Alex

Booking the tour was very easy – I contacted Mr. Sapri via WhatsApp and he replied very quickly with all the information I could possibly want – including the treks available, costs, what we would need to bring, and what would be carried by the porters.

When we arrived in Lombok, he picked us up at the airport and drove us the three hours to Senaru village (pickup/dropoff at the airport was included in the trekking price, I might add) where all of his guides are from, and where the trek begins. On the ride to the village, he was all too happy to share loads of knowledge about Lombok, Rinjani, and even stopped several times for bathroom breaks, to buy us fresh local fruit, and to show us how to give cookies to the monkeys.

When we arrived in the village, we had lunch at a local restaurant and then Mr. Sapri and his daughters guided us on a short 45m “warm up” hike to a few local waterfalls. That evening, we stayed in a local hotel (again – included in the trekking price!).

The hike itself is not easy – I would say between medium and difficult. But the extremely impressive porters (shout out to Nas, Sol, and Yang!) and guide carry the tents, cooking equipment, food, water, dining table, chairs, sleeping bags… pretty much everything except your own clothing. We started a little after sunrise and arrived at the crater rim around 2-3pm.

And whoa! What a view! Hard to describe so take a look at the photos – all of us were tired by the end of the hike up, but VERY glad we toughed it out – the views are incredible.

Aril was our excellent guide – he spoke very good English and took care to go at the right pace for us, point out local vegetation and animals, and provide us with chocolate when needed 🙂

He and the team of porters cooked delicious hot meals for lunch, snack, dinner, breakfast, and lunch again the second day on the way down. The tour accommodated our vegetarian dietary needs, cooked something different for us each time, and even had a dining table and chairs for us to relax in at each rest stop.

I am really glad Mr. Sapri invested in good tents and sleeping bags – we endured a tempest of a storm overnight at the crater rim with high winds and lashing rain, but we all snuggled up warm and dry in our tents and sleeping bags all night – no problems at all! It does get cold in the evening so bring warm clothes!

“Eco Tours” is not just a name – when we got to the final rest area prior to the crater rim, we each planted a tree sapling to help replenish some of the forest that was recently destroyed in a fire. Along the entire hike, our guide and porters carried rubbish bags to collect any plastic rubbish that other tours had left behind. It’s sad to see a natural wonder like Rinjani with rubbish strewn along the paths, but the efforts of Mr. Sapri and his team give us hope that it will not always be that way!

All in all – we couldn’t have asked for a better tour or better staff at Rinjani Eco Tour. Mr. Sapri in particular is one of the kindest, most helpful, most professional people I have met in my travels across the globe. He speaks English very well and went out of his way on every occasion to make the adventure enjoyable for us.

For the price, this is undoubtedly one of the best deals we came across in Indonesia.