In 2019 Pride Expeditions set off with a group of eighteen gay men on the adventure of a lifetime to Tanzania. Our ultimate goal was to climb to the summit of Kilimanjaro above Moshi. Same-sex sexual acts are a crime punishable by the state in Tanzania. Homosexuality is a socially taboo subject among Tanzanian's but our head guide, having been made aware of the inclusive and pro LGBT equality ethos of Pride Expeditions prior to the trip, made sure that we were welcomed and did not face any discrimination or awkwardness from the mountain crew. 

After six arduous days of trekking, we arrived at Barafu camp at 4,600m our highest camp on the mountain. The care and attention we received from our local guides and porters had made the journey up to Barafu an extremely enjoyable and pleasant experience.  

Despite their best efforts, our amazing crew could not make our next eighteen hours as comfortable and pleasant during the challenging final day's ascent to the top of Kilimanjaro!  It was tough rising at midnight and despite some initial doubts everyone reached for the hero inside themselves and battled on through the darkness to reach the summit.

The situation for lesbian, gay and Transgender Tanzanian's is dire. It's a dark World for them whereby the state is regularly threatening to publish a list of gay people to incite homophobic attacks, HIV clinics used primarily by gay and transgender users have been closed down for 'promoting homosexuality' and activists are regularly jailed.  Some people advocate a boycott of travel to Tanzania for these reasons. This may make a slight dent on the revenue the government receives from tourism but it would be most damaging to the people of Tanzania, some of whom like our guides, support LGBT rights. 

From afar Kilimanjaro looks like any other mountain but its vast scale quickly becomes apparent on summit day. Departing the relative comfort of the tents in the pitch-black at we started plodding towards the top. Five long hours later, with everyone feeling slightly hypoxic and exhausted we saw the most magical sunrise over the distant plains of Tanzania. The rising sun gave us the warmth and energy to plod on, it was the dawn of the day that we would all climb Kilimanjaro! After a cup of warm sweet tea, the team was feeling mildly rejuvenated and ready to continue. I feel hugely privileged to work with a bunch of guys who pulled together in the face of adversity and rose to the challenge collectively. The team spirit and perseverance demonstrated by them on summit day made us hugely proud! 

Kilimanjaro lies in a country with a poor rights record for LGBT individuals. By climbing this mountain we hope to promote the positive results of embracing diversity. We would like to return to a Tanzania that is safe and where we will be welcomed by everyone! 

We would like to say a huge Thank-you to a fantastic team of guides and porters who helped us up to the top of Kilimanjaro. They were there to offer encouragement and support at every stage of the journey. They fully signed up to our equality and inclusive ethos. By going to Tanzania we hope to highlight the issues faced by LGBT+ people in Tanzania. The challenges they face in everyday life are often insurmountable. Our porters were being paid by us and therefore they did not want to upset us. Gay Tanzanians face discrimination on a daily basis and do not have the financial clout to be able to fight for their rights as we did.  

Our ethos is to make everyone feel welcome and help them achieve their dreams. Although Tanzania has a long way to go in accepting LGBT+ people as part of their community we were given an incredible welcome on Kilimanjaro and were not discriminated against because of who we love. We hope to help raise the voices in support of LGBT Tanzanians and highlight the bleak World they are forced to live in due to where they were born. 

Thank-You all - Take a look at our future expeditions to Kilimanjaro on our website.