Hello Sean
Made the summit of Kili in July 2012 using the Marangu route. 5 days in total, 3 up and 2 down. I can only give you my experience/advice of this particular route.
Firstly our trekking guides Sauma and Francis were fantastic. (Sauma is the only female guide on the mountain and I think it was her 91st time summiting Kili when we went) Their experience and charisma were contributing factors of our team's success. I am proud to say that we were the only team(14) out of 8 UK groups that managed to get the entire team to the summit.
My advice on exped would be drink at least 3-4 litres of water per day not counting all the soup you'll get fed. When going up listen to your guides particularly on summit day and they constantly tell you to slow down (Pole-Pole) to a ridiculous zombie speeded shuffle when nearing the top. You WILL be gasping just accept it and push on. Diarrhea/Vomiting was a real issue on summit day with some people in our team so have a packet of baby wipes handy. (WARNING: DO NOT MIX anti-bacterial wipes with baby ones, its a completely different sensation.....trust me!
) I would tend to have few baby wipes on hand on exped 24/7. Brilliant invention. Anyway....
Take it really slow on nearing the top and make sure you discipline yourself to keep drinking at regular intervals even if you don't want to.
If you are aiming to summit for the sunrise and are starting at midnight I would definitely invest in really good gloves or maybe mitts and gloves, the assent at night is very very cold, minus god knows what!. Turn your water bottles in your daysack upside down so they will freeze from the bottom to the top. If you can, place a water bottle inside your jacket so your body heat will help to stop it from freezing. A good hat and socks (I honestly thought Id lost my little toe to frost bite) also recommended. Thermals too. I don't particularly like using walking sticks but they were also welcomed on this trek.
We did see at least half a dozen stretchers being raced down as we were going up. All with altitude sickness I assume. A few local porters were among that number. I learnt that if they don't summit they don't get paid so they will push themselves whilst their carrying all the kit for the team plus all the teams main rucksacks plus all their own kit (no pack animals) and alas some come down with altitude sickness which is a good reason to give these fellas a decent tip at the end!!!
Do bring extra cash for tipping as it is expected. Prob around $50 total split between your guides and maybe the geezer who humps your rucksack as well as his own up and possibly the cook if you get decent meals. Bring another extra bundle of cash for all the bloody street urchins trying to make a few dollars selling you Pole-Pole bracelets and Tanzania football jerseys. You WILL end up with 5 or 6 bracelets dangling from both wrists! LOL
The Honey Badger is compound 2 Km from Moshi. We found that it was a great place to camp at with decent pool, bar with Maasai warrior security, it was away from the hussle and bussle of the town which suited our group. The food was pretty basic at the Honey Badger and you definitely did not get the white man sized portion. Litre bottles of the Kilimanjaro beer at the bar were the business thou and cheap. There are hostels, really good eating places in Moshi but our trip was done on the cheap and so we camped.
Bartering is welcomed when shopping. I tend to half whatever people are asking for and work up from there when not buying trinkets at a dollar a time. Some very nice artwork that you can roll up and frame when you get home or a genuine ( tartan
) massai cloak make very good souvenirs. A Safari is great if you get a chance but 1 day enough, very cool but not as cool as waking up to clouds a Km below you stretching out infinitely into the distance nearing the top of Kili. That is the most memorable image of Africa.
Sean you should have an absolute ball mate. Do us a favour and post a recent pic of those rolling clouds when you get a chance because I aint rushing back up anytime soon to take one!
Good Luck and Enjoy!