Big Little Kilimanjaro with Padraig O’Hora

Overview

Take on Kilimanjaro with someone who matters to you.

Join Padraig O’Hora and his daughter, Mila-Rae, for a very different kind of Kilimanjaro expedition. One built around connection, shared challenge and doing something meaningful together.

This special departure is designed for people taking on Kilimanjaro with someone they share an important connection with – whether you’re a parent and child, siblings, best friends, relatives or simply two people who want to take on something extraordinary together.

Over seven days on Kilimanjaro, you’ll support one another through the highs and lows of the climb as part of the wider Earth’s Edge expedition team, with the goal of reaching Uhuru Peak at 5,895m, the highest point in Africa.

Throughout the expedition, you’ll be supported by Earth’s Edge’s highly experienced Tanzanian Expedition Guides and full support team of guides, cooks and porters, as well as a dedicated Earth’s Edge expedition doctor travelling with the group, providing an additional layer of medical support at altitude. 

A Different Kind of Kilimanjaro Climb

Reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro is a significant challenge in its own right. Doing it alongside someone important to you makes the experience something different altogether.

The idea behind this expedition is simple: to create the time and space to take on a meaningful challenge together.

You’ll take on the challenge in pairs as part of the wider Earth’s Edge expedition team, sharing the journey with Padraig, Mila-Rae and the other participants as you make your way through seven days on the mountain.

There will be difficult moments, long days and plenty of tired legs, but also conversations, laughs, encouragement and experiences you’re unlikely to forget.

The goal is not simply to stand on the summit. It is to share the experience of getting there, strengthening your relationship, and creating memories that will stay with you long after the climb is done.

About Padraig

Padraig O’Hora is a mindset and resilience speaker and coach, breathwork instructor and passionate advocate for inclusion.

Everest summiteer, former Mayo inter-county footballer and Ultimate Hell Week graduate, Padraig draws on experience from elite sport, endurance expeditions, mental health and frontline services to speak about resilience, leadership, mental wellbeing and overcoming adversity.

He has spent more than eight years working in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) services, supporting neurodivergent individuals and their families, and has been a strong advocate for greater inclusion within communities.

In 2021, he founded a community group creating inclusive opportunities for children and adults with additional needs and disabilities. The group has since opened a state-of-the-art sensory park, designed to improve accessibility and create a more inclusive community space.

For Padraig, this Kilimanjaro expedition brings many of those strands together: Connection, resilience, challenge and supporting one another through a shared experience.

Extras for This Expedition

As part of this special departure, Padraig will also bring his experience in breathwork, mindset and resilience into both the group’s preparation and the expedition itself.

Oxygen Advantage Training

During the pre-expedition training weekend, Padraig will lead a half-day Oxygen Advantage session, focused on practical breathing techniques, breath control and developing greater awareness of how you breathe during physical and mental effort.

These are techniques Padraig used during his own Everest journey and continues to use in everyday life. The aim is to give you practical tools you can incorporate into your training and draw on throughout the Kilimanjaro expedition.

Resilience on the Mountain

During the expedition itself, Padraig will also lead a resilience-focused session on Kilimanjaro, exploring the mental side of taking on a significant challenge.

Drawing on his experience of Everest, inter-county sport and working in mental health and wellbeing, Padraig will cover areas such as managing discomfort and uncertainty, adapting when things don’t go to plan, maintaining perspective and supporting each other as a team.

The focus will be practical, giving you strategies you can draw on when the expedition becomes physically or mentally challenging, both on Kilimanjaro and beyond.

The Kilimanjaro Experience

Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa, rising to 5,895m above sea level.

Our expedition follows the scenic Machame Route, with seven days spent on the mountain and a gradual itinerary designed to give your body time to adjust as you gain altitude.

You’ll trek through dramatically changing landscapes, from rainforest and moorland to alpine desert and the stark high-altitude terrain surrounding the summit.

You do not need previous mountaineering or high-altitude trekking experience to join. There is no technical climbing involved, but Kilimanjaro is still a serious physical challenge. A good level of fitness, consistent training and a sense of adventure are essential.

One of the key features of our itinerary is that we spend the final night before summit day at Kosovo Camp, approximately 120m above Barafu Camp. This reduces the amount of ascent required on summit night and gives the group a more manageable start to the final climb.

After the climb, you can choose to enhance your trip with an optional one- or three-day safari and experience another side of Tanzania.

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