Kilimanjaro National Park Restaurants

No matter which local tour operator you choose, you're likely to end up with a pretty similar set of menu options, and all of them will involve tremendous quantities of food, fuel for the hard slog ahead. Of course, the downside to this is that the higher you climb, the less you'll probably want to eat because of the effects of altitude, although your guide and his team will still cook up a feast and try and persuade you to eat a little of it.

The menu details are usually worked out with the tour operator in advance (for example, if you can't abide meat or if you have a hankering for cheese), but it will usually involve plenty of fresh produce (lots of fruit, especially: oranges, bananas and whatever else is in season), meat on the early nights, and then lots of eggs and bread.

Every evening meal is likely to have multiple courses, and we were constantly astonished at the resourcefulness of the cook and his assistants, working in a smoky tent and turning out really delicious soups, curries, fried meats and fish.

Favorite Dish: As I mentioned, we all suffered to some extent from altitude related loss of appetite (some of us had this problem to a severe degree), so not everything was appetizing to all, but we generally loved the very digestible soups, and the grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches were the kind of comfort food that put a smile on our faces.