This year has been a complete whirlwind. If I am not on the mountain or taking safaris in the national parks, I have been sat at the computer. It has been challenging but so rewarding as we watch Legend continue to grow and develop. I wanted to put into writing just a few things we have done in 2025.

With the help of James Gant, Paul Lambert and Iva, we helped build a new home for Nelson, one of our guides. The build has given Nelson and his two daughters the chance to have their very own home, which is so important in their younger years. It also eases financial pressure and means he can focus on paying for their schooling as they get older. This is one of the big motivators for me to build the business and run as many trips as possible, so we can give our team more and more work opportunities.

Something exciting we started this year is our very own DMC offering. If you book a safari or a climb on Kilimanjaro, most of the time the company you book with outsources to another company in-country to deliver the experience. We have been doing both sides since the start of Legend. Our Legend Expeditions company deals with all the financial side of the business and our company Legend East Africa manages all of the logistics. In order to give our team more work and grow the business, we have partnered with a number of adventure companies and travel agents to facilitate their trips for them. If you know of anyone wanting to organise their own climbs or who sells safaris, please tell them to get in touch.

Talking safaris. The wildlife of Tanzania, and Africa as a whole, is a huge passion of mine and my wife’s. We love organising and delivering safaris and, this year, we have been running trips for individuals, couples and families. I have been working hard to build new relationships with lodges throughout the national parks and create the best plans possible (within budget) so you have the most amazing time. Most of you know I am pretty biased when it comes to Tanzania, but I am happy to admit that Uganda offers some experiences Tanzania cannot – mainly mountain gorillas! Oh, and the shoebill (my favourite bird). Over the last few months we have been working on offering safaris to Uganda and I am really pleased to say we have started running trips there. You will see all of this on our website in March, but if you or someone you know wants to go on safari in Tanzania or Uganda, please give me a shout. We are always happy to offer advice or, even better, organise your adventure. Alongside this, we have been working on an app for all travellers so they can see their itinerary in detail. This is now live and we are sending this to all clients climbing and safari‑ing with us in 2026 onwards.

Something I am really pleased about this year is that we were able to increase all of our staff’s wages and they have more than doubled since our set‑up. In line with this, we have also started our assessment with KPAP, an external organisation that reviews our performance and how we look after our amazing team of guides, chefs and porters. We have passed all of the assessments so far and, if all goes well, will receive our official certification in the summer – something I will be very proud to shout about.

At the start of August, we rebranded, designing a new logo and website. This was all with the help of Bayley and Freya from This Not That Agency. They are friends and also an integral part of our team, helping to market our work. We love the new branding and are really proud to see it on our flags, on our vehicles and online. We did the rebrand because we wanted to better articulate what we do and the quality of our work. We started by looking at a completely new website and decided we should do everything at once. Both Freya and Bayley joined us for a climb in September to capture new content and create a proper documentary. We will be releasing this in March and will invite you all to the launch – I cannot wait to see it.

This time last year I remember panicking because we did not have many people booked on trips in 2025. I realised we had hardly marketed our offerings at all. We have been working to rectify that this time round. We now have many trips nearly fully booked and are starting to plan new dates to facilitate more climbers. That said, the only quiet climb we have is in a few weeks’ time (22nd January), so if you or anyone you know fancies a last‑minute adventure, please give me a shout.

Most of you will know Jackson by now. He recently welcomed a new daughter with his partner Glory in the family, called Jamila. He FaceTimed me outside the hospital and we had to laugh because he was convinced it was a boy this time… he now has four daughters. Maybe next time.

Jess (my wife) and I have our own adventure incoming, as we are due to welcome our first child any time now. I am already so excited to show him Tanzania in the summer.

I am looking forward to that feeling of putting my jacket, gloves and head torch on at Barafu Camp before the summit push – and even more excited to see our climbers’ faces as they reach the top of Kilimanjaro.

If you would like to chat about a future adventure, you can simply email me by clicking here or schedule a call with me by clicking here.

I hope you all have a fantastic 2026.

Jack Fleckney