks and porters are the heart of Trust Tours — most of them have worked with us for years, and they come back season after season because the work is fair.
We follow Kilimanjaro National Park’s crew-welfare requirements on every expedition: fair pay, sensible load limits, proper meals and shelter for the porters who get you up the mountain. Treating the crew well isn’t a marketing line for us — it’s why the same faces are still here.
Moments from the trips
Real people, real summits, real plains
Not stock photos — our own guests, guides and crew, on the mountain and in the bush.
Where we operate
Three offices, one team across East Africa
From the foot of Mount Meru to the Zanzibar coast and across the border into Kenya — so a single journey can run mountain, plains and beach without ever leaving our hands.
Home base
Arusha, Tanzania
Our headquarters, at the foot of Mount Meru — the safari capital of Tanzania and the gateway to the northern circuit and Kilimanjaro.
Island office
Zanzibar
On the coast for the beach end of your trip — so a Serengeti-to-Zanzibar journey stays in the same trusted hands from start to finish.
Regional office
Nairobi, Kenya
Across the border for travellers flying via Kenya, and for cross-border journeys that link the Masai Mara with the Serengeti.
Why travellers trust us
Recognised, licensed, and answerable to you
Internationally recognised
Nominated at the World Travel Awards 2023 as Tanzania's Leading Safari Company.
Licensed & accountable
Registered Tanzanian Tourism Agent (Class A) — TALA License No. 014216.
Owner-led, never outsourced
You plan directly with founder Ombeni — the same person responsible for your trip.
Five-star reviewed
Consistently rated five stars by independent travellers on TripAdvisor.
Say hello
Ask Ombeni anything
Route advice, training tips, honest answers about costs — no obligation.
Message us on WhatsApp