WHOA Travel Sets Off to Scale Kilimanjaro for International Women’s Day

Some people hit happy hour for girls’ night out. Other people find a nice restaurant.

Hoboken’s Allison Fleece, Jennifer Habeeb and Kathleen Bialek are climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for International Women’s Day.

As part of a tour with WHOA Travel—owned and operated by Fleece and her business partner Danielle Thornton—the Hobokenites are part of a group of 28 women set to scale the highest peak in Africa to commemorate International Women’s Day on March 8—a celebration of women’s achievement and their quest for greater equality worldwide.

The trip begins tomorrow, as they embark for Tanzania. Once there, they’ll climb 5,895 meters through five unique and beautiful climate zones until they reach Uhuru Peak next Sunday. The group will also include a number of local Tanzanian and Kenyan women, some of whom have spent their entire lives staring up at snow-capped Kilimanjaro but have never had the opportunity to climb up—until now.

Uhuru Peak

“Every trip has a social component,” says Fleece. “We do a lot of things that are better experienced in groups.” WHOA’s other recent adventures include bicycling across India, hiking South America’s Inca Trail and even an Alpine adventure in Germany (that just so happened to coincide with Oktoberfest…).

“Our goal is bringing solo travelers together to enjoy events that are better shared in group settings,” says Fleece. “We all have friends, but we don’t necessarily all have friends that would be into climbing Kilimanjaro, or taking these other adventures.”

The idea behind WHOA Travel is to enable like-minded women to take trips they wouldn’t otherwise be taking on their own. “We have a built-in camaraderie that is very empowering, and sharing our trips with locals gives us all a more impactful, enriching experience.”

WHOA Travel clients come from diverse backgrounds, and range in age from 18-60. “It’s not about age, it’s about mindset,” says Fleece. “If you’re adventurous, have a desire to travel and need people to travel with, then that’s what we do.”

Profiled by the Travel Channel, WHOA Travel is carving a pretty firm niche—bringing a bold enthusiasm to the idea of travel adventures that are designed specifically for women.

We at hMAG.com will be monitoring their progress as they scale the peak next Sunday. Be sure to check back for updates—it should be pretty exciting!